I gave Casablanca a rating of 8 as I though the narrative of the story was very well shown through the acting of the characters. I think the editing of the classic Hollywood style really showed the type of the movie it would be. Although the film was in black and white, it didn’t make the movie feel different from a colour film
My favourite scene was when Ilsa and Rick was talking to each other before her and Victor left Casablanca to go to America. I think the acting from Ilsa and Rick helped to emphasise the scene as it showed that they really cared about each other and still love each other.
Casablanca is a romantic drama made during the second world war and set in the Nazi controlled Moroccan town of Casablanca, in which bar owner Rick Blaine is involved in the escape of resistance fighter Victor Lazlo, made more difficult by the involvement of his old girlfriend from Paris, Ilsa Lund. This is a generally highly rated film, and I have to agree that Casablanca is a very well made and well acted film with a very interesting story. Its a fantastic film that deserves all the praise it gets.
Memorable Scene: Ilsa leaves Casablanca with Victor
This scene serves as the end to the film as well as its emotional climax, and it is definitely the most memorable part of the film to me. Rick, deciding to help Ilsa by giving her the letters of transit, holds the police captain at gunpoint and drives her and Victor to the airport. Ilsa is under the assumption that she will be staying with Rick while Victor leaves for America, however Rick has arranged for her to leave with Victor without telling her to make sure she leaves. Rick explains that Ilsa has to leave with Victor because she motivates Victor to keep going and because Victor loves her. The reveal of Rick sending Ilsa away to America is accompanied by a swelling underscore which raises the emotional impact, as well as a dramatic zoom in to Rick and Ilsa’s faces. This scene also shows Rick’s character development, as in the beginning he was a sour, mean man who did have moments of kindness that he conctantly undermined. He insisted he was neutral in all matters, and when it came to Ilsa and Victor he was aggressive and resentful towards the two of them due to his past with Ilsa, which is a pathetic side to him as he endangers Victor’s life by not giving him the letters of transit because Ilsa left him. However by this scene he has changed, and stops being mean towards the couple and lets his petty grudge against Ilsa go, allowing her to be free and letting Victor escape the Nazis. The score, close up shots and amazing acting from Bogard and Bergman really makes this emotional scene extremely impactful . Also I cried.
In this scene, it is established that Rick Blaine is a cynical, apathetic man, as Ugarte points out plainly. Ugarte is trying to sell letters of transit to refugees in Casablanca, preying on those desperate for escape – in short Rick ends up hiding two tickets for Ugarte. Throughout the film, desperation is a common theme, reflective of the time period through the characters relationships, an example of this would be Rick and Ilsa’s relationship, how fragile Blaine’s control on life gets once she re-enters his life, he’s always been in control of every life he has lived up until this point, an ex-lover who broke his heart is enough to crack through his cynical exterior. I also appreciate how the film hones in on ricks journey away from his cynical ways following the separation from Ilsa in France, by the end of the film he sacrifices his selfish whims for the greater good, sending Ilsa and Victor (her husband) away by choice this time.
