| | |
Features: DVD, French/Spanish Subtitled, Biographies, Film Highlights, Notes, Trailers, Documentary, Widescreen, Dual Layer
Winner of eight Academy Awards, Cabaret brings 1931 Berlin to madcap and menacing life inside and outside the Kit Kat Club. There, starry-eyed singer/actress Sally Bowles (Liza Minnelli) and an impish emcee (Joel Grey) sound the clarion call to decadent fun, while in the streets a certain political party grows from laughing stock to brutal force. Cabaret caught lightning for Minnelli, Grey and director Bob Fosse, who shaped a triumph of style, showmanship and substance. All three won Oscars, as did cinematographer Geoffrey Unsworth and music supervisor Ralph Burns, who adapted the dynamic John Kander/Fred Ebb score, with "Mein Herr", "The Money Song" and "Maybe This Time" all newly supplied for the film.
"An exquisitely sculpted milestone in the history of the film musical." Los Angeles Times
Editor's Note
The final shot of the hit film CABARET is a Nazi meeting reflected in a mirror, providing the chilling historical subtext for this groundbreaking musical movie, set in prewar Berlin. Not since GONE WITH THE WIND (1939) had Hollywood produced a more successful film. CABARET was a convention-shattering story that dealt with themes like bisexuality that were still under the radar in the US. Additionally, CABARET made the enormously talented Liza Minnelli an American icon.Minnelli plays Sally Bowles, an aspiring singer and dancer. The main plot revolves around her relationship with two different men and her life as a singer at the Kit Kat Klub. The film utilizes the traditional conventions of American musical theater while adding in the fiendishly painted Master of Ceremonies (Joel Grey) who comments on the proceedings through song and dance. Director Bob Fosse showcases the range of his vision as a director of stage and screen, serving as both choreographer and musical director. Based on the Kander-Ebb musical from John van Druten's play I AM A CAMERA (which, in turn, was derived from Christopher Isherwood's novel GOODBYE|TO BERLIN), CABARET was nominated for 10 Academy Awards and won eight,|making it one of the most acclaimed films in movie history.
Plot Summary
Sally Bowles, a singer at the Kit Kat Klub, is an American caught up in the faux-glamour of prewar Berlin. Although Sally giddily ignores the decadence that has begun to permeate every aspect of society, her Jewish friend Natasha cannot; Natasha constantly faces persecution by Nazi authorities, and her lover has entirely hidden his Jewish identity.| But Sally continues to bury herself in her own problems: in addition to the difficulties of sharing her bisexual English lover with a wealthy German homosexual, she keeps getting more and more drawn in by the sleazy and sinister atmosphere of the Kit Kat Klub.
| Features | Production Notes | | Audio: English Dolby Stereo | | Subtitles: English, French, Spanish | | Original Theatrical Trailer | | 15 Minute Documentary With New Liza Minnelli, Joel Gery, Michael York Interviews | | Biographies | | 25th Anniversary Commemorative Documentary (1997) Featuring Reminisences By Liza Minnelli, Joel Grey, Michael York, Cy Feuer, John Kander And Others On Cabaret's Creative Team | | Never-Before-Seen Outtakes And Screen Tests | | Original Behind-The-Scenes Documentary Featurette (1972) |
| Technical Info
|
Release Information
| | Studio: Warner |
| Release Date: 4/28/1998 |
| Running Time: 124 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 1972 | | Catalog ID: 785 | | UPC: 00012569078529 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: English | | Available Audio Tracks: English [CC], English | | Available Subtitles: English, French, Spanish | | Video: Color |
| Cast & Crew
| Awards |
Oscar (1973) |  | Liza Minnelli, Winner, Best Actress | | Bob Fosse, Winner, Best Director | | Ralph Burns, Winner, Best Music, Original Score | | Joel Grey, Winner, Best Supporting Actor |
|
| | Professional Reviews | Total Film
"...It's a dark, sexy beast of a film....Minnelli's Oscar-winning turn is touching and vivacious..." 08/01/2002 p.102Sight and Sound
"...[With] superb production design..." 01/01/2003 p.58 Entertainment Weekly
"...This was revolutionary stuff..." 01/11/2002 p.34 Empire
"No escapist song-and-dance extravaganza, this is a film with a heart of darkness." 02/01/2008 p.145 Movie Reviews UK 9 of 10
Much more than just a terriffic musical, Cabaret delves naturally into the politics surrounding Hitler's rise to power... Minnelli [is] awesome on the stage and naively convincing off of it. Matching her, the entrancing Master of Ceremonies (Joel Grey) injects humour and pathos, effervescence and solidity into the proceedings. - Damian Cannon
|
| |
|
|
|
