Bobbi Comments:
Allrighty then. I am going to break my long streak of keeping my mouth shut and not reviewing a Movienight Selection for this movie. I know that my review is not going to be popular with the rest of the viewing crowd, but this one I have lots to say about. Also my apologies to Buffy for commenting on her essays, when this is going to be a long one.
First off, I have to give props to Ben for “Jumping the Fence” and making a bold change in picks for Movienight. (I told you I love the expression and would find a place for it). However, I think this movie is weak. This musical is probably one of my least favorites of the genre. Every musical theatre actor is now up in arms over that comment and ready to backhand me. This production does not do the stage version justice in any way shape or form.
The movie is long and scattered. The adding of playboy Max seducing both "Brian" and Sally changes the whole tone of the script. The plot goes from naive "Brian" falling in love with Sally and trying to save her, to a story about latching on to wealth. They are both looking for a way up in the world. Instead of her being a flittering butterfly living in the moment for pleasure, we are treated to a scheming gold-digger. The abortion, which should crush him and show her lack of resolve to any commitment turns into a short scene about them realizing they are not meant for each other. I lost the whole sense of Sally being a lost soul always putting on a happy face so that she didn't have to face the tragedies of the time, and instead saw a woman ready to do whatever it takes to get ahead in her career of choice.
Now lets talk about the glossing over of the Nazi issues. I know, you feel like that’s not true. A large part of the stage version that makes it brilliant is the use of Ernst as the embodiment of the bad Nazis. He starts out as a nice guy in the beginning and by the end he is everything you fear about the movement. You watch him transform into a monster, and by the time he sings, “Tomorrow Belongs to Me” with his solo voice being joined in by most of the cast, you feel the wave of evil is finally crashing down around you. The use of an extra in the movie diminishes the feeling that it’s not a bunch of outsiders, but a movement involving all. The party scene with everyone singing “Tomorrow Belongs to Me” save Sally and Brian clinches that feeling. Instead in the movie its relegated to a quick scene in which Brian walking through the house has a quick moment with the two in the living room that never holds its ground.
I especially feel betrayed by the removal of “Meeskite” from the score. The song brings out the hatred of the Jews much better than the “If You Could See Her” tag at the end.
Next lets discuss the overall movie. Yes, Yes I get it. It was like nothing ever done before. In this day of Pussycat Dolls and Christina Aguilera we are all quite used to stripper chic. But at the time it was dirrrty. Fosse’s choreography was wasted in the cramped stage. His work is amazing for a giant set with outrageous gyration and movement of limbs in previously unthought-of of ways.
8 Academy nods?? Really?? I did not believe it, so I checked it out. Best Director over ‘Deliverance’ and ‘The Godfather’? Sure Liza is awesome, but she had no competition that year except for Diana Ross (for the record Dame Judi Dench originated the role. I wish I had seen it).
Joel Grey over Caan and Duvall?? For a character that barely moves the plot along? Alan Cummings showed us how creepy and sexy the character can be. In the stage version the Emcee is a much more involved character moving us from set to set, and cabaret to outside world.
So that’s it. An odd review to an odd movie. Do I think the movie is awful? No. Do I think it’s a horrible version of a great play? Yes. Do I think this review is going to offend a lot of people? Yes. Probably have my brother and the cast of “Chicago” on the next flight out to kick my ass. Do I feel bad about not reviewing this movie on its own merits instead of reviewing it in its context as a film version of a script? A bit.
However that’s how I feel and I hope that Movienight forgives me for it.
Brandon Comments:
OH-MY-GOD! How could I have gone almost 35 years in life and not seen ‘Cabaret’? I consider myself a worldly man, a well-traveled, well-adjusted, man of sensitive nature…how could I have missed this film? No piece of cinema has ever affected me the way ‘Cabaret’ has, filling me with hope, passion, and a drive to pursue my dreams like no song, speech, or novel ever has before.
I will not delve into the plot of the film in this review because I know this will be well covered by my Movienight brethren; but what I will do is express how much this film awakened me. Bravo, Tooda, bravo! You took a hell of a chance on a musical with Liza, especially with a bunch of bruisers who ravaged and chewed apart ‘Wings of Desire.’ But you pulled it off swimmingly, possibly opening a whole new facet into the iron template that is our Wednesday night. And in Tooda’s preamble (as well as being heavily discussed after the film), we learned the reason ‘Cabaret’ was chosen for this particular night: the Back Yard is our Cabaret stage, where dreamers, outcasts, and strangers all brightly glow together under the same gel lights, even when faced with adversity; we are all important characters in the musical known as Movienight.
Coolbaugh, I will miss you. Back Yard, I will miss you too. But we will all meet again, and we will all share the stage many more times because, well, Life is a Cabaret and the show must go on. I want to sing “Tomorrow Belongs to Me” now but I am German and it might be taken the wrong way.
