Berlin, Nazis, and a Cabaret

Berlin/environment:

From the film, we can get a sense of what Berlin was like at the time. The anti communist propaganda suggests that communism was not in favor at the time. Throughout the movie, people kept saying things that suggested that the economy of the time was not doing great. Sally says: "everybody is broke of course," implying that it is a well known (and obvious) fact. There is a song in the cabaret called: "Money Makes the World Go Round." The fact that Berlin has little money suggests that the city as a whole is not advancing quickly.

The poor economy and political unsureness encourages wealthier people to attend the cabaret, and forget about their problems, and encourages the poorer people to spend time drinking in an outside bar.

Nazis:

The Nazis were seen throughout the movie in different places, and receiving different reactions. A Nazi collecting money in a tin can is thrown out of the cabaret by the manager. The manager was clearly not a Nazi fan. Later on, Nazi's are seen beating up the manager, and we never know if he makes it out alive. A possible Nazi veteran is seen cruising down the sidewalk in a wheelchair with maybe a leg missing. He appears to be homeless. While at Max's country house at the garden bar, a young Nazi teenager stands up and starts to sing a song repeating "tomorrow belongs to me." First, other youths stand up and start singing along, followed by older people. While driving home from the countryside, the stars see a murdered person in the street, most likely committed by the Nazis. Brian wants to let the Nazi's take care of the communists, then they can take care of the Nazis. However, after the murder, Max asks Brian if he still thinks that plan will work. At the end, some Nazis are seen in the audience in the Cabaret.

The Nazis were a revengeful group of people who tried to take over by means of violence, panhandling, and the power of youth.

Cabaret:

The Cabaret is shown as being silly, ridiculous, and almost circus-like at times. The creepy opening man tells the audience to "leave their troubles behind" and that in the Cabaret, "everything is beautiful." In reality, not everything was beautiful; it was some sort of a joke. What they are showing is what is really happening. It is a fun-house mirrored version of reality. For example, they flash back and forth between the cabaret manager being beat up and the girls on stage being slapped by the opening man. Irony is present throughout much of the cabaret. For example, Sally says that her dead previous landlord was the "happiest corpse I've ever seen."

The cabaret is a garnished escape for the wealthier people of Berlin that puts on ridiculous versions of actual real life events that are happening.