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Cabaret - 30th Anniversary Special Edition [1972]


RRP: £19.99
Our Price: £4.75 (subject to change)

Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review

Cabaret is one of those film musicals whose cultural and stylistic influence extend well beyond the cinema. It confirmed Bob Fosse's status as one of the boldest choreographers of the 20th century and gave Liza Minnelli an early peak in a film career which would never scale such heights again. Minnelli is both the film's strength--on its own merits her performance is an Oscar-winning tour de force--and weakness. The real Sally Bowles was a third-rate performer and just one of a rich gallery of characters; here, the constant allowances for Minnelli's star turns and mannerisms ultimately throw the story off balance. But the source material is impeccable: Kander and Ebb's stage show, based on the autobiographical stories of Christopher Isherwood, has long since been acknowledged a classic. The songs, augmented by some new numbers in the film, are ageless.

Joel Grey from the original Broadway production is the Emcee, the master of ceremonies who, with his Kit Kat Klub girls, provides a depraved Greek chorus satirising the rise of the Nazi regime and the lazy complacency of the 1930s Berlin cabaret-goers. The "divine decadence" tag is only part of the story, though. Cabaret still works a sinister, uncomfortable magic which sets it apart as a uniquely powerful film musical.

On the DVD: Cabaret's 30th Anniversary Special Edition is packed with extras which include a scratchy "making of" documentary from 1972 and a retrospective from 1997, the latter featuring reminiscences from the cast. There’s also the original theatrical trailer, though in the absence of the late director Fosse the lack of some kind of commentary is a disappointment. The picture itself, presented in widescreen 16:9 letterbox format with a Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo soundtrack, gleams as sharply, visually and aurally, as it did on its first release. --Piers Ford


Surprisingly risque...
Review date: 2008-04-13 Rating: 10 out of 10

The fantasist Sally Bowles, played delectably by Liza, is superbly cast as the American tart-with-a-heart opposite the seemingly-wooden but similarly amoral Michael Yorke. Opening in 1931 Berlin and the Kit-Kat Club, the latter spawning louche displays of extravagance, while outside Hitler gears up to take control of Germany.

The all-knowing, omnipresent master of ceremonies and the light fantasy of the club contrast poignantly with the slow-burning deepening of the relationships between the protagonists, including an intriguing three-wayer.

Cabaret is a metaphor for life: we'd like it to be a Cabaret, but the reality is often quite different. As Jonathan Swift wrote: 'Happiness is the art of being well-deceived' and its a moot point as to whether or not Sally or Brian are ever happy, or indeed Max. As for the master of ceremonies, played by a man with one of the most enduring faces in cinema, he sings Sally and us through a world which is gone forever but is paradoxically still with us. The final cymbal clash, and the resulting silence leave much food for thought.

A Bob Fosse musical, but its enduring popularity has much to do with its deeper side. Very much worth watching and the 30th anniversary disc does give you some useful extras for a few pence more.

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Reviews


Before its ...time?
Review date: 2007-03-25 Rating: 10 out of 10

This ending (with R E S P E C T to the previous review) is about how she (Sallie) picked HER career over a Man (a woman can, did you know?) Then, the character rings true--is she going to love herself because she (a woman/human) has a man??

The singing is terrific, and, since she is doing well on stage and since she is in love with a "nice" guy, makes her excited about her life for the first time in years. She is ready to break out of her life rut. Break out big! "This Time"--she thinks--with her faulty reasoning. So, she (has to) salvage her New Life, by saying "goodbye" (isn't he gay, even to her?) to the man and "hello, Career."

