Cabaret & the Seductive Power of Evil
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 มิ.ย. 2024
- It’s 1971 in a filthy German nightclub, and Liza Minnelli is starting to think she’s made one of the worst mistakes of her life -- and she's not the only one. But what nobody realizes is that the weird little low-budget queer musical they're making would become the stuff of Hollywood legend. This is the story of Cabaret - the film that made icons out of its stars, transformed the very genre of movie musicals, influenced art and culture for decades to come from Chicago to Schitt’s Creek ... and served as a warning that’s as timely today as it was back then.
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"The Nazis were seen as useful because they opposed the Communists" is such an important detail about the rise of Nazism and why nobody did anything at first until it was too late. In all of history this has been a pointed topic where the US and other countries would prop up or install a dangerous leader in a foreign country because they were anti-Communist. It was very us vs. them, but in that process of installing these leaders there were other horrible consequences of their actions.
Yep, the people in charge of Germany made a HUGE mistake when they made Adolf Hitler chancellor!
They are still at it. We have right wing morons everywhere equating communism with fascism while they endorse actual fascist policies
It's also why liberals in the US are so willing to turn a blind eye toward fascists because they hate communists much more than they hate fascism. Oh, they love to pretend to be against fascism but that just means they intentionally define fascism in very narrow terms so they can keep enabling it while proudly proclaiming how "progressive" they are.
Hate to say it, but I also see parallels to modern America. All those folks who've lost the plot in the name of keeping power and serving their corporate masters.
Yes! Business interests will always back anticommunists, be they liberals or fascists. Virtually every instance of regime change the US participates in is to support anticommunists. Even if they’re self-described communists themselves, like the Khmer Rouge.
"SCREW MAXIMILLAN!" ".....I am." ".....So am I."
Iconic behavior.
I DO . . . So do I
Actually "I DO." "So do I."
I was so young I didn't know why I was thinking, WHO is that gorgeous guy with a lopsided smile whatername is playing with?""""😆😆😆😆😆😆
More like BI-conic! 😃 🩷💜💙
…I’ll see myself out.
In the original he says fuck.
Forget horror movies, I feel the ending of Cabaret all the way in my bones. I remember showing it to a partner who had zero interest in it. By the end he was just sitting there in stunned silence. He finally said, “That’s not what I expected. At. All.” I’m so glad Hot Mess Fosse managed to make this amazing movie. It’s been a favorite of mine since I was too young to understand anything but the dancing, singing, and costumes.
Before I saw Cabaret, I didn't think I liked any musicals, but it easily won me over. Its ability to connect to different audiences is a testament to how well everything works together.
It is in my opinion, a slow burn dystopian horror movie. It's mind bending and thrilling. Think of some of the Twilight Zone episodes, same sort of chill.
I saw it on stage with Eddie Redmayne as the MC in 2022.
I was familiar with some songs but not the plot.
I, along with many others were floored when the military arm band was revealed.
It was an incredible watch.
And I have tried to force friends to watch Sweet Charity, to no avail.
The dance sequence in Ghost World is iconic though. Thanks Bob!
@@jerrimenard3092you should look into the TV movie Evening Primrose by Stephen Sondheim. It's a true Twilight Zone musical.
@@Dorian_sapiensit’s so great when a movie can do that. Have you enjoyed any other musicals?
My parents and I saw Cabaret in a large theater. When the Emcee says that you can't tell the gorilla is Jewish, the audience gasped. But - - - a few years later I was listening to a radio station when it played Tomorrow Belongs to Me as if it was a normal song.
Other musicals have addressed controversial topics such as racism in South Pacific and Showboat but I think your point is well taken that Cabaret was - start to finish - much darker. Also to your point is that an audience will regard the cabaret as being a refuge from the horrors outside - until it shows itself the same as the outside. All in all, it was staggering in its effect.
It's also a misunderstood song. Remember that the gorilla doesn't drink, reads, is cultured, and has all the virtues the emcee lacks. It's sardonic and satyrical and can very easily cross the line - and was intended to do so.
Tomorrow Belongs To Me is, IMHO, the scariest song in film history. The first time I saw it, it gave me "bad goosebumps". It still does!
the ending of both the movie and stage musical Cabaret give me nightmares to this day it’s so so effective and incredible
Yeah me too!!! Every production has found such GREAT ways of connecting it to contemporary times, it always feels like it was written for "right now," whether that means the 1930s or 1960s or 1970s or 2020s.
I went to an MCC performance in San Francisco circa 1998 and it was amazing. That "Tomorrow Belongs" song chilled me to the bone.
