Directed by Michael Curtiz, screen written by Julius Epstein, Howard Koch and Philip Epstein; Casablanca is a romance drama movie. The central theme of the film is World War II and its effects on individuals and countries.
The story, as would be natural, has its devious convolutions of plot. But mainly it tells of a tough fellow named Rick (Humphrey Bogart) who runs a Casablanca cafe and of what happens (or what happened last December) when there shows up in his joint one night a girl named Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman) whom he had previously loved in Paris in company with a fugitive Czech patriot named Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid). The Nazis are tailing the young Czech; the Vichy officials offer only brief refuge—and Rick holds the only two sure passports which will guarantee his and the girl’s escape. But Rick loves the girl very dearly, she is now married to this other man—and whenever his Negro pianist sits there in the dark and sings “As Time Goes By” that old, overwhelming feeling consumes him in a choking, maddening wave.
The plot, a trifle to hang the emotions on, involves letters of passage that will allow two people to leave Casablanca for Portugal and freedom. Rick obtained the letters from the wheedling little black-marketeer Ugarte (Peter Lorre). The sudden reappearance of Ilsa reopens all of his old wounds and breaks his carefully cultivated veneer of neutrality and indifference. When he hears her story, he realizes she has always loved him. But now she is with Laszlo. Rick wants to use the letters to escape with Ilsa, but then, in a sustained sequence that combines suspense, romance, and comedy as they have rarely been brought together on the screen, he contrives a situation in which Ilsa and Laszlo escape together, while he and his friend the police chief (Claude Rains) get away with murder. (“Round up the usual suspects.”)
The movie is an excellent representation of the people who lived in Casablanca and the multiple times and places they went through, and of the effects of the Nazi control over France and its colonies.
The movie starts with a voiceover describing the scene of Europe with the coming of the Second World War (WW II). The voice relates the history of the refugees during WW II, who go through long measures to get to Casablanca from France and then from Casablanca to Lisbon, from which they take a ship to the New World where they will find ‘freedom.’ From the beginning of the movie, we understand the hard conditions of people who want to live their lives and the dominant control of Germany and the Nazi officers. People come to Casablanca all over from Europe to find a way to get to the New World, where they will be able to live their lives in freedom, liberty, and peace. This shows the social and political effects of WW II on the society. People are willing to leave their homes, their countries and their families to escape from the ruthless Nazi officers and the concentration camps. Although Casablanca if not France itself, it is the colony of France. And as Germans invade Paris and later the whole of France, the viewers of the movie start to believe that the people in the French colonies, such as Casablanca, are in danger. Although the film progresses as a romance drama, the effects of the war and the attitudes of the officers towards people gives the viewer a clue of the fear people have within themselves.
One element which is very much contributing to our understanding of the political and social effects of the movie is the complexity of time and place. The characters, Rick and Ilsa, live in a complicated time and area where it is impossible for them to live a ‘happily ever after’ life. War, destruction, invasion, patriotism are all depicted in different characters and is so powerfully and brilliantly portrayed that the viewer can understand why the characters believe that there are more important things in life than love. Although we do not see it, it is this belief of the characters that give the story life and energy.
The cinematography and the characterization of the film are very successful. The opening scenes glint comedy and severe conversation; the dialogues are almost cynical but wise. The presentation of essential matters is in a comic but serious tone. The black-white color does not age in time, and Michael Curtiz has directed for slow suspense and that his camera is always conveying grim tension and uncertainty. Some of the significant incidents, too, are affecting—such as that in which the passionate Czech patriot rouses the customers in Rick’s cafe to drown out a chorus of Nazis by singing the Marseillaise, or any moment in which Dooley Wilson remembers past favorite songs in a hushed room. The characters are very well depicted because they give the emotion fear and suspense the director wished to make. The protagonist Rick is an American who lives in a corrupt world. When the German Officer asks him of his nationality, Rick replies, “I’m a drunkard.” His policy in life is “I stick my neck out for nobody.” From this line, we think that rick is a carefree, ruthless person who sees and cares for no one. But all these changes as the story unfolds and we discover parts of his story. From the line “of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine.” we see Ricks romantic yet broken heart and his sentimental side. Ilsa Lund, the woman of the movie, is beautiful, sophisticated but yet secretive. She has this sparkle in her eye that captures the viewer, but then we cannot help thinking about what she is feeling. Is she in love with Victor or Rick? Which one will she choose? Will she leave Victor? All these questions arise as the story develops but are then answered in one single look of Ilsa. The director has successfully pictured the suspense of Ilsa and made the viewer want to know about her story and why she abandoned rick at the train station in Paris. What is intriguing is that none of the major characters is bad. Some are cynical, some lie, some kill, but all are redeemed. If you think it was easy for Rick to renounce his love for Ilsa–to place a higher value on Laszlo’s fight against Nazism–remember Forster’s famous comment, “If I were forced to choose between my country and my friend, I hope I would be brave enough to choose my friend.”
The movie Casablanca is an excellent motion picture of Casablanca, Paris and the people living in these places during and after WW II. The film is a spectacular solid run of motion that captures our mind and heart in suspense and then lets us go towards freedom.
Works Cited
“Casablanca.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia, n.d. Web. 11 May 2014
Crowther, Bosley. “Casablanca” Rev. of Casablanca. New York Times, 27 November 1942, Natl.ed. Print. 11 May 2014
Ebert, Roger, ed. Roger Ebert. Reviews, Casablanca, 15 Sep. 1996. Web. 10 May 2014