Buffy Comments:
The overall consensus in my non-scientific dude-on-the-street poll is that ‘Cabaret’ is an amazing movie. So, Tooda, no apparent chick-flick rule infringement here (forgive me for not citing the proper By-Law by number). It was a brave new pick and timely besides, seeing as how we are rapidly coursing into the next phase of Movienight…god, I hate change. Coolbaugh, you jerk! Sorry, just masking the pain with anger.
The performances all around are phenomenal—isn’t that what they say in musical theater circles? Stuff like “phenomenal” and “show-stopping”? However, my non-scientific research (via a casual conversation) informed me that one of the writers of one of the books about Sally Bowles was unhappy with the performances, specifically because they were too polished, too much the “daughter of a huge legend, trained and choreographed by a legend” variety. The cabaret on which this was based was more like your amateur night, a karaoke competition....I performed with San Francisco’s ill-fated and most notorious (that you’ve never heard of) Acid Cabaret for about three years…we championed the amateur and witnessed the sublime, and that’s what I imagine the original cabaret of this story may have been like. Lots of risks, lots of laughs, a few beautiful serious moments…forgetting the crappy world (this was right before and after 9-11). I frankly feel the way everything tends to be polished and perfect in the movies, from performances to tits, is like so many clipped and groomed yards in an expensive gated community. But getting a large audience to ken the beauty of the amateur is a work in progress, and I do definitely think those performances were worth seeing and doing. I also thought the choreography hinted at that kind of laziness or unpolished feel of a more amateur production (it’s hard to think of a production that could in any way be above this level). Even though the chorus girls hit every move, the moves themselves had a kind of weariness to them that perhaps bespoke being stuck with your dreams in a dark underground cabaret wearing a dirty costume.
This movie is probably more about the life outside the cabaret, of course. That a woman might choose a life where she sings in skimpy outfits and drinks and smokes and gives her body frequently to men and eats Men’s Pocky with no regard whatsoever to public opinion is still somewhat shocking. I loved how Sally appeared so tough but always the woman, always focused on keeping things comfortable—fun, even—and seemed to let everything roll off her. Pretty remarkable character, taking nothing personally and letting so much out once she got on the stage. Her relationship with Brian showed courage on both their parts, in that they followed and trusted their feelings despite confusion, were honest with each other (eventually), and didn’t try to hold onto something that couldn’t be. Sigh. Saw that one coming.
So does Sally ever become big? She doesn’t, does she. Kind of an opposite ‘A Star Is Born.’ And didn’t those chorus girls ever give her hell? Seems like nobody tries to tear her down…except those terrifying blonde Nazis. Shudder…that kid singing the folk song is pure freaking evil.
I’m going to be chewing on this one for some time. Thank you, o captain.
Nubs Comments:
‘Cabaret’ was a movie that was groundbreaking for cinema at its time, and might be even more revolutionary for Movienight. Just as Bob Fosse challenged audiences 35 years ago, Tooda took our audience of guy’s guys and Buffy and felt we were ready for a musical…a musical with Liza Minelli. Mr. Never-Folds can be quite brave when it comes to his Selections and that is to be respected, more than his poker bluffs. I have to admit, I was nervous for Davis and this movie which I have treasured but never considered for this quorum. Though my toe was tapping along with pleasure, my heart was unsure of this unusually large and quiet crowd. Despite the odds, it seemed to be well-received (though naysayers usually wait till their review to be heard) so I give serious props to Davis and our group that knows a good thing when it shines 10 feet wide in front of them.
Aside from the addition of newcomers, the respectful silence, and the bourbon cookies, ‘Cabaret’ does its part to get the juices buzzing. Obviously the song book and choreography are pure genius. I admit I had given up on the form of musicals until I discovered Bob Fosse. Liza’s and Joel’s performances with the cabaret numbers are breathtaking and illustrate his brilliance. Its quite simple; Fosse’s productions always have enough sex, comedy, and intelligence to please both the female and the heterosexual male. He is especially generous with the provocation of his female performers, perhaps because of his own fascination, which we may see someday in his autobiographical, ‘All That Jazz.’ Anyway, I likey.
You know the man is good when he makes Liza seem sexy. At Movienight we often celebrate the “anti-hero”, and I think Liza joins the ranks of Barbara Streisand from ‘What’s Up, Doc?’ as an anti-femme fatale. They are quirky, cute, witty, and re-define the usual standards of beauty. They overcome their physical imperfections with uninhibited sexuality and gall. Though Liza’s counterpart, the Jewish heiress, is clearly hotter, Sally’s chair dance would make any man’s eyes and pants widen.