And timely.
I love Joel Grey as the MC, but I also really like Alan Cumming. I'm just the right age to have seen ads for it before I ever found the original.
@@AbsurdlyGeeky the only problem I have with that particular production was revealing the striped pajamas at the end, it seemed over dramatic and unnecessary, some things are better left to the audience imagination, we all know the horrors to come and the distorted reflection of brown shirts and swastikas in the final scene of the movie was all the more haunting and disturbing
My late music teacher was appearing in the German production of 'Sweet Charity' while Fosse was filming Cabaret, so he was also pulled in as an extra in some crowd scenes. He told me when he introduced himself to Liza she went wide-eyed and said "Oh my GOD, you're an AMERICAN?! How wonderful!" Exactly like you'd expect Sally Bowles to react.
Every time I hear Fosse, it reminds me of an animated Robin Williams going “Fosse Fosse Fosse!” in ‘The Birdcage’.
Literally what I started singing when I saw the title. Lol
@@rookangelofmercy7283 Fosse! Fosse! Fosse! Twyla! Twyla! Twyla!
😂 same!
"But you keep it all inside"
@@dharusiokay9426 MADONNA MADONNA MADONNA
When I first saw Cabaret I was a minor that had the knowledge that I was queer, but my conservative family wouldn't understand. This movie made me realize that for my own safety I could only be myself around people like me, and shelter myself around those that could hurt me. I didn't come out to my family until I was an adult that could stand on my own two feet, but this movie was so important to me. I understood the messages in the storyline, and could relate to the human struggle of not being what others wanted you to be. It's one of those movies I return to every year just to remind myself that the danger of this world can be close to home and sitting right next to you.
Me, same, to the point that I remember what theater I saw Cabaret in in 1972, when I was 14. I was big for my age, so I went alone to one of those theaters that had reduced rates after the first run was over. It devastated me! It has always been in my top 5 films. "All That Jazz" is in my Top 10 -- Bob Fosse was a genius!
When anybody asks me what do I feel is the most chilling scene in movie history I always reply the “Tomorrow Belongs to Me” scene.
Yeah, with the perfect gut-punch line at the end.
For sure!
Same
Yeah, the first time I heard this I was in another room and had to go into the tv room to find why I was getting the creeps. Watching that scene stayed with me for days.
If there is ever a list of the most disturbing musical theater songs, tomorrow belongs to me is definitely number one. I’m surprised no one’s ever done or published a list like that for an article or a video.
The real problem with Sweet Charity is that by the time the stage play got filmed 3 years later, its excessive use of modern stylings of 1966 were already horribly dated, for how fast everything was changing that decade.
Part of Caberet’s genius was making it a period piece, and thus timeless.
That's a good point. It looks SO mid-60s, especially the hippie stuff in the Rhythm of Life song.
@@MattBaume It’s a pleasure now that it has aged into a period piece, and thank god Chita Rivera finally got cast in a movie, after the West Side Story snub.
Now post Carnaby St. we can enjoy the aesthetic!
I disagree.
I LOVED "Sweet Charity."
However, there was a very simple reason why the movie version of this show failed. "Sweet Charity," like "Damn Yankees," was not relatable to the general public.
The civil rights movement made "Cabaret" relatable. The O.J. trial basically resurrected "Chicago."
@@MattBaumeMatt, did you ever check out the very early I Love Lucy episode ‘Lucy Thinks Ricky Is Trying To Murder Her’? It’s the 4th episode of the show but might have been the first one shown. Aired in 1951, it has a blatant bi-sexuality/ queer joke in it that I still can’t believe got past the sensors of the time! Lucy finds a list of women she thinks Ricky is trying to replace her with. (In reality, it’s a lot of dogs in a dog act.). Lucy reads them out loud and then gets to the last one .. “Theodore.” She takes a moment to realize what she just said, and then exclaims, “Theodore!”
Im so happy Liza Minelli was cast as Sally Bowles. When I first watched Cabaret I was mesmerized by her character. I couldn't stop watching her, she was bewitching
The camera loves her! Just absolutely spellbinding.
You think? I always thought she had an odd face and wouldn't have gone anywhere without her parents being who they were. She could have been singing like her mom and dancing like Nureyev, with that nose she would never have made Hollywood without her last name.
@@Baccatube79 are we looking at the same woman? not only is she objectively attractive, what's wrong with her nose? this is some "scarlett johanssen is mid" incel bs.
