Casablanca- M. Bologna

 

“It's still the same old story.  A fight for love and glory; 
a case of do or die.  The world will always welcome lovers.  As time goes by.” These words alone can capture every suspenseful moment in Casablanca.  From the second the movie begins people are at war.  Not from the hearts of lovers Rick and Ilsa, but because of the Nazis invading France.  As the Nazis are approaching, there is a romance building between the two smitten lovers and as the war becomes closer to their residence, Ilsa, begins to start a war within her heart.

            She eventually disappears leaving a note with no explanation forcing Rick to flee the area without his lover.  As he creates a new home his persona displays a neutral tender gentleman.  “I stick my neck out for nobody,” stuck in all of their minds as Rick’s eyes lit up at the first sight of his lost love.  His eyes changed from anger of hearing their song to a renewed hope that the love he thought he would never come across again was in his café.  From then on, Rick battles his bitterness of being abandoned with the immense wanting to have her back.  As Rick battles his feeling, Ilsa also wants the burning passion to be with Rick to disappear due to the betrothal she had made with Victor long before she met Rick.  They know they are each others true love and the film maker captures that in the camera angles that bring the viewer in close and personal as the actors are in each others company.  This view gives us the idea that we are living in this drama as well as the actors and the lighting and contrast has our hearts and bodies on the edge of our seats wanting more than what we are watching.  We want to live it and be in the moment along with the actors as the struggle to discover who will end up with whom drags on.  In the end, the filmmaker creates a dark and tense mood as the final decision is made as to who will get on the plane.

            Rick choose to stick out his neck for the only person he has ever loved and the light is on Ilsa as we wait to see her reaction of having to leave without the one we have all fallen for, Rick.  We had fallen for him because he was a new kind of hero.  The decision to let Ilsa have a love was unbelievable, “It meant that he put himself before something bigger than himself. Doing what was right, which was to be patriotic and selfless.”(Franco)  Rick lost the fight for his love but he lived in selfless glory knowing he has given his love a better life.  A life that he could not give her if she was to stay.  And as time goes by they will both welcome new lovers along with their new lives.

Franco, H. Casablanca (1942)-Film Review: Hub Pages. 12 May 2011. http://ryuhawk.

hubpages.com/hub/Casablanca-1942-Film-Review