Casablanca is a drama, action, mystery, romance, and classic genre film directed by Michael Curtiz. It is a very unique movie which encompasses the difficult and tumultuous time period of World War II, and plays out the romantic struggles of an American expatriate meeting a lover from another country in Casablanca. The combination of the war time struggles and a complicated romance makes for a very interesting and entertaining film. The film was based on an un-produced play called Everybody Come to Ricks and won three academy awards for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Screenplay.
Cast
• Humphrey Bogart acts as the character Rick Blaine. Rick is an expatriate from America who ended up in Casablanca running a night club called "Rick's Café Américain.” He appears to be a non-committal character feigning indifference to many things like other people’s emotions and social ties, but turns out to be quite a sentimentalist.
• Ingrid Bergman acts as the character Isla Lund, who was the love interest of Rick when they were both in France before the Germans arrived to establish control. She fell in love with Rick because she believed her husband was dead after he was sent to a German concentration camp.
• Paul Henreid plays Victor Laslo, Isla’s husband. Victor is a Czeck Resistance leader who took Isla to Casablanca in search of paperwork to escape from German Major Strasser to the United States.
• Claude Rains plays the curt and witty character, Captain Louis Renault. Captain Renault is an unashamed and openly admits to being a corrupt police official. He is involved with the German’s pursuit of Laslo and has an ironic admiration or respect for Rick.
• Conrad Veidt plays the domineering German Major Heinrich Strasser. Major...
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...ointment. For the general viewers, I think this film reaches the “what ifs” of humankind in life’s romance and gives a good impression of what life may have been like for those not so very close to the action of World War II.
CONCLUSION
Casablanca is a treat of a film to watch; the character dynamics are evolutionary over the span of the film and some of the outcomes near the end are surprising.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. “Casablanca (1942)” The Internet Movie Database. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0034583/
2. Casablanca (film) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casablanca_(film)
3. Spark Notes: Casablanca http://www.sparknotes.com/film/casablanca/summary.html
4. Casablanca (1942) - Film Review http://ryuhawk.hubpages.com/hub/Casablanca-1942-Film-Review
5. Arthur Edeson http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0249186/
6. Terminology “Movies and Meaning” by Stephen R. Prince
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
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
In the film Casablanca, directed by Michael Curtiz, a clear juxtaposition exists between Rick and America. Despite Rick’s numerous similarities to America and his deep longing to be part of the country, a physical and psychological barrier separates the two. With America practically being on the opposite end of the world, Rick understands that he cannot abandon his responsibility to aid and influence others in Casablanca. Rick is willing to sacrifice his personal comfort and well-being for the greater good of society. This juxtaposition between America and Rick foreshadows that the United States would soon become involved in the war by overtly displaying Rick’s transformation when he confronts his troubled past.
Entering a war is an effort that is best when it has popular support and enthusiasm. Casablanca is propaganda for the Allied forces to help rally support. There is clear evidence of this idea in the scene with the French national anthem, the character development, and the ending. France and the United States prevail as Germany falls and dies.
Some actors in this movie do a good job of portraying their character. However, a few take away from the overall experience, such as Tony Ross and Claudia McNeil. Tony Ross, who is an actor known for Pancho Villa, plays Stacey Logan. Claudia McNeil was an actress known for her role in Raisen in the Sun, and she portrays Big Ma. Both of these
...t it is clearly obvious what is about to happen using an establishing shot. Casablanca also uses camera angle specifically portraying Captain Renault and Strasser as less powerful people in the office scene. Editing allows for smooth transitions between shots and allows for us as viewers to experience the scene like we are seeing through the characters eyes. Lighting provides us a mood of the scene, specifically when Rick first sees Ilsa for the first time since Paris. The Music plays a role in how we as audiences should feel while watching the movie. And without production design movies would not flow correctly. Every setting is specifically chosen to depict the location where the scene takes place. Casablanca is a quintessential film because it ties up all the formal elements of classical Hollywood. Without this movie Hollywood may be a completely different place.
Raul Julia plays Oscar Romero the soft spoken priest turned Arch-Bishop. His character goes through a metamorphoses from beginning to end that eventually gets him killed. The one moment in time that really changes the way he acts is the death of Father Grande. Fr. Grande was a preacher to the poor or anyone who wanted to listen to the Word of the Lord.
Gangsters, violence, murder and corruption !!!!! If these are some of the things that you're into, then this is your kind of movie. Be ready to watch it more than once to be sure to get all the movie has to offer because it jumps from subject to subject and can be a little confusing.
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
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