Casablanca
By Charlotte Dekle
We’re about to get film school up in here. Your film teacher was right, this is a great movie. But no joke, Casablanca is fantastic and deserves the hype. It was made in 1942 by director Michael Curtiz. It can be held up as the pinnacle of the classic Hollywood style. It’s an example of popular entertainment that is also art. But, it’s not pretentious. In the film, it portrays WW2 pre-Pearl Harbor when the US couldn’t decide whether or not to enter the war. This conflict is embodied with Humphrey Bogart’s Rick Blaine. He’s surrounded by temporary refugees waiting to get out of the wartime purgatory, Casablanca in Morocco while the German control is tightening. We are viewing this through the lens of Blaine, an expatriate who lives in isolation from the world, running a popular nightclub. The uncertain states of everyone reflects the state of the world at this point. Keep in mind, this movie came out in 1942, WW2 was not yet over. So the uncertainty loomed over the audiences too. Ilsa and Rick’s love story also chronicles the war. Flashbacks show their love in pre-war Paris. They’re in their own oblivious bliss which is brutally cut short by the Germans. Rick and Ilsa are one of the iconic movie romances, who (SPOILER ALERT) don’t get together in the end. Curtiz made sure that every frame was there to convey the story and the characters. Bogart's Rick Blaine is mostly half engulfed in shadow in noir style side lighting. It portrays his conflict and also the central question of the film. Should you strive to be good people even when evils are overtaking society? Should he become his idealist or his cynical self? Ilsa is also shown with intrusive lines overtaking her face, showing a similar dilemma between love and duty which also convey prison bars. Rick and Ilsa being trapped by circumstance. She is also shown with soft lighting to make her seem flawless and to evoke love, nostalgia, and regret. Victor Laszlo is shown in bright lighting signifying inspiration and a bright future. All of the cinematography is so carefully crafted. But, the movie is also extremely quotable. Famous quotes include “round up the usual suspects,” “play as time goes by,” “here’s looking at you, kid” and so many more. The screenplay is based off of the play, “Everybody Comes To Rick’s.” This adapted screenplay illuminates deep truths, advances plot, reveals characters, and speaks to the social context when America was about to enter the war. Do yourself a favor and watch this movie and remember, we’ll always have Paris.
logline: A cynical American expatriate struggles to decide whether or not he should help his former lover and her fugitive husband escape French Morocco.
Source: IMDb
My Favorite Characters:
Humphrey Bogart as Rick Blaine - Bogart conveys Rick as a broken man. A man who used to be an idealist but is now a cynic. But this cynicism is just a cover for his romanticism. His final choice in the movie shows his true self, and chooses the good of the country over his personal happiness with Ilsa.
Ingrid Bergman as Ilsa Lund - gorgeous, stunning, beautiful. Those are adjectives we can use to describe both Ingrid Bergman and her performance in this movie. Ilsa is not just the love interest and a passive character. She is “luminous” as Roger Ebert called her. There were other actresses considered but none of them could’ve done as well of a job as the most famous Swedish actress.
This movie is rated PG. Here’s why:
Mild Violence
My Favorite Part: The iconic scene when Ilsa is about to get on the plane but pleads with Rick so that she doesn’t. Then, Rick launches into one of the most iconic speeches in film history. “Inside of us, we both know you belong with Victor. You're part of his work, the thing that keeps him going. If that plane leaves the ground and you're not with him, you'll regret it. Maybe not today, and maybe not tomorrow, but soon, and for the rest of your life.” Ilsa says “what about us?” Rick responds “We'll always have Paris.” Then he continues on about their relationship and ends it with one of the most iconic lines of all time “here’s looking at you, kid”
Where To Watch:
HBO Max
for rent or purchase on all major platforms
Image Source: IMDb