@@JK-yt3dm I'm as gay as a candy cane, and I find her objectively unattractive. Her eyes are too far apart, and her nose is really, really not nicely shaped
@@JK-yt3dm boy do I agree! She possesses the kind of bold personality and beauty like Barbra Streisand that draws every eye to her regardless of who else might be in scene. People are so accustomed to photoshop and AI that they’ve forgotten what real beauty and talent actually looks like
oh my GOD bob fosse did NOT do a failed fucking backflip in front of joel that is one of the most insane things ive ever heard from production i burst out laughing
You're saying it didn't happen?
It seemed so real as he was telling it.
RIGHT OH MY GOD THE EMBARRASSMENT 😭😭😭😭
That's interesting! Did you work on the film? I've heard Joel tell it twice. It didn't occur to me that it didn't happen!
for all you chuds saying that this person is denying it happened they mean that they can’t BELIEVE it. it did happen, it’s just that it’s so hilarious that “there’s no way”. it’s hyperbole. jesus christ
@@christinehaley8097@websurfer5772 I don’t think they’re literally saying it didn’t occur, just phrasing it that way to express shock that it happened
I never knew Berlin was such a safe haven for queer people in the 1920s - It's a shame I barely know the queer history of my home country beyond the crimes committed during the 3rd Reich. So thanks for teaching me about the good parts of queer history in Germany, I can't wait to learn more
For the experience of gays on the other side of the argument, look up Alan Turing who was the father of modern computing, key to British intelligence during the war and castrated by the UK Govt after the war for his contribution to society and the war effort.
It's an important lesson, imo. No matter how much progress is made, it can all be taken away if we don't remain vigilant. Such a great movie.
So was the Soviet Union at the very beginning. And guess what communists did in following years
Berlin was home to a HUGE queer community and an LGBTQ haven as well as home to several other counter culture communities that thrived before the fascists came to town
@SL89999 another forgotten icon for the LGBTQ and neuro diverse communities ❤
I costumed a production of Cabaret, and my sister starred as the Emcee. To this day, it is still the greatest experience of my life. The cast and crew were all really close. The costuming was especially difficult, as opposed to other shows I had done. But I'm extremely happy with how it turned out. Almost a month with two or three shows a day, even five one time. The cast and crew got bagels between shows (which freaked people out because the cast refused to take off their show makeup). We always got "Tomorrow Belongs To Me" stuck in our heads between acts, and we always had to remind ourselves not to sing it. Everyone babbled about "The Mein Herr Incident", where before Mein Herr the music simply didn't come on, resulting in over 18 minutes of improv. Sorry, just wanted to dump what an amazing experience Cabaret was on everyone. Every time I see videos of it, I almost cry. I'd give anything to go back.
I was 19 years old when I first saw this film in 1972. I’ve seen it a number of times since. Now it’s 2024, and I’m watching this documentary about it. It disturbed me then, and, being both gay and Jewish, disturbs me even more now. Germany, 1931, and America, 2024. The last scene in the film with the mirrors reflecting the crowd gives me even more chills now then it did in 1972. Cabaret should be seen; as a musical, a commentary and a warning. Thanks for show!
I am the same age as you (19 in 1972) and your observations are exactly the same as mine.
Amen my friend. A very timely movie, especially today! We need to be very diligent now…first time in US History rights have been taken away by the Supreme Court. We need to stop this crap now! I hope the “pick me”s of today learn of the German nazi history. I will continue to do my best to keep informing those who will be in danger if “project 2025” comes to fruition.
I'm Jewish and bisexual but the only reason I bring that up is because you did. The Communists lured gay Russians and other gay persons with Slav nations offering safety for them if they fought against the White Russians. Lenin had from the start told his group the promises given the the gay and homosexual groups was a fiction because whether it was Communist or Orthodox Christians that country needed lots of children and gays and homosexuals don't breed children but they did work to death in GULAGs.
Jews and gays are not the only victims of WW2. Far from it.
Gay and Jewish?
Shocking
I get why you wanted to do a video about this movie now. The relevance is terrifying. Your work is so important.
Yup! This is a documentary of the film, but the subject of Cabaret it's so relevant today, that's terrifying that we, as a society, haven't change one bit in almost a century since the Nazis.
I was crying a bit by the end of this just by thinking of everything that's happening now.
the trick is, the relevance is always there in any epoch, because there's always the risk of becoming too complacent and not see the evil growing around, whatever form that evil gets. That's why it's a timeless masterpiece
@@gfhit7520 yes and many of us tend to dismiss when we see it happening. But for the rest of us we see it happening but hope and pray it’s all just a conspiracy theory or things will eventually right themselves. I had always been critical of the Germans for allowing and accepting what was happening but now I understand and because it is happening all around us right now and we seem powerless to stop it
Ditto my friends ….