Speaking of uncomfortable innuendoes, ‘Cabaret’ gives you the whole seduction and the forgettable morning after. I have always loved the first half of this movie and feared the weight of the second. With this viewing I realized why. The movie invites us in to the frolic and care-free world of the Cabaret, but it also allows us to go behind the curtain and linger too long in its underbelly. As we get closer to the performer’s lives, the clowns become sad, the M.C. is no longer “divinely decadent” but disgustingly demonic, even ze orchestra is no longer beautiful. What’s worse is, like our heroes, while we are singing and dancing and fornicating, we all refused to see the thuggish Nazis that our frivolity allowed to arise. It is like that awful morning after, because the fantasy is gone and all that’s left is responsibility and despair. Fuckin’ responsibility! The final image of Sally singing her cabaret mantra to an audience of faceless, unwelcoming, fascists, is haunting.
Sally’s mantra, “What good is sitting alone in your room…come hear the music play”, speaks as a perfect testament to our little weekly assembly, or cabaret. As a matter of fact this movie has a lot that is apropos to all our lives. From the struggling artists of our groups, the un-expecting father that was once me, the writer of porn that was once Slim, the cabaret singer that is Buffy and me on a good night at karaoke, and that time you experimented with homosexuality with a Baron, the movie holds meaning for our Crew - which speaks to its timelessness. As beautiful as his preamble was, I don’t really see how Davis’s point about the movie’s theme of change applied to Coolbaugh’s and Movienight’s fate. Perhaps I’m too married to my analysis of the film but it doesn’t quite add up. I still appreciate the best preamble that could have happened if Netti hadn’t fucked it up, as well as a the winds of change Davis brought us that warm first Wednesday of March.
SELECTOR Comments:
For all of my bombast about this pick, I was truly nervous about bringing it to the Back Yard. For one thing, it is about as gay a pick (‘Midnight Cowboy’ not withstanding) as we have ever had. Secondly, it is a musical, and I had my doubts if that form would ever grace the Stucco. But something in my gut was telling me to do it. It was the same feeling I had when I brought ‘Let It Ride.’ I knew it was the right film at the right time.
‘Cabaret’ is Movienight. It is a place where strangers and friends assemble to escape the real world for a while. Where entertainment is larger than life, and the audience laughs and applauds together while smoke lingers in the air. I am a creature of habit. I respect ritual and tradition perhaps more than I should. For this reason, I find the eminent loss of the Back Yard to be a remarkably painful experience. While I know it is an exciting time in the Coolbaugh’s lives, their kindness has made that home a home for us all, and its loss will not be real to me until it has come to pass.
‘Cabaret’ then, is my love song to the Back Yard. Through good times and bad, the Back Yard has been there. For the last year and a half, I have spent most of my Wednesdays sweeping its concrete, wiring and re-wiring the audio equipment, when needed trimming and pruning branches, and at times hunting and killing spiders. I have been known to sit in my chair for an hour before the screening. I love that innocuous corner of the world as much as almost any other I have known. It has become, as I said in my preamble, my church. And as surely as I will miss it, I will always be grateful for the time I had to spend there, and with whom I got to spend it.
‘Cabaret’ speaks to the vast change that is upon us in the Crew. As fascism forever changes the venue in ‘Cabaret,’ the winds of change are blowing through Movienight. We will endure, as Sally assures us she will, but we are facing great change to the place we come to “hear the music play.” It was to honor our home and mark the days of change ahead that made this seem so well timed.
Beyond its appropriateness as an ode to the Back Yard, ‘Cabaret’ is a sheer feat of film making. It is a haunting, painful and melancholy tale. The film is replete with moments that are at once funny, scary, sorrowful, and moving. The best example of these is Sally’s scream beneath the train trestle that leads to an obvious orgasm. In one small scene, we see the freedom of her spirit, the anguish of her circumstance, the simplicity of her pleasures and the inevitable, unyielding force of the world around her. I find it nothing short of remarkable.
I must continue now with the admission that I am abusing my power as Archivist to flush out my review after reading other’s Comments. The next paragraph was written to respond to Bobbi’s debut Commentary.
Bobbi- What the fuck, dude? You can’t write a Movienight review about wishing you were watching something different than you were. We may be geeks here and all, but come on man. ‘Cabaret’ the film is a film. Comparing any film based on material from another media is futile. They are apples and oranges. ‘Cabaret’ is the film it means to be, and I believe Bob Fosse made totally specific and educated choices when he assembled this film. The small stage is on purpose, and lamenting “Tomorrow Belongs to Me” is to forsake one of the greatest moments in the history of film. I am delighted to have you submitting to the site, but I feel as though you wrote your review because your care about your point more than the experience the Back Yard has to offer. I hope to hear more from you soon and often. Apologies to all for violating my own rules to add these thoughts, but Nubs told me to.
Still, for as much as I love this film, I knew I was running a risk. But that’s what Movienight is all about. I was delighted to find such a welcoming Crew for this Selection (Netti’s blatant and heart-breaking tardiness not withstanding). Thank you for indulging my love of Musicals, and letting me honor our friend Eric with a film I hoped he’d love. He and I have been discussing musicals for years and I always wanted him to see this film as a result. What better venue to finally share it with my friend then our own Kit Kat Club - The Back Yard.
Tomorrow belongs to you, Coolbaugh.
Onwards.
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