Ringing true finally, the Minnelli value in the film goes up to where the Initial (1972) reviews placed it--her best role, her acting is impeccable, and her singing and dancing places her in the "upstaging Barbra Streisand" class. In my humble opinion, "Cabaret" is great because of the Director Fosse And it main star (and script)

Also, the "decadent" ways described are just "Before their Time" and this truth/observation, the Nazis, Especially, Could Not Handle. All in all, a truly non-dated classic (as a history intro and as a great film)

Almost Perfect
Review date: 2006-04-08 Rating: 8 out of 10

If you could another leading lady into this film, it would be just about perfect; Bob Fosse not only handles the musical sequences in this film deftly, but he creates the chaotic whirl of a disintegrating Weimar Germany quietly and sharply. And most of the actors more than distinguish themselves; Michael York as the Oxford graduate out to see a bit of life and getting more than he bargained for; Joel Gray as the death's-head Emcee of the Kit-Kat Klub, the voice of a cynical, corrupt society that ultimately, in the wake of the Nazi triumph, will seem like a lost paradise of sorts; Fritz Wepper as the dapper gigolo with a heart, and Marisa Berenson as the elegant Jewish heiress to whom he loses that heart.

And then there's Liza Minnelli--strictly as a musical performer, she's quite good in the lighter numbers, particularly "Money, Money" with Gray--but the title song and the ballad "Maybe This Time" bring out her soggiest please-love-me mannerisms. And in the dramatic sequences, sharply written by Jay Presson Allen and an uncredited Hugh Wheeler, she is too cute, too shrill, and finally too nice to be playing the casually-awful Sally Bowles. When she drops York at the end of the film, almost as casually as she picked him up at the beginning, it doesn't ring true.

Ultimately, this film is a bit sad, because it suggests that Fosse's talents went far beyond simple razzle-dazzle. He had it in him to be a serious filmmaker on a range of subjects, and he never quite moved beyond his show-biz turf to explore those talents. Which is a pity, especially when you consider that smaller talents such as Coppola and Scorcese were allowed to become the New Face of American Cinema . . .

great stage acts!
Review date: 2006-03-16 Rating: 10 out of 10

This film as a story is perfectly OK, Mr. York and Mrs. Minelli are good, amusing, touching, etc., etc. The ambiance is enticing & exciting.

However, the Kit Kat Klub scenes are absolutely fabulous. I return again & again to these song & dance routines. They are great in details great (lyrics, choreography) and small (costumes, lighting).

"Tomorrow belongs to me."
Review date: 2005-12-18 Rating: 8 out of 10

There is several recordings form stage to this movie out there. This movie has songs that you remember and probably sing in the shower. It is also the only movie production of the play therefore even though it is exceptional there is no comparison.

I appreciate books that become movies and movies that are novelized. So naturally I read Christopher Isherwood's "Berlin Stories". They were o.k. However, it was not Cabaret by any stretch of the imagination.

What I found interesting is that I always heard that Germans liked to sing of things as the deer in the field and so forth. Here there was a perfect example when they broke into song with "Tomorrow Belongs to Me" You are swept up in it and forget that this is just a movie. The pacing and photography in the movie was excellent.

As long as you did not see the play you will not notice the absence of some songs such as "Don't Tell Mama" and thing that "Money Money" is a natural.

On the darker side the movie is more than just a musical romp through Germany. And the specter of the approaching NSDAP regime is also well portrayed.

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Helmut Griem
Joel Grey
Liza Minnelli
Fritz Wepper
Michael York

Creators:
Liza Minnelli (Primary Contributor)
Michael York (Primary Contributor)
Geoffrey Unsworth (Cinematographer)
Cy Feuer (Producer)
Harold Nebenzal (Producer)
Christopher Isherwood (Writer)
Jay Presson Allen (Writer)
Joe Masteroff (Writer)
John Van Druten (Writer)

Director(s):

Recording label: Fremantle Home Entertainment
Manufacturer: Fremantle Home Entertainment
EAN: 5030697004444
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: PAL, Widescreen,
Release date: 2002-09-09
Number of discs: 1
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Audience rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 119 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1972-02-13
Language: English (Original Language)
Language: German (Original Language)
Language: Hebrew (Original Language)

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