3/3/2019 2 Comments Analysis V: CasablancaLove is a battlefield in the 1942 film, Casablanca by Michael Curtiz starring Humphrey Bogart as Rick Blaine and Ingrid Bergman as Ilsa Lund. Set during the same year it was released in, the film follows the character of Rick Blaine as he attempts to keep his head down in the French Morocco city "Casablanca". Rick runs a cantina titled "Rick's Cafe Americain", mostly trying to stay out of trouble as he mixes with the local police captain, Louis Renault (Claude Rains) as well as his friend and piano player Sam (Dooley Wilson). The plot begins when Rick receives word from a low-level criminal that two Nazi couriers were shot and killed in the desert, the papers they were carrying with them were stolen. The interesting thing about the papers are that they were blank-name transit papers complete with orders from a high-ranking official stating that they could not be rescinded. Seeing as how any two people could fill in their own names and escape Casablanca using the papers, it made them highly desirable. Rick has little interest in these however, but agrees to hide them for the criminal for a time. Unfortunately for the criminal, he is killed by the police after resisting arrest before he can tell anyone that Rick had the papers. Curtiz uses some subtle storytelling techniques at the start of the film to show that Casablanca is a city few want to be stuck in, considering many French refugees have escaped to that locale seeking to get a flight going as far away from the Nazi Empire as possibly. He does this by having a short focus on people both around or inside Rick's bar which shows different people either commenting on how they are searching for transit papers to leave, or purchasing them illegally. Many people are forced to resort to illegal means to acquire transit papers because the police have a difficult time keeping up with the number of papers at the start, and later because the Nazis crack down on flights in order to prevent a concentration camp escapee and rebel leader Lazlo Valentine (Paul Henreid) from escaping from Casablanca once he arrives. Sure enough, Lazlo does arrive looking for the papers along with Rick's former flame, Ilsa who he last saw when Germany invaded Paris. Rick shifts between someone who wants nothing to do with Ilsa or Lazlo to someone who puts himself at risk for the two to escape so that Lazlo can continue his work safely in America. Ultimately, the film ends on a hopeful note, with Rick and Louis making tentative plans to enter into a partnership as they walk off into the night. The main aspects of the film that will be analyzed in this film are the usage of characters, storytelling elements, lighting techniques, and prevalent themes as well as the film's contribution to the genre of film noir. This movie has very intriguing characters. All of them feel real and none are one-note. The believable performances of the main cast really contribute to the fictional premise of the story in a profound and beneficial way. The way the actors fill out their roles really makes Casablanca feel like a lived-in place, even though these characters are not real. First, Rick Blaine acts as a stoic and apathetic man out for himself with little regard for others or "picking sides" but tied to a some deep regrets in his life and a desire for things to be different in his own life. After all, Rick went from a man in love with a beautiful woman that he knew nothing about to a lonely man who was successful on his own but with nothing and no one to truly care about. While in the modern day many viewers may group Rick into a cluster with many other noir protagonists, they should realize that this film existed before that type of character was a trope. Even then, Rick is no typical noir protagonist. Rather than someone who often sleeps around and struggles with an alcohol addiction all the while acting as a dark hero stuck in a miserable world, Rick is a man whose heart is firmly attached to one woman that he lost but never truly forgot and his partiality towards drinking is never presented as an issue to him. Arguably the only true flaws Rick is initially is portrayed with is an inability to firmly make up his mind and choose sides, another is his inability to forgive and move on. The director's hand in developing these characters is well-framed in a 2014 article featured on filmschoolrejects.com when it states, "Curtiz’s characters are often faced with trenchant moral dilemmas, but they are rarely your conventionally heroic Hollywood protagonists. In fact, most of Curtiz’s characters are passive figures placed in a situation in which their formidable character is tested. They do not decisively mobilize their own fates or those of others, but are instead placed in scenarios in which they can no longer reside in their planned life of neutrality and passivity". This analysis fits the character of Rick perfectly, as over the course of the film, he finds himself warming up to Ilsa again after refusing to hear her out after standing him up when they planned on leaving Paris together. Rick's motives are clear by the end: he wants his love to be happy and safe, even if it means having a life without him. For