The Edmondson Blog

The film Cabaret is set in 1931, in the last days of the Weimar Replublic. This is the beer garden scene where director Bob Fosse dramatically reflects the Nazi's increasing influence on German society under Adolf Hitler.

A boy - initially only his face seen - sings to the seated guests what first seems an innocent lyrical song about the beauties of nature. Then gradually the lyrics shift to more ominous sentiments. The camera pans and draws back to show that the boy is wearing a brown Nazi uniform. One by one, nearly all guests in the beer garden get up and enthusiastically join in the singing. Scary stuff.

Cabaret was nominated for ten Academy Awards in 1973, and nearly performed a clean sweep, winning eight.

This is a foreign language version that at some time has had English subtitles added. At the end, as the Michael York character leaves, he says to his friend “You still think you can control them?”