Are we awake now🕊
@@metgirl5429No, even people here are still confused and in denial.
A few months ago i met joel grey and was just in awe of him. Cabaret opened me up to everything from queer books like Christopher Isherwood, got me performing sgain, and made me fall in love with cinema. The fact that youre doing this video has me so excited
Oh wow that's awesome! He's such an inspiration.
@@MattBaume he really is- it was really cool i was in an elevator coming from a show he directed and was signing asl with my mom. He saw that asked about it and i realized it was him! Ended up talking to him about Deaf theater for about 5 minutes once we got off. Such a sweet guy.
There’s something so unsettling about the way Cabaret was filmed. From Tomorrow Belongs to me, to seeing stormtroopers vandalizing Jewish homes from a distance. It’s all so disturbing.
Yep. It's always there in the background, creeping forward and getting progressively worse... but it's not until the end, where you see the audience is all Nazis (after the single one had been thrown out at the beginning of the film), that you recognize how far it had gone.
Tomorrow belongs to me should be the MAGA theme song
The “Tomorrow Belongs to Me” scene was simultaneously beautiful and terrifying, which I guess was the point.
"Nifty Nazi Follies" would've been an awesome title
Honestly it is quite catchy
@@MattBaume If you cover The Producers, it could work.
Honestly, as soon as Liza said that, my mind started playing "Springtime For Hitler" from The Producers LOL
@@joelsmith6641 The "Every hotsy totsy Nazi" line comes to mind 😂
I first thought of Mel Brook’s rendition of To Be or Not to Be (the movie, not his music video) with their Naughty Nazis musical number, "A Little Piece...”.
Matt, it is such a pleasure to review your presentations. This one, Cabaret, is especially insightful. Thank you 😊
Thank you for watching!
@@MattBaume Just keep up the great work, son. You are giving a seventy-one year old, retired, disabled veteran much to watch and think about.
When I see a video that is nearly an hour long, I usually groan. Not with Matt’s! Seriously easy watching.
I was a surly teenager when my mom first showed me this movie and I went from ambivalent to enthralled. The slow dread that creeps throughout the movie, the gutpunches of the Gorilla scene and Tomorrow Belongs to Me. Absolutely harrowing cinema. Should be taught in schools.
Why?
We've had enough propaganda thankyouverymuch.
@@rdred8693 clearly someone missed some media literacy clases
@@Littlestraincloud
Don't need college to get an education.
@@rdred8693 In your case you would need it spoon fed to you like a child.
@@rdred8693media literacy is literally taught in high school English classes.
This was fascinating. I tried watching Cabaret when I was too young to appreciate it. Now I want to see it again. Dare I even begin to list the parallels to the current societal and political climate? Truly chilling.
I saw it before I knew much modern history, so I missed the main throughline, and was mostly focused on the surface plot. I watched it later, though, and it totally smacked me in the face, and I finally recognized the importance of the film.
This really is the role Liza was born to play.
It’s still her defining role and probably always will be.
@@annenelson5656she could do worse. It shows off both her acting chops and her singing chops. All while she's in the bloom of beautiful youth.
But it does get boring to be pegged with something. I don't believe it hurt her career, though.
@@beejls I think the role rocketed her up to the top. She’ll always be remembered for that role. Liza with a Z was such an excellent showcase of her talent.
Love being italian and reading this "liza! If she was! Hitler?!"
😅😅😅
lmaoooo
Also works in portuguese too lol
exactly what I read too 😭
I grew up in an urban part of Brazil in the 00s and 2010s. When I started to watch Glee, I fell in love with so many songs, especially, their rendition of Maybe This Time. So, as a 13-year-old, I decided to watch it. The reaction I had to THAT ending was pure shock. I just stared at the TV paralyzed, with my eyes wide open, looking at the credits scrolling up. Still to this day, this is my favorite film.
Matt, I saw a documentary in the early eighties that I cannot remember the title of, but there was historical footage in it where American soldiers were RETURNING a gay man back into the camp...i.e.
Gay people were still considered legitimate criminals
That documentary might've been Paragraph 175?
Correct, in many "safe" allied countries queer people were put right back into prisons. In the UK chemical castration was still legal for years after the war.
Until 1995 roughly. Definitely solidly after reunification
One of the few laws from the Third Reich that was kept by the succeeding West German government...
Many camps became rehabilitation centers to treat starvation and illness until better institutional infrastructure could be established. So many Jews, gays, and Poles were "put back" into camps before being officially freed, as is depicted in Band of Brothers.
