Cabaret

A musical par excellence. The film version of Cabaret has everything that was missing in the version I unfortunately saw in the Pilsen theatre some six years ago. It's vivid, believable, emotional, gripping... And I don't know what else. I really cannot agree with the opinions that musical numbers are not plot-forming and that the film could even do without them. The story is very firmly based on them, and if it had not been so masterfully handled, it would easily have become ordinary romantic kitsch from the early days of World War II. (21.05.2012)

Bob Fosse releases musicals from their stigma of loud and enthusiastic entertainment. However, it is so serious that he somehow forgot about the musical itself. The characters don’t sing, there are no stylized song sequences and the cabaret numbers aren’t instrumental in story creation. They just serve as an interlude between parts. So is this a musical or not? In my mind, not at all. Because it works as a regular drama. But in that case, the cabaret performances are sort of just to fill space, unnecessarily adding to the running time. I have some misgivings about Cabaret, because it doesn’t stick to one genre, but at the same time I like it, because it is so original. It may not be absolutely perfect, but even so... Rather paradoxically, the scene that harms the picture most is also the best scene with the “Hitlerjugend" and the cast assembled in the Biergarten. It is so effective, powerful, speaking volumes, but strangely the resulting feeling you get from it is limited only to that one scene. And that's not enough. (03.01.2008)

This is one of the few musicals where I feel that both the music and the story are great, although it could still be a bit better. However, they are both beautifully balanced and it's evident that Fosse really put effort into them, showcasing his incredible choreography skills and somewhat of a maniacal perfectionism. Nevertheless, everything fits him perfectly. (21.08.2015)

The pinnacle of Bob Fosse's work and one of the peaks in the musical film genre. It's not a musical in the true sense, though it employs some musical elements. The film builds on the contrast between the highly liberated artistic atmosphere of Berlin's cabaret scenes, full of decadence and provocation, and the mire of the economic crisis accompanied by the collapse of the Weimar Republic's political system and the rise of radical totalitarian ideologies. For Liza Minnelli, it was the role of a lifetime, making her a top-tier star. The evocative period atmosphere is created almost effortlessly, using extras and detailed camera shots. Excellent music, song lyrics, editing, cinematography, and acting performances. A film with substance. Overall impression: 100%. (17.05.2007)

In 1972, the Academy allowed itself to be taken in by cooked noodles and handed out a bunch of statues, unfortunately not just in the technical categories, to the hands of an easily forgettable musical, which does offer a surprisingly well-pointed love triangle, but technically has somewhat confused choreography and a somewhat hesitant resolution. The viewer can only penetrate the souls of the characters through Michael York's Brian, and the aura of the entire show is so impenetrable that, just like everything else, it is inaccessible even to the prominently protruding (and terribly unappealing) Liza Minnelli. The entire message of "The world around us is a cabaret" is then, like the whole film, strongly unsatisfying. (18.05.2007)