Casablanca and Rear Window are two movies that have had significant influence over the film industry over the years. Their narrative style, the unveiling of the plot, cinematographic elements and the perspectives provided by the directors through the characters allow us to dive into a world of cinema where we at times become the protagonist, at times become the third person observer. What is interesting in these movies is the way the directors successfully use the same techniques of cinema to build different emotions under a different context, but with almost the same narrative style. Casablanca is a product of Film Noir and contributes to the pre-war societal conditions; Rear Window relate more to the post-war life and the lives of a group of people in a single limited place.
Directed by Michael Curtiz, screen written by Julius Epstein, Howard Koch and Philip Epstein; Casablanca is a romantic drama movie filmed with the ambidextrous use of shadows, lighting, color, framing, and artistic representations.
The use of cinematographic shadows, lighting and color effects are combined to load the film with suspense and drama. Casablanca is a movie in black and white. However in order, to make Casablanca cinematographically appealing, Curtiz has deployed the shadow effect. For instance, where the black and white can be used to read of the different clearly defined emotional states our protagonist Rick goes through; the shadowy effect indicates when Rick or the characters would be caught in a frenzy of self-doubt. Or in other words, on the one hand, black and white lighting might be a symbol of interwoven truths and lies whereas the shadowy effect would indicate the state of uncertainty and unclarity for our characters. This is very true in one of the most famous shots of the movie when we are first introduced to our protagonist Rick. Rick, in this renowned shot, is seen signing a check and leaning forward in his chair, when we are first introduced to the protagonist Rick we see him sign a check, gradually lean forward in his chair and move out from the shadow so that the audience can see him. In another instance, we see Rick recall how Rick and Ilsa had been in their final day in Paris and how the Germans have worn grey and Ilsa has had worn blue. This vivid description and implication of the color blue add in another layer of understanding for our readers. Therefore, again worthy of mentioning is the fact, that the lighting, shadows and color effects add to a lot of many codes to our interpretation of Casablanca.
On the one hand, yes, they make us decipher the various moods our characters in the film go through; whereas they also foreshadow the suspense or drama embodied in the plot to come. As in the shot where Rick recalls his day in Paris with Ilsa, the color blue can be taken as a symbol of the permanence of the romantic relation once shared between Rick and Ilsa. But most importantly, the lighting, shadows and color effects help us in understanding the dynamic character development of Rick and Renault for instance. Given the pretext for example that Casablanca is about World War II, the dialogue deployed by Curtız is limited to make the screenplay more appealing on the grounds of its actuality.
Similarly, when we talk of cinematography concerning framing and artistic representation, a lot of attention to detail has paid. For instance, there have been shots in the movie where the protagonist Rick has been framed in camera n order for the audience to fully understand his exact motives but also read through his implied thoughts in the consciousness. For instance, when Rick looks for the Money in the safe; Captain Renault is found behind him. However, Curtiz’s framing of Rick in the centre, makes one wonder and appreciate that whether or not Rick is a man of honor, freedom, individuality or not and whether or not Rick will give in to the authority of Captain Renault or preserve his self-worth and dignity-especially in a time as the second World War. Furthermore, the artistic representations deployed explains for the romance once shared between Rick and Ilsa. For instance, Curtiz ambidextrously combines two diverse narratives: one being of the war-wearied individuals suffering from second World war and the romantic narrative once shared between Rick and Ilsa together-in the interwoven setting of Casablanca with jazzy music with the cover ‘As Time Goes By’ suggesting the temporal effect of the characters’ existences and life circumstances. In this way, Casablanca with its effective use of cinematographic effects has a make-believe impact for its audiences for the pretext of Second World War that it has to offer, so much different from modern-day understandings of war for us the postmodernist.
Written and directed by Alfred Hitchcock the Rear Window is a Crime-Thriller movie. In the film Rear Window, Alfred Hitchcock manages to use the elements of Cinematography and the point of view to create a film that carries within itself excitement and suspense and all through a single setting.
Windows are usually used as symbols of freedom, but Alfred Hitchcock uses them to reveal the privacy of people’s lives, to become the implied confinement and allude to the suspense within the plot in his famous work Rear Window (1954). The protagonist Jeff (James Stewart) is a photographer trapped inside his apartment, more specifically in front of his window, because of his broken leg injury. This usage of the protagonist’s confinement also relates to the audience, who is in a similar position to Jeff. We are confined into a limited set from a single point of view, which means that we do not see beyond the edges of Jeff’s vision. He is not active in his motions, which narrows our field of vision, except when he uses the binoculars, and this, in turn, provides the close-ups that give us details of the picture. Therefore, a genuine dimension is produced that proves the observant personality of Jeff. For example, if he had not pointed out the flowers and gave an analysis of their height and showed this to us through the gadgets of a photographer, we would not have noticed them. Hitchcock configures the film to manipulate the audience to question many aspects of the movie – Is Thornwald a murderer? What is buried in the garden? Will the evidence be found? What happened to the dog? Is the main event the murder or the loneliness and eventual suicide of Miss Lonelyheart? The audience is pushed to ask these questions through emotions of suspense and fear given through a single perspective.
