Spoiler Alert: Not for the Faint of Vice

Movie: Cabaret

Rank: 63

Year: 1972

Director: Bob Fosse

Cast: Liza Minnelli, Michael York, Helmut Griem, Joel Grey

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*Editor’s Note: My apologies, dear dedicated 3 readers, for the delay in my latest post. Not one to be dramatic, but I have been busy dying of the plague. While things have been seemingly better, it is not unheard of to have a “last good day.” If anything below doesn’t seem to make sense, send condolences and flowers to my parents on the imminent tragedy befalling their most beloved daughter.

Willkommen to this cabaret called life. Amongst the cigarette smoke and liquor-tinged breath, you will find a cast of characters who wear their vices on their sleeves as if badges of honor amid a growing Nazi presence in 1931 Berlin. (Didn’t know Cabaret was about the rise of Nazis? Well, you’re not alone! I only recently found out while watching the CNN documentary miniseries, The Movies.)

The Kit Kat Klub is a sanctuary for the artists, the othered and the flamboyant. Or, it is a hotbed for the perverse, depending on the viewpoint of a 1931 German populace. On any given night, hookers, drag queens, queer people and those down for a good time collect. Taking the stage, American Sally Bowles donning her signature deep-V pixie cut with curled side burns and red lips dreams of becoming a star. Amongst the audience is British doctorate student, English teacher and Sally’s boarding house neighbor, Brian Roberts. Every bit the foil to Sally’s liberated view of life, Brian mixes his confusion over his sexuality with a tightly-wound repressed attitude. Nearby, Maximilian “Max” von Heune is a rich baron who proves to be the sugar daddy of Sally’s dreams. Around any corner is a scantily clad dancer donning bedazzled patches over her kibbles and bits (perhaps inspiration for the future vagazzling trend) or a mud wrestler ready for the show.

During the day, however, they must deal with the increasingly complicated world beyond the Klub’s doors.

Initially, Sally sets her sights on bedding Brian, including an attempt at luring him with her “prairie oyster” concoction of raw egg and Worcestershire sauce. Don’t mind me, in my weakened state, over here gagging at the thought of such a “beverage.”  Unfortunately for Sally, he described three failed sexual experiences with women with the unsaid insinuation he is gay lingering in the air.

"Outside it is windy, but inside it is so hot, every night we have ze battle to keep the girls from taking off all their clothing. So don't go away, who knows? Tonight we may lose the battle!"

- Master of Ceremonies, Cabaret

However, during a break in Sally’s bubbling façade, she cries over being let down by her dad once again and ponders being “just nothing.” Say it with me now: daddy issues! To cheer her up, Brian kisses her and they both smile at his apparent erection deeming it to be the fault of sleeping with the wrong three girls. After their coitus, he flexes while repeating one of her more narcissistic lines: “doesn’t my body drive you wild with desire.”

Cut together with their recent relationship shift are scenes of Sally singing onstage about getting lucky, just one incident of the onstage music mirroring the plot or driving the story.

Things seem to be going well for our Sally and Brian in the romance department. Maybe he isn’t gay? Then enters Max. After Sally is inappropriately affectionate with him and accepting all of his gifts, Sally and Brian join Max at his country estate. It should be said, Brian seems uneasy with this relationship and at one point, Max even enters the room of a sleeping Sally and Brian. We are left to wonder if their relationship wasn’t as trustworthy as Sally tried to portray it.

At this estate, things take a turn. And by a turn, I mean their whole dynamic turns fully upside down. One drunken night, it seems fairly apparent that Brian wants to, pardon my française, bone Max. I fully thought the ménage à trois sung about on stage would become an actuality. However, Brian is put to sleep on the couch and Sally suspiciously follows after Max. Fun fact, Max is actually married but has an “arrangement” with his wife. At a recent bachelorette, a guy from a bachelor party hit on a member of our party with a similar claim. Let’s just say, his attempts were a lost cause. Max, however, I think is finding himself to be luckier.

The day after their drunken escapades, things seem to have shifted. Sally for the first time, maybe in her life, passes on champagne and looks worse for wear while Max seems rather flirty with Brian.

"Doesn't my body drive you wild with desire?"

- Sally Bowles, Cabaret

Cutting to the chase: they were both secretly banging Max. Not an unfamiliar storyline, I have seen it play out twice on Will and Graceas Will and Karen both hooked up with Charles Shaughnessy during the initial run and Will and Grace both hook up with Nick Offerman in the revival.