most of the film the audience believes that Rick is only acting on behalf of himself, especially when at one points it seems as though he is going to leave with Ilsa, leaving Lazlo behind at his behest. Yet Rick ultimately decides against this, perhaps because he was finally convinced of the importance of Lazlo's work, or perhaps he realized that Ilsa would never truly be safe with him. Rick is a tragic figure, a man who desperately grasps for happiness, who lives outside his peek of happiness and despite his desperate need to get back to the those times, Rick realizes eventually that they are gone forever, he can never have a life with Ilsa because it would be dependent on the people they were when they were in love, not the people they are now. This is Rick's most relatable trait: regret and a drive to make life better for the people important to him. Rick is not flawed because he has vices, he's flawed because he's obsessively tied to the past and when he finally acknowledges this, its a subtle and heartbreaking moment. This accumulates in Rick's final line to Ilsa: "We'll always have Paris". ![]() Ilsa is the next most layered character behind Rick. She is a desperately torn character between two men that represent very different lives: Lazlo has a deadly profession but is a good man at heart that seeks to improve life for others while Rick has a fairly safe and normal profession but is deeply selfish and apathetic at heart. Ilsa feels like she made a mistake throughout the whole film by standing Rick up, but at the same time stands by said decision. She represents the fact that people, to some degree, will always be tied to the notion that hey'll lose a sense of mystery and fluidity in their romantic life by settling down. Yet people are not meant to maintain that flexible state forever as displayed by the film. Ultimately, Ilsa stays by Lazlo, not because she loves him and only him, but because she knows that she has a future with him and will grow in a positive way because of his good virtues, unlike Rick. Even though she is torn, Ilsa chooses the path that is best for her in the long run. She struggles with burying the past like Rick, both because she cheated on her husband Lazlo (thinking he was dead) and because she fled from Rick with little explanation because she was ashamed of herself. Her story is relatable to anyone who has found themselves torn between two versions of themselves or stuck in two different realities. Her character's contribution to the story strengthens the viewer's emotional understanding. ![]() Yet another strong character is the bending-in-the-wind Louis who shamelessly admits that he always plays to succeed, his only loyalty is to the winner. He portrays this by being subservient to the Nazis, despite secretly admitting that he hates them. He knows his place and this keeps him alive and successful. While Louis offers a lot of comedy relief in the film, he also represents a type of person that someone will meet many times in their life. Someone who is only really loyal to themselves, but fakes loyalty and ideologies whether it be for attention or to gain access to even more success than they already have. This is perhaps best illustrated in the scene where the Nazi Major orders Louis to close down Rick's cantina for a made-up reason. Louis obliges, despite the fact that it betrays his own belief in the joy of gambling (displayed below). This character trait only changes towards the end when Louis decides to team up with Rick to leave Morocco despite Rick holding him at gunpoint and being in favor with the Nazis. Louis ultimately chooses success with his friend over financial success, despite the secret part he played in the Nazi Major's death (which could influence anyone to leave their life behind if their involvement were discovered). Louis represents the self-preserving instinct within everyone, adding yet another layer of reliability if no one has made a mistake kin to Ilsa or is stuck in the past and in love with a person he can never have like Rick. His presence, along with Ilsa and Rick, sucks the viewer in with their powerful portrayals and symbolism, leaving no doubt that this is one of the most memorable films ever made. The character motivations are not always spoon-fed to the audience, they aren't always over-the-top, flawless, or too flawed, but they are grounded in reality, and that is why they add power to the film. Irony, Regret, Success, and Sacrifice are all major storytelling elements prevalent in Casablanca. The movie is very much about trying to move on from the past and how people who cannot successfully do so are stuck in the past, forced to devolve as they can never improve and better themselves. Yet another important element is success, which in this film is portrayed in two major ways: financially and morally. In the film, Rick and Louis are both portrayed as financially successful but morally bankrupt while characters like Sam and Lazlo are portrayed in the opposite way. This is an interesting commentary on how people value success in the modern day, often times people well-off financially are viewed as the peak of human success while emotionally successful people are often given little