Cabaret-(1972) Film Summary/Analysis

Incredible, you did not even mention the antisemitism that the whole movie portrays, This Cabaret is four movies in one. The Sally and Brian story. The rise of the Nazis in 1930s Germany along with the beginning of the persecution of the Jews that ended in the Holocaust and the Musical numbers in the Kit Kat Club. Everything was brilliantly directed by Bob Fosse and superbly acted by the whole cast. One of the best movies in the History of this art.

I.A. you completely missed the point of this film by personalizing the story to be about one man struggling with his sexuality (very 2020s) and not about the decadence and social decay of the 1920s Germany which ushered in the Nazi era.

You completely ignored the antisemitism and the struggle Fritz has with coming to terms with his Jewish identity and how his love for Natalia allows him to overcome his fear of being ostracized and persecuted. The whole film is saturated with the coming doom for every major player in the story. If Fritz and Natalia remain in Germany after the Nazis come to full power, they will no doubt end in concentration camps (the fate of millions of Jews).
Notice that the opening scene of distorted reflections in the Cabaret there are no swastika armbands, but they are in the final shot. Brian's feckless attempt to confront Nazi thugs shows the weakness of England and the Allies, and the futility of trying to stop the Nazi rise to power. Brian's prophetic statement to Fritz, "Do you still think you can control them?" is a response to the aristocracy's belief that they could tolerate and use the evil of National Socialism to their own advantage, but when it no longer suited them, they could get rid of them. By the time the Nazis were done away with, Germany was in ruins, and the wealthy class was bankrupt. They were never able to control the Nazis.

The Cabaret was a microcosm of Germany in the 1920s and 30s. The audience was filled with lost souls seeking to escape the harsh realities of life. The Master of Ceremony was there to supply the illusion that in the fantasy world of the Cabaret, "everything is beautiful." But their attempts to keep out the growing horrors all around them failed, which was seen when the owner of the Cabaret is beaten to a pulp by Nazi thugs for trying to keep them outside.

Cabaret is far from a celebration of sexual freedom... it is a commentary on the social and moral decay that led to the total destruction of Germany. From top to bottom... from the wealthy aristocrats to the prostitutes and homosexuals... from the intellectuals to the Nazi street thugs... all was corrupt and doomed to be destroyed.

In the end, Sally - who is so self-absorbed and self-indulgent - has no clue about anything that is really going on around her. She simply disappears like a ghost into the crowd on the street. She is like so, so many others who pass through this life on earth never knowing why they are here and what is the true meaning and value of their existence.

For me, the most powerful scene in the entire film is at the country inn where the Nazi youths sing "Tomorrow belongs to me." It perfectly encapsulates the fantasy of the Nazi vision for the future - a vision that died in the nightmare reality that emerged once Hitler and his henchmen took power. The film is brilliant for its ability to provide us with deep look into the soul of Germany of the 1930s... and should give us a reason to look into the soul of our nation today...

Being bisexual isn't exactly as "wild" as you keep saying jsing lol. It's the old trope many of us bi people here, "obviously they are confused!"

I think you missed the point that no matter how we dress it up, we are the same people as the ones we label as "bad" and scary thibgs happen when you do nothing to improve yourself. It's a sad tale of decadence and indecision and the tragic human experience.

Funny how both Sally (Liza) and Dorothy (Judy) slept with gay men. straight guys watch out: your homophobia is losing your girls to us lol

There are a lot of elements of this film. I enjoyed that you focused on Brian and Sally’s relationship as that was the center of Isherwood’s original short story.

About this GREAT movie...about the USA, stating a son of Germany through England...somewhat true

what's funny is that the themes read entirely differently today, in a way that ultimately compromises the plot. The main plot is meant to be frivolous; young people finding themselves in irresponsible ways with main characters that are not meant to be entirely likable and situations designed to make a 1970s audience uncomfortable. It ends abruptly with nothing resolved, allowing the audience's knowledge of history to tie up loose ends...aaaalll the gay, trans, foreign, disabled, or (more prominently) Jewish loose ends. It was not intended to be empowering to women or gay people, in fact, it was designed to explicitly make those things feel small and pointless compared to the larger problem that should have occupied the main characters' thoughts, the ones that lead to their destruction. It makes you wonder how many things you missed and why, would you have been any different, are you any different? It's truly a masterpiece.

