The portrayal of historic events in the narratives of the two film Casablanca and Stella Dallas are contrasting; while Casablanca intertwines the historic time period into the narrative of the film, Random Harvest uses history only as an explanation for the events within the work.
The film Casablanca intertwines the historic context of World War two into the plot of the work. This 1942 film’s narrative focuses story of two lovers who are reunited in the refugee town of Casablanca during the time of World War two. That said, their romance is not moved to use the plot forward rather ,the historic context is used to not only move the plot forward, but to produce a MacGuffin as well. In this film the letters of transit are this MacGuffin(Maltby
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In Random Harvest viewers watch Charles suffer from dissociative fugue(Seamon 166) which causes him to abandon his entire past, and become his alternative ego, Smithy. That said the work is split into two halves that depend on a “two clunk theory”: which argues that to undo the effects of trauma one simply has to recreate that the event which caused it(Roth). During the first half of the film viewers meet Smithy, a man with no recollection of past, and “life began when he met Paula”. As the film progress the two fall madly in love, and do not dare to part from each other. That is until one day, when out on business, Smith is struck by a car. Viewers are then bombarded with a montage depicting American trenches during World War One. Inside one of these trenches is Charles, and before anything else a flashbang detonates causing for a white flash and a return back to the current day in the film. At the end of this flashback Charles has his memory back, and it is made clear that he had temporarily lost his memory due to the flashbang in the war. With his memory back, Charles moves on and the second half of the film continues. Nevertheless, there are no further references to historic events during that time period. Unlike Casablanca, Random Harvest is not a film centralized around one historic event. Rather, the history of World War two is solely used for an explanation for Charles memory lost, which could have been replaced with any other
In the essay “Beautiful Friendship: Masculinity & Nationalism in Casablanca”, Peter Kunze lavishly explains the magnificence of Michael Curtiz’s 1942 film Casablanca. Kunze focuses on how the movie not only highlights an exchange of relationships, but how the film has an underlying meaning between these relationships. He also implies that there is a more complex meaning behind every character in regards to their gender, economic, and social roles. The overall thesis of his reading is “the patriarchal ideology underlying the narrative commodifies Ilsa, leading Rick to exchange her with other men in an act of friendship and solidarity as well as to dissuade any perception of queerness between the strong male friendships in the narrative” (Kunze
Casablanca was directed in an era almost entirely dedicated to propaganda, as far as the film industry is concerned. The movie promoted America and the Allies similar to most films of the time, but it did so in a much different manner. The story told in Casablanca follows the main character, Rick, through his personal affairs and love tango with another lead character, Ilsa Lund. The film begins with Rick alone running his saloon based in Casablanca, in which he seems very indifferent to other people’s affairs, and comes off as very exclusive. He is delivered letters of transit by a man named Ugarte, which are nearly priceless to any refugee desiring to flee to the United States or another unoccupied country. Rick continues to act disinterested, reluctantly agreeing to hide the documents. He holds onto them even after Ugarte is killed for having stolen the letters, although there did not seem to be an...
In 1982, the journalist Chuck Ross, in an experiment for Film Comment, mailed the script of Casablanca to 217 agencies under a different title and under a different authorship name. Although many rejected it for external reasons, eighty-one agencies read it and of those, fifty-three did not recognize it as the classic. But here’s the cherry on top: forty-one agencies criticized the iconic, Oscar-winning script with harsh words. One wrote, “Story line is thin. Too much
Although A Streetcar Named Desire, by Tennessee Williams, and A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry, appear to be very different plays, there are some great similarities. Ruth, from A Raisin in the Sun, lives with her immediate family and her sister and mother-in-law in the Southside of Chicago. However, Stella, A Streetcar Named Desire, has left her family behind and moved to New Orleans. Although these two women come from very different backgrounds and are characters in very different plays, they have surprising similarities. Therefore, Ruth and Stella have similarities and differences in their overall lifestyles.
Passion! Passion is what both Lorraine Hansberry and John Steinbeck have in common. Their two major works, A Raisin in the Sun and The Grapes of Wrath, respectively, focus on the human struggle, love and dreams, which in turn are symbolized through the ideas of matriarchal images, prodigal sons and daughters and nature as an icon of dreams.
This part is divided into two sub-topics. The first sub-topic offers a summary of the book and contains spoilers. The second sub-topic summarizes the film. Both summaries incorporate key events in both form...
settings of the two different stories are located in different areas, where the film used
Casablanca is a romantic drama film in which the main character, Rick Blaine has to decide between escaping with Ilsa, leaving everything behind and supporting the war by helping Victor Laszlo, a Czech Resistance leader and husband of his former love, Ilsa. At the end, Rick decides to help Victor and Ilsa. Despite the fact that this decision was Rick’s way of protecting Ilsa, it can be proven that Rick helps her and her husband escape to America mainly because he wants to help the Allies win the war. Rick claims to be neutral in several occasions trough Casablanca, but his real position in the war is that he wants to help the Allies win.
Quirino, Leonard. “The Cards Indicate a Voyage on A Streetcar Named Desire.” Modern Critical Interpretations:
This is an extremely basic concept that is impossible to miss. Implicit meaning in a film is an idea that isn’t directly expressed but still should be understood by the viewers that are watching. Implicit meaning in Casablanca: In Michael Crutiz’s Casablanca (1943) we see that the characters are trying to outrun their pasts.
The way that a movie is pieced together by the director/producers has a huge impact on the viewer’s experience. Stylistic elements are used to help engage the viewer; however, without these techniques the viewer will most likely loose interest. In this essay I will be taking a look at a scene within the movie Casablanca directed by Michael Curtiz in 1942. Casablanca is a classic film that is reviewed to be one of the greatest movies of all time. This could be due to the notable quotes used throughout the movie, or its ability to follow a historic, comical, and romantic storyline throughout the course of the film. It caters to several different viewers, making this movie favorable to many. This scene in Casablanca uses specific editing techniques
The two films that are analyzed for similarities and differences to convey significant ideas for the integrity of their own story line: they are Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, directed by George Roy Hill and released in 1969, and Thelma & Louise, directed by Ridley Scott and released in 1991. In these two films, we watch them search for freedom within ourselves and freedom from societal norms. Along the way this creates entanglement with the law and causing a constant chase throughout both films. What keeps these characters from backing down is their free-spirited, brave, and most important a firm grip on their own fate. This mentality keeps the characters on their toes from what’s holding them back, however their own actions, history
Robert B. Ray categorizes Casablanca as "the most typical" American film. Ray uses Casablanca as a tutor text for what he calls the formal paradigm of Classical Hollywood as well as the thematic paradigm that addresses the conflict between isolationism and communitarian participation. The film is typical in its appropriation of an official hero Laszlo, who stands for the civilizing values of home and community, and an outlaw hero Rick, who stands for individu...
Rivers in this novel can also be a symbol for an escape. Weeks later, when Frederic hears from the barman about his expected arrest, he and Catherine escape for Switzerland by boat. They leave their old lives behind in search of a clean start in Swit...
The timing of this film was a significant factor in the story line. In the middle of the Great Depression unemployment and poverty were a major