Cabaret – 30th Anniversary Special Edition DVD – Ralf Wolter, Sigrid von Richthofen

Please note this is a region 2 DVD and will require a region 2 (Europe) or region Free DVD Player in order to play Winner of 8 Oscars including Best Director (Bob Fosse) Best Actress (Liza Minnelli) and Best Supporting Actor (Joel Grey) 3 Golden Globes and 6 BAFTAs and widely regarded as one of the finest Hollywood musicals of all time &39;Cabaret&39; first burst onto cinema screens in 1972 wowing audiences the world over Adapted from John Kander and Fred Ebb&39;s acclaimed 1966 Broadway stage production itself inspired by Christopher Isherwood&39;s autobiographical &39;Goodbye To Berlin&39; and the 1950s play (by John van Druten) and the film &39;I Am A Camera&39; &39;Cabaret&39; documents the exploits of naive but irrepressible American singer Sally Bowles (Liza Minnelli) and her friends set amongst the moral decadence and sexual ambiguity of pre-war Berlin  Director Fosse&39;s unique razzle-dazzle choreography provides a series of sexy show-stopping dance numbers highlighting a host of classic songs including Wilkommen Mein Herr Money Money Tomorrow Belongs To Me and the title song  Actors Liza Minnelli Michael York Helmut Griem Joel Grey Fritz Wepper Marisa Berenson & Sigrid von RichthofenDirector Bob FosseCertificate 15 years and overYear 1972Screen Widescreen 1851Languages English – Dolby Digital (20)Duration 2 hours and 3 minutes (approx)Region Region 2 – Will only play on European Region 2 or multi-region DVD players

Classic screen musical directed by Bob Fosse and set in depression-era Berlin. Liza Minnelli stars as Sally Bowles, a singer at the decadent Kit Kat Club; Michael York is her gay flatmate Brian; and Helmet Griem is the rich aristocrat who sleeps with both of them. As they enjoy the variety and excitement of their bohemian existence, all three gradually become aware of the Nazi’s rise to power and realise that the freedom offered by Weimar Berlin will be a short-lived one. Based on Christopher Isherwood’s Berlin stories, ‘Cabaret’ won 8 Oscars, including awards for Fosse, Minnelli and supporting actor Joel Grey, who plays the Kit Kat Club’s emcee.

Cabaret is one of those film musicals whose cultural and stylistic influence extend well beyond the cinema. It confirmed Bob Fosse’s status as one of the boldest choreographers of the 20th century and gave Liza Minnelli an early peak in a film career which would never scale such heights again. Minnelli is both the film’s strength–on its own merits her performance is an Oscar-winning tour de force–and weakness. The real Sally Bowles was a third-rate performer and just one of a rich gallery of characters; here, the constant allowances for Minnelli’s star turns and mannerisms ultimately throw the story off balance. But the source material is impeccable: Kander and Ebb’s stage show, based on the autobiographical stories of Christopher Isherwood, has long since been acknowledged a classic. The songs, augmented by some new numbers in the film, are ageless. Joel Grey from the original Broadway production is the Emcee, the master of ceremonies who, with his Kit Kat Klub girls, provides a depraved Greek chorus satirising the rise of the Nazi regime and the lazy complacency of the 1930s Berlin cabaret-goers. The “divine decadence” tag is only part of the story, though. Cabaret still works a sinister, uncomfortable magic which sets it apart as a uniquely powerful film musical. On the DVD: Cabaret’s 30th Anniversary Special Edition is packed with extras which include a scratchy “making of” documentary from 1972 and a retrospective from 1997, the latter featuring reminiscences from the cast. There’s also the original theatrical trailer, though in the absence of the late director Fosse the lack of some kind of commentary is a disappointment. The picture itself, presented in widescreen 16:9 letterbox format with a Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo soundtrack, gleams as sharply, visually and aurally, as it did on its first release. –Piers Ford