Love the dig about She Who Shall Not Be named and her Holocaust denialism!
You'd love Caelan Conrad's video on it - they read her to *filth* and dropping anvils of wisdom, research, and scalding wit. The library wasn't just open; the *non* fiction section was orated for the occasion.
Who?
@@teijaflink2226 I'm assuming J. K. Rowling th-cam.com/video/whJJGqVtkEk/w-d-xo.htmlsi=DbD-KdqfsyXqSwyT
@@teijaflink2226JK Rowling claimed that the Holocaust didn’t start with and target gay and trans people
@@teijaflink2226jk Rowling.. a while ago she was denying that trans ppl were persecuted during the holocaust
Thanks for the warning Matt. This might be your most important work yet. Your brilliance shines bright.
I wonder if his warning might be too muted for most viewers. I hope not, but that’s the whole point of Cabaret, how too many people are blissfully, willfully blind to the truth, especially when it’s ugly.
@@jlee4039 We've been trying and there is just NO waking some of them up. They'll go to their graves insisting we're just con spir theorizers.
I wish this video weren't so damn timely
Also, TH-cam IS the cabaret
TH-cam or TikTok or Instagram or Reddit ... basically any social media site.
Sweet Charity is now a cult favorite. The songs get millions of views on TH-cam, and "If My Friends Could See Me Now" is played by every high school marching band in the country.
Hahaha it truly cracks me up when that song is played in more innocent contexts -- it was like THE anthem for a cruise line in the 80s!
It was also the theme for the pilot episode of The Nanny. But it’s been practically been hard to find.
I saw Juliet Prowse in Sweet Charity at the Desert Inn in Las Vegas in 1960-something. I’m old. 😁
I saw Shirley MacLaine do If My Friends Could Se Me Now live in the mid 80s. It was iconic.
@@MaggieLarocque That sounds so cool! Lucky you!
Don't forget Joel Gray's other iconic role as that demon with the frog tongue from Season 5 of Buffy.
Who could forget such a thing?
thank you
Check him out in Dancer in the Dark with Borjk by Lars Von Trier - heartbreaking.
Doc. His name in Buffy was "Doc"
43:34 "In conservative areas, a preview audience complained about having to see a 'sex deviant' and called it a 'degenerate movie'." If only these fine volks had the backing of a group which would gather together all the other 'degenerate art' out there and put it on display to showcase the moral deviance of the artists involved they could find validation. Isn't that reich?
Michael York gives his A game in this he always does from Romeo and Juliet to Logan’s run.
"Good form Basil!" - Austin Powers
I love your videos! Sometimes, I think, "Oh my god. It's 50 minutes! I don't have time for that!" Then I start watching and I can't stop until it's done. You do such a great job with these.
Haha I think the same thing when I finish a script and see how much I've written!
My very straight-laced upper class English Dad loves this film, its one of his absolute faves of all time. Partly because hes got a huge subversive streak which I've always loved and admired. He also told me when his Dad saw it at the cinema, at Brian's 'so do I' line, his Dad got up and walked out. No subversive or even vaguely liberal streak there.
My middle daughter used to be a dancer. She was into ballet, tap, interpretive and jazz. The interpretive and jazz teachers taught them mostly Martha Graham and Bob Fosse choreography . She loved it.
The real Sally, Jean Ross, was alive and living in Berlin at the time of filming, but nobody reached out to her. Not that she would have talked to anyone: she HATED how Isherwood portrayed her in the original story.
Just read her Wikipedia page and wow, what a life. Performing, covering the Spanish Civil War, “protesting nuclear weapons, boycotting apartheid South Africa, and opposing the Vietnam War”-she really deserves more recognition beyond looking like Liza. RIP to a socialist queen.
@@iroc quick glance at her wiki page- she is the step grandmother of Olivia Wilde, which shows that these events were truly not that long ago
I had to go look it up after reading your comment. I was expecting to think she was being overly sensitive, as many people portrayed by others in fictionalized stories often are, but honestly her concerns are very fair. If I were a deeply politically engaged activist and war correspondent I might be a little miffed as the character based on me becomes more apolitical, naive, and just generally broad with each iteration.
Isherwood knew her but briefly in a very chaotic time and intense period of both their lives...it's not biography it's a fictional character based on aspects of herself in that time..would you have known about her life then if not for the link with Sally Bowles?
It is scary to see what some people think America is turning to. It is exactly what Germany and the Nazi's did. Be ware America and stand up for our rights and the freedoms we enjoy as we can lose them very easily and are losing them in many states one by one.
