In 1931, budding author Christopher Isherwood goes to Berlin at the invitation of his friend W. H. Auden for the gay sex that abounds in the city. He falls for street sweeper Heinz, paying medical bills for the boy's sickly mother, to the disapproval of her other son, Nazi Gerhardt.
Acting
Matt Smith's eyebrows do more acting than most performers' entire bodies.
Production
Berlin recreated on a BBC budget—somehow still decadently immersive.
Writing
Isherwood's memoir adapted with wry self-awareness intact.
Director
Geoffrey Sax
Matt Smith
Christopher Isherwood
Imogen Poots
Jean Ross
Lindsay Duncan
Kathleen Isherwood
Toby Jones
Gerald Hamilton
Pip Carter
W. H. Auden
Alexander Dreymon
Caspar
Issy van Randwyck
Frl. Thurau
Clare Louise Connolly
Frl. Schmidt
Maggie Hayes
Frl. Mayr
Iddo Goldberg
Wilfrid Landauer
Will Kemp
Bobby Gilbert
Douglas Booth
Heinz Neddermayer
Gertrude Thoma
Fr. Neddermayer
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Isherwood originally invented 'Sally Bowles' for his novel; the real Jean Ross was a communist journalist who hated how Cabaret glamorized her.
The film was shot in Belfast standing in for Berlin, with the crew accidentally recreating 1930s queer geography through pure coincidence.
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