The central plot device that Hitchcock uses to create the suspense is the point of view mingled with lighting and setting under cinematography. The illumination provides two perspectives: it sets the tone of the film and gives the psychoanalytic aspect. This psychoanalytic light is used “…to escort us across the boundary between knowledge and suspicion” (Pomerance). Lighting is a source that is used for both relating and conveying emotions. Lamps, windows, the sun are all significant in describing the tone and temper of the film, which is full of suspense. At the same time, they convey feelings of fear and anxiety. We wonder if the evidence will be found and we are also filled with anxiety and fear towards the end scene when Thornwald is approaching Jeff in the dark. The main aim of the conveyance of these emotions is to take the audience into the theme of voyeurism (Pomerance). Jeff is always watching, and his point of view is shown through the camera and/or the binoculars; thus we start to relate to his intuition and opinion of the neighborhood that is established through this observation. To see through the windows of his neighbors, he would need the effective and necessary amount of light. When the views are off, the curtains down or the rooms are dark, we have difficulty in understanding what is going on or we do not know. If we have no idea, then Jeff’s and thus our intuition comes into focus. Therefore, through the contextual elements, specifically the lighting, we are led to believe that Thornwald murdered his wife. Although this claim seems persuasive, the lack of lighting and visibility of the moment of the crime puts doubt in our mind. This ‘subjective suspense’ (Morris) interferes with the most important detail and leaves us with only one perspective. By intentionally providing a limited amount of lighting, the point of view adds both to the suspense and the ingenuity of the director.
The cinematography is an important tool that Hitchcock uses to build up the movie and create suspense. One cinematographic camera event that adds to the uncertainty is the burial incident in the flower garden. Each time we see the different characters digging through the flowers, then the unveiling of the mystery gets closer, and we watch in suspense whether or not they will find some evidence to back up Jeff’s, and therefore our, intuition. When Jeff looks through his lenses and so the camera gets a close-up of the unearthed flowerbed, we are disappointed to see that there is nothing there. However, this disappointment is quickly transformed into a plot-driver when Lisa leaps into action and gets into the apartment for investigation. Here we see the impotent Jeff struggling with his emotions as he fears that Lisa will be hurt when and if she is caught. As the camera sits inside Jeff’s apartment and conveys his struggle against impotence, we the audience are also made helpless and forced to watch as Lisa struggles inside the apartment. Another camera technique that makes the viewer feel constrained is the panning shot of the neighborhood. We feel as though we see the community the way Jeff sees it, but it is our very own perspective. So, we too, just like Jeff, are trapped. Within the first five minutes of the film, the setting is revealed to us clearly: a window is shown with the unfolding of the blinds, thus revealing to us that a story is forthcoming. The window becomes his eye, his opening world, his perspective and his camera (Morris). Here is the only connection to reality, and although the window is somewhat a figure of freedom, it ironically represents captives and entrapment. The square shape of the windows allows for the panning shots to lead the audience into the lives of the side characters. The only physical connection that Jeff gets with the outside world is when he falls from the window after the murderer is caught. After falling, he is out of his apartment and has physical contact with the outside world, in a sense; therefore, he is free from his entrapment. The irony here is that his one single moment of freedom causes him to plunge into more entrapment because he breaks his other good leg. After the narrative unfolds, the closing sequence refers the audience back to the opening sequence. The square windows are shown, and the characters are all about their usual lives, but with a slight difference, they are now happy. Rather than looking for perfection, they have finally realized that life goes on with happiness rather than the search for perfection. The piano man; who would play the same song over and over again until he would get it right but was never able to do so, ultimately shows that there is no real perfection in life.
Alfred Hitchcock manages to use the cinematographic elements to portray various emotions. While these cinema techniques all add to the narration and the overall suspense tone of the film, in the end, we are made to ask questions such as: What should we look at and pay attention to in other peoples lives? When should we begin to watch and observe and when should we stop? What is it to see in other peoples lives? What is ethical and what does it take to be neighbors?
The two different films differ in their use of cinematography but are similar in their techniques. Both use light to build the plot and narrate a love story hidden behind the realities of life. Lighting becomes a central tool in conveying the emotions of the characters, the tone of the actions and the overall temperate of the plot. The difference between these two movies, as can be seen from the cinematographic analysis, lies in the second aspect: the point of view in the Rear Window and framing and artistic representation in Casablanca. However, in-depth, both ask us the questions of Will society emerge with morals, values, and dignity intact? How does one maintain a commitment in a world that is changing vigorously?
Works cited:
Perez, Kyle. “Rear Window Plot Summary.” The Internet Movie Database. IMDb.com, Inc, n.d. Web. 29 Oct. 2009. <http://www.imdb.com/>.10.07.2017
Perez, Kyle. “Casablanca Plot Summary.” The Internet Movie Database. IMDb.com, Inc, n.d. Web. 29 Oct. 2009. <http://www.imdb.com/>. 15.07.2017
psegura1592. “Chasing Shadows: Cinematography in Casablanca.” A Looking in View. wordpress.blog.com. 18.09.2015. Web. 18.07.2017Yablun, Doug. “Rear Window Aesthetics.” The Museum of Film History. WordPress.blog. Spring 2012. Web. 18.07.2017.