Thanks so much Matt for making this video now. Everyone needs to see it.
Every time someone says to me "people don't just burst into song," I want to sing at them "I doooo, don't you? Whatever do you do with an emotion that is too BIIIIG?"
Knowing the story now, I still want this-universe’s version of cabaret to exist, but I also desperately want to see the Bob-Fosse-as-the-emcee version.
Joel Grey really is Emcee for me but I have loved to see that too.
Make it a proper film festival with the hypothetical Ruth Gordon version too!
Matt, thank you for this video.
Your channel is great.
In 1972 I was in 7th grade, and Cabaret was in theaters.
On a Saturday afternoon, my mother took my little brothers to one movie and my dad took me to Cabaret.
During one nightclub performance scene I whispered to my dad, "Why are those men dressed as women?"
He answered, "That's decadence."
LOL.
I can't remember if I knew what that word meant, or if I had to look it up....
We've got to get out of this trap! Before this... decadence... saps our wits. I've got to be strong, and try to... hang on! Or else, my mind may well SNAP!
Thanks for adding in your sources in the videos!
You're very welcome! Glad they're helpful.
@MattBaume literally the opposite of "do your own research"... much love!
I cannot express how much I absolutely love the information and insight I get from your videos. I’m only out to myself and everyone else these past four years (I’m 53), and so much of movies and pop culture I’m looking at through accepting and loving eyes towards myself and others that I avoided and rejected because of denial and internalized homophobia. I’ve never seen Caberet even though I love musicals. I definitely plan to see it now.
I am like you, 53 and Queer, battling all those dark feelings that kept me down so long. Please watch this movie. It is wonderful! Happy Pride!
The. reflection - the mirror effect - was actually derived from the original Broadway production. A huge mirror hung from the flies, and it would sometimes be lowered so the audience was seeing itself. Per Harold Prince (in his book CONTRADICTIONS), the mirror did not originate with Prince, the director, but was a surprise and unasked for addition from set designer Boris Aronson.
Wilkommen, Baumevenue, welcome.
Actually it's b-
Oh, I see what you did there.
0:28 Sweet Charity is one of my favourite films. It's so silly, sweet, and very 60s! Shirley MacLaine is adorable in that role.
I directed a student production of "Sweet Charity" in college. The movie is a LOT "sweeter" than the stage production, especially the ending.
I LOVED the casting (especially Chita and Paula) and the choreography.
It was fun.
Matt, your channel is an entire queer film historical institute! I live for your lectures. Best college class I don’t even have to pay for!
But since I do pay, excited to catch up on all the bonus Patreon content. :D
As always, another great video.
Thanks for the clip of Liza mentioning that New York, New York is HER song and not Sinatra's.
Her rendition is possibly the greatest rendition of any song ever
To this day, it makes me irrationally pissed off that SOMEHOW, Sinatra's recording is THE version of NY, NY, and HE'S given credit for it as if he wrote it. Liza's version, and the NY, NY movie is iconic and horribly underrated, and IMO, Sinatra always went flat at the end of every musical phrase. NOT a good singer. People can flame me for that, I don't care! LOL
I never took the MC as antisemitic...I saw him as eager to burst people's artifices and expose them as they were...so he spoke the unspeakable and took glee in ripping away the veil
Same.
I thought he was himself Jewish
That was also always my assessment of him. I saw his grin during Tomorrow Belongs to Me as an I told you so. Here it comes.
I had always likened him to the Shakespearean Fool:
"The Fool does not follow any ideology. He rejects all appearances, of law, justice, moral order. He sees brute force, cruelty and lust. He has no illusions and does not seek consolation in the existence of natural or supernatural order, which provides for the punishment of evil and the reward of good [...] The Fool knows that the only true madness is to recognize this world as rational."
Thank you for making this and reminding us the resurgent evil bubbling up around us.
I watched this musical for my Literature Through Film course in college last year and I really enjoyed it especially as a history nerd because of how the Nazi party was subtly rising in the background.
It just has so many layers and was one of the films I really enjoyed from the class that I felt wasn’t talked enough about the way other films I saw were.
Incredible work as always, Matt. Cabaret remains important and timely, which is actually kind of depressing; I'd like it to just be a good production about a particular time in history, but unfortunately, we're all still living in interesting times. Also, he pointed dig that begins at around 39:12 was also particularly satisfying, even if names weren't named.
"Cabaret" was, and still is, a brilliant movie!
This is too real. We’re here again. Thanks Mr. Baume for highlighting it.
