Friday, June 14, 2013

R. Kerr- Casablanca


At the time of creating Casablanca no one had any real expectations for its success.  However, it left viewers in awe all over the world, even until this day.  The film was a sensation due to the fact that it touched on a little bit of everything.  The genres of love, action, war, drama, and a small sense of comedy, are all aspects that bring Casablanca together. 

From the very beginning of the film, one can see the resemblances of a film noir style in Casablanca.  The setting of troubling times, when Germans soldiers invaded Europe and many refugees in Casablanca looked for a way to receive exit visa’s to Lisbon, in the hope of reaching America.

 Although Casablanca is not a film noir, there are aspects of the style present.  The scene where I found the most film noir stylistic aspects used were in Rick’s Café Americain.  The screen first focuses on a close-up shot of Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart).  The audience can initially just see his hand, “scribbling a signature of approval across a check for an advance of 1,000 francs: “OK-Rick.””  As you can see in the photo above, there is a smoky and dark atmosphere in this shot of Rick; obviously the cinematographer wanted a gloomy, murky, night scene, thus using low-key lighting.  From this scene, Rick comes off as a hard-hearted, neutral, and dissatisfied character. 


The film had already drawn the audience in with its first main character, as someone who sticks his neck out for nobody, but the complexity and emotion does not truly grow until Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman) walks into the café.  Sam (Dooley Wilson) the piano player stumbles as he see’s her.  Isla asks Sam to play “As Time Goes By,” Rick and Ilsa’s song from back in Paris.  Then there is a close up of IIsa’s face as Sam continues to play the song.  There is such emotion in this simple scene.   The close up displays Ilsa as she thinks back on old memories.  One can see her regret of walking into the café, with the downward lean of her face and the plain sorrow she possess with the slightest bit of tears in her eyes.  Rick soon comes over and yells at Sam, “ I thought I told you to never to play that song.” There is then a close up of Ilsa face, almost crying and then a close up of Rick’s face, totally astonished and confused.  Normally, the protagonist male characters in film noir’s were driven by their past, and in this instance I believe that the Rick was driven from his past.  The outcome of his actions and decisions at the end of the movie were driven for his love of Ilsa.  

Another resemblance of film noir style I found in Casablanca was at the end of the film.  Most of the time noir films do not have a “happy ending.”  It is arguable whether or not this film did, but it is still customary that the male character is driven by his past in film noir. The only thing that Rick found important about his past was Ilsa, and that is why he had to let her go.  The end of the film is in a rich and smoky atmosphere.  As Roger Ebert once stated, Ilsa’s face reflects to be confused with emotions in this scene, as seen in the photo above.  The scene has dark lighting, and the airport is dim and shadowy, resulting in the characteristics of puzzlement.  Even until the very end, the storyline is twisty and complex, mostly because no one truly knew which man would walk away on the plane with Ilsa.  I believe that this still expresses the styles of film noir.  Surely, Rick could have taken the two exit visa’s, left with Isla, and let Ilsa’s husband, Victor, stay in Casablanca to be sentenced to a concentration camp.  However, Rick had to be the larger person and seek nobility. Rick and Ilsa were obviously in love, but Rick had to sacrifice their love for a higher purpose.  Rick was driven by love to let her go.  Essentially, one can see the aspects of film noir in Casablanca.  Some may argue that the film did not have a “happy ending”, like most film noir’s, because Rick and Ilsa never did actually end up together.  However, the ending was one of the many aspects of the film that made it successful, and the way I see it, Casablanca could not have ended up any other way. 

Sources:
Casablanca. Dir. Michael Curtiz. Perf. Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman. Warner Bros.        Studio's, 1942. DVD.
Dirks, Tim. "Casablanca (1942)." Casablanca (1942). American Movies Classics Company's       LLC., 2013. Web. 13 June 2013. http://www.filmsite.org/casa.html.
Ebert, Roger. "Casablanca." All Content. N.p., 15 Sept. 1996. Web. 14 June 2013.             http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-casablanca-1942.
Franco, Hector. "Casablanca Film Review." HubPages. N.p., 12 May 2011. Web. 14 June 2013.             http://ryuhawk.hubpages.com/hub/Casablanca-1942-Film-Review.

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