This film is strange, it encourages promiscuity and homosexuality while painting the "patriotic" Germans as wholesome. Shows the heroine too afraid to try settled life even though it would have been an upper middle class life, and shows discrimination against Nazis before they have done anything wrong. Despite all that we are suppsoed to support Minelli and York even though they were both unfaithful. Hollywood really did (and does) want to turn the world upside down.

great summary helped me pass my film quiz

From your way of talking we can understand that you probably most probably watched this movie while texting on your phone or watching other things like memes and so on. Please take off this video you made. 🥹

For fuck sake Brian is bisexual

People can't except that bi men aren't just gay men pretending

It appears like you've just been watching this film as though it were another musical, I can't believe how much you missed the point of the story. One Google search would have pointed you in a better direction 😂

I loved listening to this, I want to talk about this movie with you I feel like there’s more to talk about but I like your pov I want to hear more

lol Curb's theme sounds like a Kander and Ebb number!

This is, and probably always will be, my favorite movie of all time. I have never found anything to quite match it. There's been a few that came close: Mulholland Dr., Brokeback Mountain, Ordinary People, New York New York, Psycho 1960.

But it looks like for me it will always be Cabaret. I have seen it a million times and could watch it forever.

I think you missed the point entirely. Rather than condoning a hedonistic lifestyle, the film slams those who seek pleasure while ignoring the dangers around us (i.e., Nazism). All of the lead characters seem shallow and uninterested in the terror that will soon envelop them (except for the Jewish characters which your video ignores).

My grandmother took me to see it when I was 12. We also saw the roadshow on stage when I was nine. And she loved it.

This movie won 10 Academy Awards. I was in high school when it was released in the theaters. I remember it well.

The actor was gay, so I think that the character probably was too.

I wonder how old your grandma is.

I remember seeing Cabaret back in 72 (I was a junior in high school). I remember being absolutely shocked. And terrified. This was a movie that dealt seriously with two men having sex with each other. I saw it in a city out in West Texas. In 1972. I was convinced that everybody would see me either going into or coming out of the theater. And then they would KNOW! But of course that didn't happen and everything was fine. But it was still kinda traumatic.

Cabaret first existed in a much more sanitised version as a stage play. It had reasonably good music but a much more typical and less gripping plot. Unfortunately, one of the strongest characters in the play, Fraulein Schneider, the landlady, was not brought forward as a main character in the movie. Which is too bad, because she has two of the best songs in the play. Anyone wondering "how could Germans allow Hitler to come to power?" could not do better than ponder the messages in "So What?" and "What Would You Do?"

Dude, you completely missed the mark on the messages of the film. And I’m a 65 yr old baby boomer who is very familiar with the movie. Geez, we were teens when it came out for Pete’s sake.

I laughed at your comment that you wouldn’t watch this with your grandmother. She probably saw this when it came out. It was huge. Everyone saw it.

Nice video, but judging by your youthful voice, it's entirely possible your grandmother saw this movie in the theater first run. I'm 53 and my parents took me to see the musical in Chicago when I was 4. Bought me the soundtrack and everything. The 1970s were a lot more progressive than you young pups think.

One of the most potent stories warning you about the dangers of fascism and Nazism

Not sure about your "wouldn't watch it with your grandmother" comment. I'm in my mid 60's and I adore this film, IMHO it's the greatest musical ever made (it did win 8 Oscars). Bob Fosse was a genius. I was a teenager when it was released and I love it as much now as I did the first time I saw it. Don't forget, the grandmothers of today may well have been youngsters in the 1960's and 70's which for a lot of people were wild times, not that they'd go into details with their grandkids mind you.

