How do the techniques used in Cabaret give us an insight into the characters of the film?

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In the 1970s hit Cabaret, the director, Bob Fosse, successfully uses a variety of filmmaking techniques to draw attention to different aspects of the multifaceted characters. Our understanding of the characters is shaped through the use of techniques ranging from changes in costume to mise-en-scene.

Costuming is one of the most revealing aspects, and we can learn a lot about the characters by looking at the clothes they wear. Sally is a prime example of this. On stage Sally sports sexy, suggestive, revealing attire. She feels that she is divinely decadent and really is an international sensation as the emcee claims. This is reflected by the raunchy, glitzy clothes she wears. Sally tries to carry her femme fatale act on into her everyday life. Her clothing is different from the mainstream and this is Sally’s attempt to be shocking. It shows a certain flamboyance, and self-confidence to wear these distinctive clothes. However, bit by bit we start to see that the glamorous, decadent Sally is nothing more than a façade behind which a much more troubled, insecure person hides. At crisis points in Sally’s life, she is exposed physically and emotionally as the femme fatale mask is stripped away. After she has had an abortion we see Sally in ordinary clothes. On a visit to her father, the little girl Sally emerges and she dresses normally to please her dad. Sally wears glamorous, revealing clothes when she is in a position where she feels she is glamorous, decadent and so on. In times of reality however, she adopts plain clothes. It is as though her clothing reflects not only her mood and feelings, but also her grasp on reality and submission to illusion.

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Brian’s costume is also very reflective of his personality. His well pressed, drab jacket and bland shirt immediately present him as a prim and proper, conventional Briton. As we come to meet Brian we find that this is indeed true. He is reluctant to change, and it takes a while before he accepts sally’s sexual advances. Brian undergoes one of the biggest changes when he begins to accept Max. Before he fully accepts Max, Brian changes his drab shirt and jacket for a blue sweater, showing that he is undergoing change. Until this point Brian has worn almost exactly ...

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