Cabaret
Cabaret- The 1972 movie version of the musical based on a book of the same name, this is Liza Minnelli's big role.
Cabaret is set in 1931 Berlin. It focuses around the shady Kit Kat Club and Liza Minnelli's character Sally Bowles, an eccentric nineteen year old entertainer at the club. She starts a rocky romance with a young writer, played by Michael York, as well as with a rich married man, while the Nazi party rises up around them and the politics and danger in Berlin becomes increasingly dire. The movie discusses serious issues such as sex, sexuality, politics, religion, and even abortion all under the veil of music and performance and comedy.
This is probably the best movie ever made. That sounds like an overstatement, but the story, the characters, the acting, the filmwork, choreography, focus, subtlety, etc, was all handled so perfectly pulled off so well that I was literally left in shock. The music is, of course timeless. This is the movie that made Liza Minnelli's career for a reason, because she's endearing and funny in a role that could so easily have been either annoying or overly dramatic. The layers of plot and story fit together beautifully and the ending doesn't reveal everything but you're still left with a sense that you know without a doubt what happens next. It's chilling.
I don't know how I went so long without seeing this movie and recommend that everyone sees it. It's a clever, important, fantastic movie.