Esoteric diamond
Mesmerising pure art
After 50 years
Most relevant like
Never before
4 reich
Global war operation
Cod name
Covid 19
Apsolut
Mesmerising
Masterpiece

Rip 🪦 Bob Fosse

How could you be a film enthusiast and not have heard of Cabaret? Lame.

In the last 30 years this film takes on a hole new meaning, it just shows how when you are under 30 yuo're thought processes are very naive. We are starting the loop again.

I believe your opinion on the film is valid. You’re looking at it from the perspective of the story itself and not the historical significance. I just finished watching it. All the history references went over my head. I saw the nazi scenes and thought it was random. I am not a good historian nor do I try to be. I believe history is important but I don’t always remember everything. This film is amazing for the history and the depiction for the subtle raise of the nazi’s and how berlin was a sort of safe place for people to indulge in their sexual desires, but for the story telling of the characters, not so good in that department. In my opinion, the characters lacked development. They had it but it didn’t feel like a whole lot. The main girl kind of did but she went back to her old ways because if it gave her a chance to be famous she wanted to take it. She kind of just proved the idea “once a thief always a thief”. I have many more likes and dislikes about the film, but I just wanted to say your opinion is valid. I didn’t watch the film when it came out. I wasn’t alive and nor am I a historian so historical significance didn’t hit me.

You have to wonder how Sally was raised or not raised, probably neglected. I think many people are raised that way.The narrator just hasnt lived enough.

Nazis, Communists, people took whatever brought a better life--or so they thought, not knowing or afraid of life then, starving and patheticly poor..
We have been lucky, so far in US, although we have had our moments--Civil War, KKK, MOB era, Great Depression WWI & WWII. McCarthy Era....

That guy was John the Baptist in the tv mini series Jesus of Nazareth amazing performance

I'm really worried by the lack of knowledge shown in this review. The writer of the original stories upon which this film was based was Christopher Isherwood, completely frank about his homosexuality and relationships in Berlin in the 1920s, when despite the beginnings of fascism every kind of sexuality was permissable. He wrote about a girl he knew, a platonic friend, who constantly got into every kind of trouble. The original stage version of Cabaret showed the MC character as vile, and the corruption all around, but the film was a totally different thing, the English teacher became bisexual (Christopher Isherwood was furious) and the stupid, hopeless girl became a brilliant singer and dancer of enormous talent (though no morals). But it rightly depicted the collapse of Berlin's freewheeling society and the horrific rise of Nazism.

Of course I saw the movie. I was 23 in 1972, when it came out. It is a film for the ages, espcially today with the rise of authoritarianism and neo-fascism as a grim contemporary reminder that it can happen again, maybe already is as the living memory of WWII fades. i would say that anyone who has not seen the film is culturally impoverished by missing this unique artistic snapshot of the human condition, culture, and the barbarism the lurks beneath the veneer of civilization.

O "lebens raum" teve inicio c a tomada do poder pelos nazis em 33,quando os judeus foram"convidados"a sair da Alemanha,desde que todo s patrimonio fosse propriedade do estado em troca do visto de saida!

Consequencia: mais empregos,mais residencias e lojas disponiveis p ",master race:

Very much enjoyed your review of Cabaret. Great to hear a young viewer appreciate this remarkable film. The film Cabaret is a work of art, and makes some powerful statements. Your analysis of the dynamic's of Brian and Sally's relationship is right on.

Just saw the play..subscribed to the channel 👍

Your grandmother might surprise you! Or maybe not; depends I guess. 😉

It's the story of where MAGA is going if left unchecked

As this video is 4 years old, even though you haven't posted videos in a few years, I'm really curious what you think of this film now!

Fosse was a brilliant director and choreographer and this film almost didn't get made. His sense of turning the carefree Cabaret into all the worst of Nazi Germany was great. The MC starts out friendly, but eventually becomes a full Nazi. Tomorrow Belongs to Me is one of the scariest scenes I've ever seen.

The point of the musical is "it can happen here." And unfortunately, it now is.

God I love how you describe everything so swiftly and fluently, you’re absolutely amazing! Simple and linear, without all of the 1mill x interpretations it’s brill🤍

Great review. 🏳‍🌈