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Cabaret Essay

Decent Essays

'How do the cabaret songs and routines comment on the social issues which are the background for the story of Cabaret?'

Satirical on every level, Bob Fosse's 1972 film Cabaret redefines the previously accepted genre of the musical. Using the songs and routines as cunning tools of social commentary the musical numbers both predict and interpret the world of Berlin in 1931.

The opening routine, 'Wilkommen', is a powerful introduction to the opposing worlds of the protagonists Brian and Sally and also indicates the significance all songs in the Cabaret will be instilled with. As the camera moves from the distorted mirror to the grotesquely masked face of the Master of Ceremonies (Joel Grey) who claims, 'I am your host, wilkommen', the need …show more content…

Indeed, from the beginning Sally is a metaphor for the indistinctive, hedonistic masses of people who long for the glory they observe in others and claim should be theirs at any cost.

Despite her claims that she is driven by 'divine decadence', Sally uses her costumes and make-up to obscure her inner desires. When she goes to meet her father she has 'a nun's hands' and it is as this unmasked and vulnerable woman that she and Brian become lovers. In the song 'Maybe this time', which is intercut with footage of Brian and Sally's relationship, the lyrics and cinematic structure are used to negatively answer the hopeful plea 'Maybe this time I'll win'. As Sally stands on the stage of a near deserted Kit Kat Klub she sings passionately, fully clothed and for the only time not exaggerating her sexuality. Although she claims that she is a 'lady peaceful, lady happy - that's what i long to be' the bright lights show this 'normal' Sally as attractive but not extraordinary, something she will ultimately never tolerate.

Likewise the intercuts of footage also reveal in Sally and Brian a relationship which will never last. As their eyes meet across the room, Fosse deliberately pans back to show the extreme distance between the characters. And although their relationship is now sexual, Brian's echo of Sally's feminine self concept 'doesn't my body drive you wild with desire?' reflects a man as tentative about his sexuality as Sally is about anonymous domesticity.

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