As a NJ kid in the ‘90s that got to see so many Broadway shows and love so many musicals (Chicago being one of my all time favorites). I’ve always been hesitant to watch Cabaret. It just seemed so raw, so gritty. I now realize that of course, that is the point, and will be watching it very soon. Thank you!
Screamed at that subtle dig at jkr
A reference gentler and more graceful than she ever is.
39:12 in case anyone missed it
Same lol
@@iroc Thank you. Though I could feel how pointed that line was, I didn't know it was a dig at a specific person.
You’re not the only one 😉👌🏼
At least one time at year, I rewatch Cabaret, Moulin Rouge, Burlesque and Showgirls, for me they are connected
And you'll earn an LL.M. in air rights!
@@seanphillips9523 sorry what LL.M. Mean ?
@@furiusnecroiris701 is a Master of Law degree.
@@seanphillips9523 thanks I didn’t know this Acronym or Slang
I was already a fan of Kyle Maclachlan as a teen, having watched Dune as a youngun and Twin Peaks as an adolescent. Showgirls made me... uncomfortable. I should probably watch it again, for science.
Doesn't my body drive you wild with desire?
Have you got a cigarette, darling? I'm desperate!
Well, doesn't it?
I really appreciate you. I have never fit into the community so I haven’t had a lot to do with it, you have been a great source of knowledge and understanding of our history.
As a youngster aged 6-9 in early 1980s, Cabaret used to come on a local TV station in Chicago often. I never wanted to watch it because 1. it was not Disney/or other animation, and 2. I would not have been interested in the storyline(s). I thought it was about funny looking lady dancing on a chair in a dark room. Fast forward to last year (2023) when I finally decided to watch Cabaret on TH-cam. I had been watching a bunch of WWII videos and I think Cabaret appeared in my feed. So, I purchased it and watch. I was impressed! It is a stunningly beautiful and disturbing film. I watched in three or four more times within a week. Such a masterpiece, thank you for your analysis.
As soon as I see there's a new video from Matt, I start to plan my day around having the time to sit back and watch it. This is easily one of the very best channels on the platform. Thank you, Matt!
Cabaret is about the nazis in berlin… and the rise of the religious right in the 70s… and now it’s 2024 and it still feels pertinent
Thank you for sharing literally the best commentary of Cabaret I’ve seen on TH-cam! Incredible video!!
The "elderly Broadway Land Lady" was wonderful gorgeous Lotte Lenya!!!!! It should have worked, but....
I liked the stage play more because of the inclusion of the land lady love story, instead of the rather dull, insipid "Young and attractive and rich" Jewish couple. The betrayal of the landlady when the Nazi's took power, and he saying she just wanted to live, while throwing her pineapple gifting Jewish amour under the bus was much more painful to see happen.
I'm so pissed I missed the live stream. I have THOUGHTS on Dame Judi as Sally. Specifically, that she delivers the single best performance of the title song ever recorded. The way she is literally SHRIEKING the lyrics by the end, as the tempo of the orchestra continues ratchet upwards, it's bone-chilling in the best way, and fully hits the show: "just pretend nothings happening, everything is fine, just don't think about it" until you can't just not think about it anymore and try to return to ignorance.
I really enjoyed your podcast, one that so thoroughly and beautifully described the entire wild journey that was the making of this film. My uncle was the associate producer of the movie, Harold Nebenzal, who died at 96 and was actually born in Berlin. He was truly my hero, having fought with the US Marines in the South Pacific.
I particularly enjoyed hearing how Fosse fought so hard to be the director of the picture, along with everyone in the entire cast. I can't even imagine anyone playing the part of Sally Bowles than Liza or Joel Grey as the M.C. anymore than I can imagine Ronald Reagan playing the part of 'Rick' in "Casablanca," which he was originally slated to do. Can you even imagine the horror of that??
I think this is one of your best videos yet!
Thank you so much!
This is absolutely brilliant! This film has haunted me in so many ways over the years it was a first of it's kind. Everything just came together against all odds. Still so relevant today; pay attention out there America!
Really excellent (as usual). Great find on the Reagan clip!
I watched this film for the first time when I was way too young to see anything beyond the singing and dancing. Now I’m trans, married to a trans Jewish person and living in a country that’s making the same bargains as Germany did in the 20’s and 30’s. I want this film to be less relevant than it is and I’m so glad it exists.
So you're here in the States? Because too much is sounding like 1930s Germany on the reich-wingnut side of things. The "targeting of *others*" and taking away rights in some states, looking for national bans. Talk of "camps" for the homeless and immigrants by the ex LIAR-IN-CHIEF and his Nazi wannabes. It pisses me off at minimum, daily. Usually several times a day.
