I’ve recently taken a liking to films produced in the 1970’s. Regardless of genre, I enjoy how the films capture a version of America that I only saw in family photo albums while growing up. Back then movies were smarter because of their subtlety and life looked grittier. A slick Hollywood produced movie meant the stars carried the films with their performances and CGI wasn’t a crutch.

An unintended consequence of watching these films is that I’m learning about America’s attitudes and views on recent history. The nation seemed to be settling down after the social revolutions of the 60’s but because of the Vietnam War, stagflation, and energy crisis, the mood is usually bleak and a darkness hovers in the air.

So I guess my long winded point of this post is that I’ll keep watching these moves and if the mood strikes, I’ll write about them here.

I’ll discuss Cabaret first. The Oscar winning film from 1972 revolves around a roaring 20’s-esque cabaret in Germany and features an intensely annoying Liza Minnelli and a staid Michael York. The two contemplate maturity while the rest of Germany gradually succumbs to Nazi rule.

As the movie progresses, Michael York’s character, Brian, becomes disgusted with Germany while the Liza’s self-absorbed Sally refuses to change a thing about herself and remains oblivious. Interspersed between their scenes are musical numbers used to reinforce certain points as well as scenes where Germans eventually accept that their ruling party has all the answers (whether by force or propaganda). In a scene I found interesting, a group of people are discussing what the ruling party plans to do and they argue with Brian on the premises that because the newspapers say there is a Jewish conspiracy, then it must be true. Hrm. That sounds eerily familiar.

As a whole the film was effective in balancing pizazz and romance against the more subtle message that Germans were more than willing to buy into the ruling party’s message. Sound of Music this was not. Despite the fact I won’t watch another Liza Minnelli film as long as I can help it, Cabaret was a very entertaining film.

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