Theme Of Piano In Casablanca

701 Words2 Pages

Behind the Piano The city of Casablanca is a bleak place full of hardship and full of people that are tied down. These people look for an escape that can set their mind on a different path. Rick’s Cafe Americain reflects that place to visit that can set the people’s minds free. Specifically, there rests a piano that can turn the minds of the people away so that they can feel free and have an enjoyable time at the cafe. With this, the cafe and piano give the people a sense of living a normal life. In the movie, Casablanca, Sam’s piano resembles a symbol that not only resembles a sense of enjoyment and freedom, but helps establish a connection to the past of Rick and Ilsa. All the folks that were put in the city of Casablanca wait until they …show more content…

Music is constantly playing and it lightens the crowd to dance and sing. The piano produces sounds that can only make a room full of people forget everything and just make the night one of the best. One instance occurs in the movie when the music stops due to the arrest of Ugarte. When the music ceases, the people quit their fun to focus on Strasser. Then after a bit, the music resumes and the people do as well. A second instance, occurs when the Germans sing their prideful anthem because Sam had stopped playing. Then Mr. Laslow gets the people together to return the cafe back to its normal state. Mr. Laslow gets the crowd to sing “La Marseillaise”. The Germans quit their singing due to the overwhelming strength of the crowd to take the cafe’s normal tone …show more content…

The song “As Time Goes By”, plays a specific role in connecting the past of Rick and Ilsa in Paris. The first time Ilsa walks into Rick’s cafe she asks Sam to play that very song. Sam at first seems hesitant because he knows the pain the song can put on Rick. The song brings him back to when they were happily in love, and the pain he felt when she didn’t show up at the train station. Just like the other guests, Rick tries to forget that pain by trying to never hear that song again. Sam eventually decides to play the song, and it turns out for the best. Rick even though remembering the hurtful past experiences, remembers the good ones as well. They eventually become reacquainted with each other. This allows Rick to keep his life moving because when Ilsa ditched him, he has been in halted state. Now that Rick had his life back up and running, he could setout to be the hero depicted towards the end of the

Open Document