Sally soon finds out she’s pregnant, with a loud outburst in a library. After revealing there’s no way to know the paternity, Sally says she knows a doctor who costs a lot, so she would have to hand over her fur coat if she were to end things. Brian suggests they marry and raise the baby together, but as time goes on it becomes obvious the initial joy of this proposition is wearing on Sally as she imagines the impact of a child on her dreams of stardom. Brian seems to be out of sorts, as well, likely wrestling with a heterosexual marriage for his queer truth. One night, she slips out and when she comes back without her coat, Brian realizes the decision she made. He, in turn, will return to England.

Cabaret does have a rather compelling B-plot, especially given the context of the time and location this is set. One of Brian’s English students, Fritz Wendel, is pursuing another, Natalia Landauer. Fritz is a gigolo and sees Natalia as a meal ticket. Natalia, a refined heiress always accompanied by her dog, is not naïve to his motives. However, after realizing his feelings are true, Fritz is lovesick over initiating romance. Upon a joking suggestion by Sally, Fritz throws himself at Natalia and it works. However, Natalia reveals they can’t be together because she is Jewish and he is not. This prompts Fritz to reveal he is only passing as non-Jewish and owns his religion to be with Natalia. Knowing the danger of his reveal, they marry.

These characters really have some rather zig-zagging arcs. The reason for Sally’s frantic nature is given, but in the end, she makes decisions only for her life and her dream. Even after we find out the truth about her relationship with her father, we see Brian knowingly watch as she regales others with their false escapades and affections. A particularly small but poignant moment, Sally even pretends to have a four-leaf clover when it is actually two clovers she is holding together. When she and Brian part ways, the world around them has changed, but she still goes up alone to sing about living life like a cabaret. Brian, having explored parts of himself he had yet acknowledge and giving the hetero-life a shot, returns to England. Natalia has loosened up and Fritz has owned his truth in the face of danger.  

On the surface, at least initially, the growing Nazi presence is a foot note. Then, a man’s brutal murder is intercut with a performance. A scene full of laughter is cut off as the next shows a stream of blood following another brutal Nazi outing. A sweet song by a young man about how tomorrow belongs to him turns sour as it pans out to reveal he is a Nazi and most of the patrons at a restaurant join him. They see tomorrow as theirs while the song takes on a militant vibe. Other residents of the boarding house start to believe the Nazi propaganda. Natalia’s canine companion is slain and left on her doorstep. Brian, in a rage, tells off a Nazi and gets beaten. The Emcee dances with an ape while singing about how she doesn’t look Jewish through his eyes. The final shot of the movie, paralleling the initial introduction of the Kit Kat Klub, reveals a distorted reflection in the metal wall of a Nazi audience. This sanctuary is no more.

"Screw Maximillian!" - Brian Roberts, Cabaret

"I do." - Sally Bowles

"So do I." - Brian Roberts

Max dismissively claims the Nazis are necessary to drive out communism and can be dealt with later. This movie seemingly shows the flighty whims of a wannabe actress and the struggles of sexuality amongst a student are not the biggest problems they will face. The morality of the country was changing and even the richest among them, like Natalia, would not be safe when bigotry and violence took hold.

While the plot of this film was wild, to say the least, the camera work was masterful. The shots, angles and cuts were never safe. During dance numbers, including Sally’s first big performance, the cuts become more frequent and varied as the vibe of the song caught up. The sweet song only turned menacing once the shot revealed the truth of the patrons. During the fight over the abortion that finally breaks Sally and Brian, the shot is fuzzy and her face loses focus. The final shot of Nazis are simple, but rather done as a distorted reflection of a new reality for the Kit Kat Klub. With the help of lighting, Sally sings as if emanating rays from her limbs or if in total darkness during “Life is a Cabaret.”

What’s more shocking, quite frankly, is the praise this movie got given the subject matter, the morals of the setting and the morals of the era it was released. This movie won Bob Fosse the Oscar for Best Direction over Francis Ford Coppola’s work on The Godfather. I’m surprised the legacy of such a scandalous film hasn’t been marred by societal norms.

P.S. Can we agree this Emcee is creepy? I mean it was an Oscar winning role, but when his face popped up at the beginning it was low key terrifying. Then, while schmoozing Max’s fancy friends, his face appeared to Sally in a vision of sorts.

P.P.S. I must admit, this is the only thing other than Arrested Developmentin which I have watched Liza Minnelli. Funnily enough, Sally is clearly arrested in her development.

P.P.P.S. In a full circle moment, this movie was directed by Fosse and was shown in the show Fosse/Verdonin which Michelle Williams played Gwen Verdon. She also played Sally on Broadway, though according to Wikipedia there are some notable differences when adapted for the screen.