I'll never understand why people want to go backwards. Are they that scared of losing control?
Wow. Just wow. Not only an incredibly deep dive on the movie, but such a timely retrospective on the present in America. So many parallels. Thanks so much for the brilliant discourse on the movie "Cabaret."
Matt, you're a phenomenal video essayist. I've learned a ton from you and your videos. Excellent work!
So exciting every time you upload a new video. I liked it even before I´ve watched it but I know it´s going to be fabulous. Thank you Matt Tree.
Those Arrested Development clips are BRILLIANT!!!
Thank you Matt and company! This is unbelievable! I’m floored by how accurate this is!
With the cost of everything going up and up, I was on the verge of cancelling my patreon subscriptions, but this video is so good. Its content like this, the research you put into it and the presentation that is so powerful it must be seen, so I will continue to support you. I love your videos so much ❤
I have to say, Matt, that this is the fourth time now that you've inspired me to watch a film that you've covered on your channel. "Psycho", "Rebel Without a Cause", "Victim", and now "Cabaret". I honestly had no idea how important these films truly were, cinematically or in terms of queer history and culture. That's part of why I return to your channel over and over, and why I got your book. It's almost like genealogy learning queer history, family you never knew you had in a way. :)
I love your videos. This is my favorite one! Wow the way you tell this story, the parallels to what is going on right now. Really moving.
This was a pure delight to watch, such a multifaceted approach, the wit, the warning, the warmth of it, thank you!
Another great video Matt. I love that you share an affection for Arrested Development! If ever there was a time where a remake (reminder) of this story, now is the time!
You're ability to understand symbolism and explain it clearly is absolute genius! Your research and delivery is always so pleasant, professional, and lovely.
The citations are great!
Thank you for this video. I only know a couple show tunes from Cabaret & had no idea how deep the stories ran. And thank you for clarifying connections to contemporary situations
This is so amazing! I have literally wanted this video for 10 years. After I saw Cabaret the first time I picked up the message that art can be a distraction from the rise of fascism and wanted to see a youtube analysis from this perspective, but couldn’t find one.
When this video appeared on my homepage I couldn’t believe my eyes.
And what this video actually is was so much better than I could even hope for! It is so well researched and gave me a much deeper understanding of the film. Thank you so much for making this, it feels like it was made just for me ❤
Love your videos, Matt! One minor correction: Cabaret was nominated for 10 Oscars, winning 8. (It lost in the Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay categories.)
I was so excited when I saw you were doing Cabaret. This is in my top 2 favorite musicals.
One of my favorite movies of all time. I did a photo shoot with my friends in college where we dressed up and reenacted scenes from Cabaret. I showed my daughters the PG parts of this as they grew up because I felt it was so good at showing empathy and the importance of human relationships.
Matt, this video was so well done. Your attention the the research shows. Thank you. It is much need right now. ❤
Wow! Outstanding job, Matt!
YES!!!! My favorite movie musical of all time! Thanks, Matt, for your brilliant(as usual) thorough history and analysis.
As a scared, closeted gay kid, I was instantly drawn to Michael York's character. As a political liberal/progressive, the socio-political themes are a chilling lesson that is unfortunately all too important in this surreal polarization between MAGA fascism and liberal inclusive democracy.
This is a wonderful video to help start Pride Month.
June is also Matt Baume month.
While I do enjoy the historical videos, I love the way you break down stories. I knew most of this and I was still enthralled with your analysis and seeing the story through your eyes.
Not gonna lie... I spent this whole video wondering when you were gonna whip out "You do Fosse Fosse Fosse" from The Birdcage. 😆
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Matt Baume does very good research on LGBTQIA tv and movies. Take note as you watch this video and the movie of the comparison to the rise of Nazi Germany and our current issues in the USA. Vote with knowledge and insight this fall in 2024!!!!
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I don't know how much time you put into researching your topics Mr. Baume, but the details in your narrations and your story telling, keep me riveted.
Matt, you did another excellent review for this movie. The research the details of stories you are phenomenal. Please keep them coming. We need you to help tell our history. Thank you.
Progress is not a straight line, it's a pendulum.
Well, it’s often 2 steps forward, then a backlash and one step backward, then 2 steps forward, 3 back, 4 steps forward, etc. Things move forward, but slowly and with backsliding.
What an incredible look at a musical classic. Thank you so much for doing this. I'm thinking of including it on next year's Rainbow Cinema Club selections .
Absolutely one of your best, Matt. Thank you!
Fantastic video, and very timely. Thanks for this.