credence, being appreciated usually in hindsight but mostly being regarded as insignificant. Irony is also a prevalent element in the film. often being utilized in a comedic capacity but also utilized in an intriguing storytelling capacity. This is best portrayed when Rick ultimately decides to give up Elsa despite gaining nothing from that action and losing the potential of rekindling romance with his lost love forever. The irony in that is that at one point Rick was crushed when Ilsa abandoned him and by the end of the film he is encouraging her to do so. Irony contributes to the film primarily to show how Rick has changed as a character. Sacrifice goes hand-in-hand with this element, as Rick sacrifices everything he has to make sure that his former lover will have a safe and happy life, in this way, Rick is finally portrayed as a hero rather than an a simple neutral but prominent figure in Casablanca. Further, this shows the audience that sacrifice is the secret to herodom and reverence. Finally, regret is at the heart of Casablanca as talked about in the character portion of this analysis. Regret is utilized in a heavy capacity to add relatability and a human element to the film. Both Rick and Ilsa wish that they had handled their past relationship differently yet both of them ultimately come to accept how they have both changed and are no longer ideal for one another in a romantic relationship capacity. The film utilizes lighting in an interesting way, while the film is set in sunny Morocco, darkness shrouds many of the scenes in the film and accentuates the dark aspects of the story but mostly the mysterious aspects of the movie. As pictured in this scene above, which is set at night, mist covers much of the airport, its meaning of ambiguity and uncertainty pairs well with their emotional forms, which the viewer likely experiences when watching the climactic scene as Rick puts everything on the line. The perpetual darkness of the movie really helps the audience to feel emerged in the sinister setting of Casablanca, a city virtually ruled by Nazis, where crime and black market dealings are commonplace, fit with a corrupt police force (as showcased throughout the film). Overall, lighting is used to strengthen how the film immerses the viewer in the setting and subsequently, as a result, the story. At last, the final subjects to analyze: major themes and the movie's presence in the film noir genre. The major themes of this film tie-in well with its storytelling elements, the themes being acceptance, love, and evolution. Acceptance pairs well with regret and coming to terms with that, and evolution pairs well with sacrifice while loves works with irony (as discussed previously). Acceptance is the most subtle but perhaps the most important theme present in Casablanca. Rick spends the movie-actively or not-coming to accept the reality of his life and feelings for Ilsa. Ilsa has to accept the decision she made to leave Rick behind. In this, the audience sees that the movie argues it is not about how dire the circumstances of a situation are, it is about how the person in said situation handles it. The two main characters ultimately accept that what they had is in the past and that to be better they need to move on. Part of the brilliance of this film is how that message is conveyed so subtly so that the audience can find it on their own. Obviously love is yet another major theme of the movie, which argues that someone can't pick and choose the people they love, but they can choose what they do about it. Ilsa is portrayed as someone who loves two different people at the same time, extremely taboo, yet this is handled excellently within the film. Love is portrayed as an arbitrary force of nature and despite betraying traditional understanding, Ils'a struggle still comes across as sympathetic, ultimately because she does commit to one of her lovers over the other. Finally evolution, nearly all the main characters in this film change by the end, for the better. Ilsa commits her heart, Rick finds satisfaction without Ilsa, and Louis desires to leave his life of corruption behind. In this way, the film portrays certain types of change as a good thing. Particularly, it takes a stance against complacency and indecisiveness, arguing that people can only truly be happy if they pick a lane and commit to it. This is evidenced by how the characters are most unhappy when their lives and purposes are ambiguous, but once they have dedicated themselves to new ideals or missions, they appear to be much happier. Casablanca is a profoundly intricate and masterfully intriguing film that sticks with the viewer long after they see it. There is so much to analyze in the film that this analysis likely only scraped the surface, but hopefully offered some nice insight. Nevertheless, Casablanca has rightfully claimed its place as one of the greatest movies of all time during its long tenure. It carried with it powerful themes and techniques that have lasted this long and deserve to continue to be discussed amongst film fans and general audiences alike. With all that being said, thanks for reading. "Here's to lookin' at you, kid."
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