Cabaret
Kabaret
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| Poster Origin : | Poland |
| Poster Size : | Polish B1 / 707 x 1000mm |
| Poster Artist : | Andrzej Pagowski |
| Poster Year : | 1988 |
| Poster Version : | Re-Release |
| Film Origin : | United States |
| Film Director : | Bob Fosse |
| Film Year : | 1972 |
In common with many Pagowski works, this image is rendered in chalk on a dark ground, with stamped title and handwritten credits. A quick search of his poster work will highlight this distinctive style.
Sally’s face appears in full stage make-up, though the potency of her tears is even enough to run her waterproof greasepaint. She is anguished by the sadness of all that surrounds her, and the sinister prospects of the future (the Kit Kat Klub serves as a metaphor for ominous political developments in the later years of the Weimar Republic).
Sally’s carefree ignorance and freedom is represented as a whole central metaphor in the term ‘cabaret’, but that vital essence is being squeezed from her by the terrifying symbol of Nazism lurking in the shadows. The swastika is positioned on Sally’s neck as if to asphyxiate her, and as it approaches her lips she almost looks to be gasping for air, struggling to keep her head above the rising menace.
It appears that her dark running make-up was created with actual running paint, rather than drawn artificially. Had this not turned our so well it could have easily ruined the beautiful artwork, but the effect looks fantastic.