' Casablanca, And The Themes Of The Movie Casablanca

In Michael Curtiz’ film, Casablanca, the resolution to Annina Brandel’s predicament represents the apotheosis stage of one of Rick Blaine’s cycles. Throughout the film, multiple cosmogonic cycles (Campbell) become present. One, in particular, is at the forefront of the film, which involves Rick and his character development following the Hero’s Journey, or the Cosmogonic Cycle.

In my analysis I will be looking at a scene near the end of the film where Bud White and Ed Exeley take part in a shootout at the victory motel. The narrative conveys very common noir aspects here; the shootout takes place in a very dark room. The only light comes from outside. This shows the mood of the scene to be sinister and bleak. It puts the audience in a scared state as the shadows can conceal anything. It is also hard to see what White and Exeley are doing. The shadows are very menacing because they use a chiaroscuro lighting effect. This means that the rooms, people and settings are hidden from view by shadows. The blinds over the window cast strong grid shadowing over the characters showing uncertainty and anxiety. This lighting is very common in film-noir films as it shows the seediness of the settings. The

     In Casablanca, the prominent themes of unhappy love and self-sacrifice set this romantic melodrama apart from most in its genre. These themes are best expressed in the interactions of the three main characters: Victor Laszlo, a heroic political leader; Ilsa Lund, an enigmatic femme fatale; and Richard (Rick) Blaine, a seemingly morally ambiguous night club owner. An unusual love triangle forms with the two men’s mutual love for the intermediary woman. Unlike the archetypal romantic triangle which includes the betrayed husband and the victorious lover, this situation results in unhappiness and loss for all involved. All three are willing to sacrifice for this love,

The characters in Casablanca all contribute to the political allegory, for example Rick is strong and isolated like America, Strasser is the typical Nazi general representing Germany, and Renault is compliant with the Germans like France. American Rick and European Louis look out for each other's interests throughout the film, just as America and Western Europe did once the United States entered the war. Renault had to obey and follow the Strasser?s demands until he had leverage and the knowledge that he could defeat or overcome

The other love relationship portrayed in Casablanca is the intimate relationship between Ilsa and Laszlo. As opposed to the relationship between Ilsa and Rick, this one has high levels of

Ray points out that this concealing of the necessity for choice also governs the thematic paradigm in Casablanca. The film invites the audience to identify with Rick rather than Laszlo even though official American wartime sentiments are consistently voiced by Laszlo. Rick regularly insists upon unmediated self-interest,"I stick my neck out for nobody", "I'm the only cause I'm interested in", a position that Ferrari explicitly identifies with a discredited American tradition: "My

After that scene occurred, we see Rick and Jean at home discussing what had just occurred in the previous scene with the holdup and theft of their car. They are filing a police report. Rick is running for an election and is trying figure out a way with his advisors to avoid gaining bad publicity. He wants the African Americans vote and does not want to lose those that are on his side. By filing this police report after the incident that just occurred, he feels he put himself in a bad position in the election. Him and his advisors are trying to figure out what he should with the interview with the news reporters. As he's trying to figure out the right wording for the situation that occurred, Jean is watching the locksmith named Daniel played by Michael Pena, he is

The effect of Groucho’s short history of Casablanca is to create a humour but yet also sarcasm scenario. The letter says, “It seems that in 1471, Ferdinand Balboa Warner, your great-great-grandfather … had stumbled on the shores of Africa and, raising his aplentock, which he later turned in for a hundred shares of common, named it Casablanca” (Groucho). Groucho finds it ridiculous that the Warner Brothers thinks they own the city name Casablanca. He makes up a how supposedly the Warner Brothers were given the right to own the name not because they made a movie using the title Casablanca.

Nevertheless, it seems that they represent American society in the 1940’s. The character of Rick portrays an unconventional hero who tries to stay outside of everyone’s business, but in the end it is him who saves Laszlo’s and Ilsa’s life. This reminds me of the role of America during WWII. At first, the United States tried to stay out of the war, but when they were forced to react after Pearl Harbor, they got involved. The film also refers to this when Rick asks his friend Sam if he knows what time it is in New York. Before Sam can reply, Rick says that it must be December 1941, which was the time when the attack against Pearl Harbor occurred. Ilsa, on the other hand, represents the role of American women. She is described as the most beautiful woman that has been seen in Casablanca. Her appearance reminds me of the typical image of an ideal American girl – blonde, pretty and conservative. She tries to act in a moral way when she finds out that her presumed dead husband is still alive and she leaves Rick at the station in Paris. This reminds me of how women were treated during the 1940’s. It was their responsibility to take care of the family business, but in the end men would have the final decision. Ilsa tries to get the transit-visa from Rick, but she tells him to decide what she should do next. Rick sends her away with Laszlo and restores the perfect family union between Ilsa and Laszlo. Another

1. What is the setting for Casablanca? How does the film establish this setting? If you were creating a theatrical production of the play upon which the film is based, how would you establish the setting on stage? The setting for the movie looked as if it was around the 1980’s. The movie has a sort of mellow feeling to it because of how calm all the actors and actresses are performing. If i were to do a theatrical performance on this i would have set all the scenes in a way where it would fit the 1980’s attitude, such as clothing and accent.

Another technique that is used is changing light with reference to the plot structure. The use of lighting has allowed the audience to see the obvious contrast between the beginning when Szpilman was having a happy life, and after the Nazi came and occupied so that how Polish Jews are getting dehumanised. For instance, the light was extremely bright at the beginning of the film, Szpilman was playing the piano at the radio station and having a meal with the family. When the Nazi

Throughout Casablanca, there is a definite sense of patriotism and nationalism from the American side. Although the marketing team focused on the action, romance, and movie stars, the underlying political themes of Casablanca are eminent; the film’s intention was to get people to support the war. Rick, played by Humphrey Bogart, is the representative of the Americans in the film. He is, after all, called a patriot by Captain Renault after the murder of Mayor Stasser. In the film, America is shown as a safe place for refugees; this further promotes American involvement in the war, because Americans should want to keep fighting for their land to stay safe.

Later on, Major Strasser meets with Victor Laszlo to force Laszlo to release the names of revolutionaries, but he refuses. Afterwards, Laszlo and Ilsa talk about leaving Casablanca for their safety and realize that Rick may be the one with the transit papers. Laszlo tries to calmly convince Rick to give him the papers, to no avail. Shortly after, Ilsa also attempts to convince Rick to change his mind. She tries passively at first, then holds a gun to his stomach and demands that he give her the papers, after which she begins to break down about how she still loves Rick and never wanted to leave him in Paris. They spend the night together and Rick promises to get Laszlo out of Casablanca. The next night, as Rick gives the papers to Laszlo, Captain Louis Renault shows up to try to arrest Laszlo. Rick turns a gun on Renault, forcing him to clear the airport

In the film Casablanca they show various different aspects of American culture during the wartime forties. These things are cumulated in the films sole American, whose name is Rick. However this film not only shows the culture of Americans but also shows a look into what Americans viewed the war as. The values of people and what was considered obtuse for society are ever changing, and you can see this as plain as day within the movies and films of the time. Casablanca is an amazing example for this because it is special in the fact that it’s the only play written during the time that was never played but was instead turned straight into a movie. Now let’s take a more in-depth look into the movie and how it’s connected to the people who were meant to watch it.

The main conflict presented in Casablanca was the love triangle between Victor, Ilsa, and Rick. Victor and Rick loved Ilsa at the same time, however she was married to Victor yet was still in love with Rick. In this situation, love seems like the opposite of a solution, and is more so the factor causing any issues and tension. Looking into the film’s flashbacks, this is still a common theme. Ilsa’s love for her husband was not enough to save him from the war when he was believed to be dead, as it would be unrealistic to think so. If love truly “conquers all”, theoretically it would even be able to transcend death. If love was the one true answer, wars would not happen and all conflict would essentially not exist. Had Ilsa chosen to leave with Rick instead of staying with Victor in Paris, she could have never redeemed herself in the eyes of anyone she may have known, or to herself. Love could not save her from those consequences, so she made the wiser choice. The