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Scott McCulloch A & E Editor Editor's note: To mark the SCC Drama Series' upcoming production of "Cabaret," Arts and Entertainment Editor Scott McCulloch headed to the local video store for a "preview," courtesy of the 1971 Oscar-nominated film. BERLIN, 1931 - Inside the rollicking Kit Kat Club, American expatriate Sally Bowles and company amuse their gin-swilling patrons by dishing out loud, brassy and lewd song and dance routines. In the streets outside, a political party, considered a joke by many, slowly gains popularity through simplistic appeals for racial purity and nationalism. If that sounds like two quite different movies, that's exactly how it seemed watching Director Bob Fosse's 1972 screen adaptation of the musical "Cabaret." But it's not just Nazis and young fraus flashing their frilly bloomers - this film also tackles issues of class and sexual relations at a time of changing mores - never has 1931 looked so much like 1971. Sally Bowles (Liza Minelli) is a young American singer trying to use her nightly performances at the Kit Kat Club as a launching pad to a film career. Sally unabashedly sleeps with anyone she thinks might help her out in this area, though men who are fabulously wealthy or have a "Von" tucked between their first and last names definitely have a leg up on the competition. Sally blurts out her intention to become a film star to anyone who will listen, leaving the audience with the feeling that she may not be 100-percent sure that her dream will one day come true. She bides time before her big break by drinking lots of gin and hitting on her new neighbor, Brian Roberts (Michael York), the polite and boyishly handsome Briton who makes money by teaching English for three Marks an hour. Brian's sexuality is left ambiguous, imbuing every glance and toss of his tousled hair with extra meaning. Naturally, a relationship soon develops. Between Sally and Brian steps Maximilian Von Heune (Helmut Griem), a dashing yet rakish baron who spends his time crisscrossing Germany in his luxury motorcar, bedding young starlets and spending money like thereีs no tomorrow. Little does he know - there isn't. The film splits its time between this love triangle, musical numbers at the Kit Kat Club, and unsettling scenes of the nascent Nazi party rallying Germans to its cause. There is also a subplot involving a friend of Brian's who is Jewish but is passing as a Christian. He falls in love with a Jewish woman and must choose an identity - a decision he knows, at that time of growing anti-Semitism in Germany, will have consequences much further down the line than his prospective marriage. A scene early in the film cuts between a performance onstage at the club and a man getting beaten to a bloody pulp by a couple of Nazis on the stairway outside. From then on, I felt a foreboding in all of the scenes at the club, no matter how boisterous and fun they were supposed to be. Thereafter, the spotlight on stage seemed to set off the dark, ominous background, as much as the painted faces of the performers. That basement dive is now as much refuge from reality as it is a celebration of life. The performers, the spectators - and the audience - are now in hiding. Renowned choreographer Bob Fosse did a fine job as director, with crisp photography of the floodlit performances onstage at the Kit Kat Club, and rich, comforting shots of the sun-dappled German countryside. Both the film "Chicago," which was inspired by Fosse's choreography, and Baz Luhrman's "Moulin Rouge" owe a great deal to this film, especially the latter, with a closely matching plotline revolving around a nightclub heroine with dreams of stardom, caught in a love triangle. I found the only drawback in this film to be the nightclub heroine, Minelli, who won an Oscar for her performance here. Minelli is a talented singer, but her personality is so grating I wanted to mute some of the scenes she was in. She may be playing a brash American living abroad, but she is so obnoxious, she is difficult to watch. That's not good acting - that's Liza Minelli. Still, the rest of the film is good enough to recommend wading through Minelli's snorting guffaws and drama queen antics to get to it. If you saw "Chicago" and, as I did, thought it was heartless, check out "Cabaret." The music and lyrics are by the same writing team (Kander and Ebb) and are in the same jazzy, brazen, 1920s style. This film, however, has characters the audience truly cares about, especially as we know, even if they don't, that they are singing, dancing and fornicating on the brink of the Holocaust and World War II. They're not just entertaining, they're staving off death. Strike up the band, and pass the absinthe. SCC's production of "Cabaret" will run May 16, 17, 22, 23 and 24 in the Campus Theatre. Tickets are $8-$12 through the SCC Ticketline, (206) 546-4606. © 2003 Shoreline Community College™ |