What's the AFI Project, you ask? For more information, or if you just enjoy my bemused ramblings, read here: http://www.spout.com/blogs/pippin06/archive/2008/3/1/25756.aspx
Cabaret is on the following AFI lists:
100 Greatest Film Songs (#18 - "Cabaret")
25 Greatest Movie Musicals (#5)
The Revised Top 100 (#63)
If you'll notice, Cabaret is one of the films that did not make the original AFI Top 100 list but made it into the tenth anniversary edition, and all the way up to number 63. I am not exactly sure why. Don't get me wrong, it's an enjoyable musical film, filled with toe-tapping songs and dances (including the famous title song), social commentary in a historical context, and true-to-life situations in fantastic circumstances. It has its place, but is it one of the 100 greatest American films of all time? I don't know if I can answer that question here, but I do know that it is not my favorite film.
In 1931 Berlin, the rise of the Nazi party is played against the backdrop of an underground club called the Kit Kat Club, which features (yes) cabaret performances of the debauch and eye-raising type. The androgynous Master of Ceremonies (Joel Grey) introduces his musical girlie shows with a wink and a smile, and all of the musical numbers are set in the club, lyrically commenting on the tug of war between the hedonism of the club and the growing popularity (and cruelty) of the Nazi party. Brian Roberts (Michael York), a British transplant and philosophy student, comes to Berlin in the hopes of becoming a teacher. There, he meets one of the cabaret performers, the flamboyant American Sally Bowles (Liza Minnelli), a talented songstress (natch) with an unyielding devil-may-care attitude. There they form a friendship and an eventual romance, until they meet the rich and doting Maximillian, who showers them with attention, gifts, and sex. The pair's inability to commit to each other, through Sally's emotional shortcomings and Brian's bisexuality, leads to a struggle to hang onto something; the decline of their friendship seems to symbolize the degradation of the national mindset around them.
I like this film, but, like I said above, it's not my favorite. Liza is fabulous, and to prove it, she won an Oscar. In fact, the film won eight, including Best Director (but it lost Best Picture to the Godfather). Liza plays one of the most fully-realized and flawed female characters to ever hit movie screens with great charisma and spirit, and that voice can only be topped by her famous mother (that's Judy Garland for you unknowing types). The other actors are also good, particularly the wonderful Joel Grey, who plays the part of knowing narrator with flair and fun. Also, Cabaret is a Fosse special, and all of the musical numbers are great fun to watch, condensed though they are into the small stage venue of the Kit Kat Club.
The story is resonant, even though it's period. It's also sophisticated for the decade in which it was made, addressing hard-hitting themes including sexual freedom versus responsibility and abortion.
I don't love this film, though, or this musical because I feel like it never decides what it wants to be. Is it the story of Sally and Brian as friends? As tragic lovers? The story of a nation on the brink of war? The story of a club and its patrons trying to remain true to its hedonistic spirit despite what's going on around them? I know it's all of these things, but the plot, what there is of it, does so much jumping around that there are times when I feel a little bored with making the mental switch each time it leaps. The B-story of Fritz and Natalia seems to be the more compelling romance, but it flits in and out of frame so often, it's hard to feel all that compelled. I just feel distracted when I watch this film, though I will say that it was more enjoyable on first viewing. I am thinking it just doesn't hold up to repeat viewings as much as others.
Also, it's not really a musical in the classical sense: none of the musical numbers actually drives the plot. Instead, they sort of punctuate the social discourse in which the film attempts to engage, and that lack of cohesion fuels my distractions. A scene may be in progress, the frame suddenly flashes to the club where the Master of Ceremonies sings a song that may or may not have anything to do with what was just seen, and then the film jumps again to something entirely different. My short attention span--and I have a short one--is surprisingly challenged by this film.
Still, Cabaret has its place in American cinema because of what it is and what it did or attempted to do at the time it was made. I'm just not convinced that it deserves to be one of the 100, much less #63. The first list's number 63 was Stagecoach, though, so in that sense, the AFI traded up. If I were to give Cabaret my personal rating, it would definitely be an 8 (minor flaws/very good). It doesn't pass the test, however. I watched it a second time for this AFI Project thing, but I probably won't watch it again, for all the reasons I stated above. Though, of course, that won't stop me from singing, "Wilkomm, bienvenue, welcome..."