The plot of the film Cabaret had passed several stages from The Berlin Stories by Christopher Isherwood and I am Camera by John van Druten to the musical movie we can watch nowadays. Still, the movie does not only present some eternal values which are topical even nowadays but it also provides a watcher with representation of historical period it tells about.
One of the themes which are revealed in the musical Cabaret was the Great Depression and its impact not only on German people, but the whole world. Although the center of the Depression was the United States, Germany was also its victim. It is not a surprise that people who suffered from hunger and misery followed the propaganda of the Nazis leader. It is obvious that there was a lack of money, and they played a great role in the society during the Depression. In the musical Bob Fosse depicted it through one of the songs, Money: “Money makes the world go around” (Cabaret). The song illustrates all misfortunes which were in 1930s:
If you haven’t any coal in the stove
And you freeze in the winter
And you curse on the wind
At your fate
When you haven’t any shoes
On your feet … (Cabaret)
Adolf Hitler used the economic situation for his own benefit: the Second Four-Year Plan was introduced by Hitler in a speech at Nuremberg is September 1936, and formally in October by Hermann Goring, anti-depression policy was a thing of the past” (Kindleberger 238).
The period of Berlin history, presented in the movie describes also the reputation of the capital in many countries of the world. Night life and entertainments in Berlin played a great role forming the image of the city which included various kinds of amusements besides legitimate theatre, such as experimental cabarets and other places, where such unusual phenomena as nude stage shows, erotic dances, transvestite balls and open celebration of homosexuality were on display. “Liberation and experimentation went hand in hand with a sense of disquiet, disorder, and disgust that informs much of the artistic creation of the period…” (Ladd 111). Sexual liberation in Berlin is represented in The Berlin Stories; as Christopher Isherwood acknowledged in his Christopher and his Kind, Berlin for him meant boys. The homosexual, or, at least, bisexual line may be found in The Cabaret as well, presented in the relationships between Maximilian, a rich playboy, who seduced both, Sally and Brian.
Definitely, the story about prewar period in Germany could not be told without the development of Nazi line. Though the main plot seemed to be concentrated on the relationships between Sally and Brian a watcher often pay heeds to the signs of Nazi presence. In the beginning of the musical movie one can see big posters of communists on fences, which are spoiled and covered with German inscriptions later. In the end one can see huge Nazi leaflets on the same fences. The Cabaret, where Sally performs, is slowly filling with Nazi people. Step by step the audience is changed and in the end of the movie the Master of Ceremonies speaks with only Nazi watchers. The movie also presents another episode which represents the readiness of Nazi philosophy to start the war. An attractive blond youth sings a touching song and everybody listened to his singing with tender emotion. Still, when the camera drives off, a watcher sees that the young boy wears swastika symbols. At the same time, refrain of the song is not so innocent: “tomorrow belongs to me” (Cabaret). Step by step the song loses its lyrical mood and turns into an exciting march and all the people in the café sing along with the boy. The episode clearly represents the degree of Nazi philosophy popularity and acceptance by various levels of German society in that period.
Works Cited
Cabaret. Dir. Bob Fosse. Perf. Liza Minnelli, Michael York, Joel Grey. ABC Pictures, 1972. Film.
Kindleberger, Charles Poor. The World in Depression, 1929-1939. Oakland: University of California Press, 1986. Print.
Ladd, Brian. The Ghosts of Berlin: Confronting German History in the Urban Landscape. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998. Print.