The Cabaret

For each section of notes (Berlin/environment; Nazis – who are they, where are they?; and what's with the cabaret?) WRITE a summary of what you noted and a thesis statement supported by your notes.

When we watched several scenes from the movie Cabaret, it was obvious what the general atmosphere of Berlin was just before WWII. The general atmosphere of Berlin during that time period was that everybody was broke and didn't have any money. Money is what everybody wanted then and to get away from their troubles, people went to the Cabaret. Because of the Nazis in the city, there are propaganda posters and corpses lying on the ground decapitated, or killed in other gruesome ways. In the cabaret, it showed a Nazi asking for donations for their cause, but the owner literally kicked him out. A few scenes later, it shows the Nazis beating the owner of the Cabaret to death in an alley while there was a performance in the Cabaret that mirrored what was happenning at the same time. These people are killed because they either aggravated the Nazis or disagreed with their ideals, which brings up their general mentality. Whoever messes with the Nazis are garanteed a death sentence. The Cabaret itself is a lighter version of what is actually happenning on the outside world. As the people perform in the Cabaret, a similar action is happenning outside, but just more violent. So the purpose of the Cabaret is to portray what is actually happenning to the real world. The Cabaret is a distorted mirror of real life just before WWII started. Another scene was when a boy was singing in a festival and eventually got everybody else to sing with him. This boy was singing to get people to support the Nazis, and according to the people who sang along, it was the kids who joined first. It started with the kids, then teenagers, then adults. The song was representing the youth coming up and taking over Germany and its future. The Cabaret was a place for people to escape their troubles, but without their knowledge, it was representing the Nazis taking over Germany and its youth.