Pride Month Movie - Day Twelve: Cabaret

Cabaret (1972)

Directed by Bob Fosse

Screenplay by Jay Presson Allen 

Based on the stage musical by Joe Masteroff 

Based on the play by John Van Druten 

Based on the stories, "Goodbye to Berlin" by Christopher Isherwood

Stars: Liza Minnelli, Michael York, Helmut Griem, Fritz Wepper, Marisa Berenson and Joel Grey

Since the Tony Awards are happening tonight as of writing this, I wanted to visit a movie I thought have seen. Turns out I only saw the first fifteen minutes and clips of the musical numbers over the years.

Berlin, 1931. A young man, Brian Roberts (York) arrives at a boardinghouse filled with colorful, including the illustrious Sally Bowles (Minnelli) that works at the infamous Kit Kat Klub.

For the longest time, I thought I knew what the story of Cabaret was about. Looking clips on YouTube will warp your mind into thinking was a movie was going to be.

The movie was more imitate than I thought. All of the musical numbers took place on the Kit Kat Klub stage. Nobody busted out into song out of nowhere. It was refreshing to see. Seeing the film, you feel like you are transported to Berlin during the time when the Nazi Party were gaining influence.

My only complaint with the movie is the whereabouts of some characters. You see them and they are gone. You don't know where they went some of the time. It left me puzzled.

Rating: 9/10

The Godfather

The Godfather (1972)

Directed by Francis Ford Coppola

Screenplay by Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola

Based on the novel by Mario Puzo

Stars: Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall, Abe Vigoda, Richard Castellano, Talia Shire, Diane Keaton, Al Lettieri, Sterling Hayden, Gianni Russo, and John Cazale

Please, don't hate me. I have never seen the movie in its entirety. I caught bits and pieces of it throughout the years. My expectations were high. Maybe they were too high.

Taking place after World War II, we follow the Corleone family as they try to take hold of the New York criminal underworld. I'm sure you all know the story by now, except me.

I had some gripes with the movie. I cannot believe that the wedding between Carlo and Connie (Russo, Shire) lasted for almost thirty minutes. Understandable to try to establish the characters. Cool. It felt stagnant to me.

The line delivery with the actors was like they had peanut butter stuck in their mouths. I could not understand what they were saying. The motivations of some characters were strange and jarring. Michael in Sicily, for example.

The time was not clear. I had to look up when the events of the movie took place. I wish Coppola put title cards or something make the audience better understand what was happening.

I know that there were some controversies with this movie with the score by Nino Rota was stolen from another composer. Al Pacino skipping the Oscars because of category fraud. I agree. Pacino had more screen time than Brando. Weird. There is also the endless slurs against almost every ethnic group. Oh, boy. I cringed.

I wanted to shout endlessly praises to the movie, but I felt that the hype of the movie made it slightly overrated to me.

Rating: 7/10