Casablanca

Week 1 of our Intro to Film class features to classical films: Casablanca and On the Waterfront.  I will discuss the latter film in my next blog entry...

Chapter One of our text talks about the Art of Watching Films.  Specifically, the author writes that viewers of film should work to remove any obstacles that would prevent them from viewing a film objectively, and to remove any personal biases (Petrie & Boggs, 2012, Pages 8-9).

Prior to this week, I had never watched the film, Casablanca.  I kind of feel like I might have been one of the few people who hadn't, since classical lines from the movie are widely quoted.  "Play it again, Sam;" and "Here's looking at you, Kid" are just two examples.

The film takes place in early World War II and centers on an American character named Rick Blaine (portrayed by Humphrey Bogart) who owns an American Cafe/Bar in the city of Casablanca - a city in (Free) French Morocco, which is a gathering place for many French nationals - and other Europeans - trying to flee Nazi-occupied France for a new life in America.

Casablanca is a black and white film, which in and of itself wasn't distracting at all.  What was distracting a little, however, was all the dark shadows used throughout the film.  It added to the some of the drama and mystery, however, and made me focus a little more on what was going on in the film.

Before I get to the love story elements of the film, I must say that I really enjoyed the larger, political events going on.  Rick had been involved in earlier resistance efforts in the past and had worked with underdogs against tyranny.  Casablanca was a very corrupt city and the very nature of why people were gathering there (trying to escape the Nazis) made for some interesting characters revealed to us throughout the film.

Through the use of flashbacks, we learn that when Rick was in Paris, he fell in love with Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman) but his heart was broken the day they were scheduled to flee Paris together.  Ilsa didn't make it to the train and Rick was devastated.

Rick was a key person in Casablanca and seemed to be doing very well, although he certainly didn't seem happy.  A central theme, it seems, for Rick in Casablanca was that he would do whatever was in the best interest of himself.  He stated numerous times, that "I stick my neck out for nobody."

Rick's Casablanca world gets turned upside down when Ilsa arrives in Casablanca with her husband, Victor Laszlo, one of the main leaders of the Underground Resistance in Europe, seeking to flee to America together to further the resistance efforts.  We learn that Ilsa was married during the time she and Rick had fallen in love, but had believed her husband had been killed in a concentration camp.  The day she was to leave with Rick was the day she learned that her husband was still alive.

Rick had come in to possession of two writs of passage (exit visas) and the majority of the remainder of the film focuses on what Rick will do with these highly sought documents.

Chapter Two of our text discusses identifying the thematic elements in the film - the theme and focus.

I would have to say that I believe the focus of Casablanca is really on the character (Petrie & Boggs, 2012, Page 20) of Rick and his desire to do the right thing - even when he really doesn't want to.  This idea is further strengthened, in my opinion, when Victor tells Rick at one point that "Each of us had a destiny - for good or evil."

Rick ends up giving the documents to Ilsa and Victor, and gets them safely on an airplane that will take them to Lisbon, and eventually to America.  He did this despite Ilsa professing her love for him and her desire to be with him instead of Victor.

Rick looked at the bigger picture - a utilitarian view, if you will - and determined that there would be greater good occurring in the world (the continuation of the Nazi resistance, etc...) if Ilsa and Victor were to leave together rather than have them split up so Rick and Ilsa could be together.

This was a great picture.  One that I am really happy to have watched and one that I look forward to watching again.


References:

Petrie, D., & Boggs, J. (2012). The art of watching films. (8th ed. ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages.