HAVE YOU EVER BEEN TO A CABARET?

If a movie becomes a classic, it is because there really is something interesting in it that calls attention, even if at first it seems not so nice. The musical Cabaret, for instance, released in 1972, sounds at first like a comic romance with daring and funny coreographies. But make no mistake. It is in fact a musical with a central romance and several fun moments. But there is much more there, subtleties that make Cabaret something like an essay on German pre World War II.

It is colourful, it is funny, it is Cabaret. It is inteligent, it is political, it is Cabaret. It is classic, it is rich, it is musical, it is Cabaret. The movie that gave Liza Minelli her greatest moment of her career is a must for anyone who likes movies. Cabaret presents a plot about friendship, about sexual discoveries, and about the rising of nazism in the pre World War II Germany. The center of the story is the Kit Kat Club, a cabaret in which the lovely Sally Bowles (Liza Minelli) frequently performs. Also, it is there that the musical presentations interpreted by the brilliant Joel Grey take place. Sally meets Brian Roberts (Michael York), a charismatic English teacher that just arrived in Berlin. Living in the same hostel, they quickly become half friends, half lovers,  then beginning a relationship with Miximilian Von Heune (Helmut Griem), involving a bissexuality that is never shown clearly, but in a quite subtle way. And that causes the movie to be really attractive, a movie that values details, light humor and sensibility. The characters' perceptions and feelings, just like the political situation of that time, are illustrated by the gorgeous performances during the movie, which turns such performances into a kind of a Greek Theater Chorus. The script is a adaption of a Brodway musical from 1966. The direction was in charge of the competent Bob Fosse, also responsible for the excellent coreographies. The movie was nominated for 10 Oscars, winning 8 of them, losing Best Movie for The Godfhater - a potential rival, I must say. Cabaret has the trump of showing delicately a time of rising nazi domain. There is a quite well constructed scene in which a boy sings what seems to be a ode to the beauties of nature. Then, we see that the boy is dressed with a nazist uniform, praising Hitler's party with his song. As mentioned ahead, Cabaret is a movie in which the main qualities are the details, the accuracy with which each scene was created, the accuracy of a fluent and rich text. And that is what we call a classic.

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FINALLY, SHE IS BACK

Fiona Apple broke her own record, again. In between the release of Tidal (1996) and When the Pawn... (1999), there was a three year gap. From the latter until the release of Extraordinary Machine (2005), there was a 6 year hiatus. Once her new record, entitled The Idler Wheel... was released last week, there was a long 7 year waiting for something new. Finally she managed to released it. And, although being in a way inferior to her previous albuns, it is not bad at all. But it is not that good either. The fact is - she really took too long. Expectations were really high. And the final product did not match such expectations.

The Idler Wheel debuted on number 3 on Billboard TOP 200,  Fiona Apple's best performance in the United States. That was not a surprise. All her fans has been expecting her new album for about two years. Now they got it. Now we got it. But, was it worth the waiting? Honestly, it is a good album, although too short (only 10 songs). All Fiona's best features are there - the rustic drums, the heavy jazz piano, and her typical under control rage, expressed with irritated vocals and cynical lyrics. But there is not a great moment on the album. It is all too constant, with nothing particularly new. Maybe "Valentine" might be seen as a highlight. It is a very lovely song that reminds us of the Fiona from Tidal. Lyrically, the songs on The Idler Wheel... revolve around the same issues - auto critic and frustration in a fail to change. "How can i ask anyone to love when all i do is beg to be left alone", she spits in "Left Alone". In fact, that is the same thematic she explores since the beginning of her career, with few exceptions. But she does explore it quite poetically, always coming up with acid verses. Musically, the album resembles in general that first version of Extraordinary Machine, with Fiona's powerful vocals ready to explode. Her voice is gorgeous in songs like "Anything We Want" and the funny "Daredevil". Although it is not Fiona's best release, it is a record that does not lack good qualities. As a mentioned afore, the problem was that we perhaps expected something wild, bigger, given such a 7 never-ending-waiting years. But it's good to finally have Fiona back. Enjoy it. We never know how long she will take to produce another album.

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face book: leonardo romanov