Casablanca as Political Propaganda Essay

     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,

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

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

The film makes the viewer feel patriotic because we should all feel proud, with all of the bad things happening during the war people wanted to go to America. Out of the countries they could have fled to they picked America. The viewers should also

World War 1 proved America to be the nation producing the highest amount of propaganda. Through his use of propaganda President Wilson was able to draw American Support for the war. Despite his being elected as the “peace” president. Many Americans believed he’d keep them out of the war, especially after he stated that, “so far as I can remember, this is a government of the people, and this people is not going to choose war.” Before his election, Wilson promoted American neutrality. He pushed for what he believed his Americans wanted. However, through his employment of propaganda, Woodrow Wilson was able

In Oceania, rumors, myths, ideas and false information controls the minds of the citizens. The Party uses propaganda as a powerful weapon against the citizens. There are many types of propaganda used. Propaganda is brainwash. The citizens of Oceania are brainwashed to think that the Party is really there to help them, to make them happy. “WAR IS PEACE. FREEDOM IS SLAVERY. IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH.” and “Big Brother is Watching You” are examples of doublethink. These uses of propaganda prevent rebellion of the citizens of Oceania because they believe that this society is the ideal society. They believe they are protected, and that they could not be happier. Propaganda is the Party’s

During World War II, ¨[h]undreds of short films, featurettes, and feature films were produced.¨ (ibblio.org.) The OWI produced 267 of these newsreels between 1942 and 1946. These ¨[n]ewsreels averaged 10 minutes in length and consisted of...events from the home front.¨(WWII UN Newsreels) These newsreels were often shown in movie theaters before the feature film, in order to make people pay attention and be completely ´informed´ about the war. A famous example of a newsreel is D-Day, about a decisive battle where the Allies invaded German controlled Europe in their campaign to liberate

The films of the World War II era were much more than just stories about life or love; each unique film showed a different portrayal of the war effort. Although the films showed aspects of the war such as American involvement and cultural aspects, it was not always obvious to see the propaganda behind the façade. Casablanca, directed by Michael Curtiz, is a wartime film that promotes American involvement and contains subtle propaganda.

This paper will discuss various elements of mise-en-scene, specifically; character development, lighting, performance, costume, makeup in the film "Casablanca".(Michael Curtiz,1942) The setting of the story sets the tone for the entire film. Shots of tanks and planes show the violence of war that coincides with the cutthroat city that is Casablanca. From there, those sentiments are reinforced when a man is shot in the street while another man pick pockets someone whom is distracted. The mood of the movie stays on the dark side of things when we enter Rick's Café, where we meet our protagonist played by Humphrey Bogart. In this scene we are treated to the jaded portrayal of night club owner. We see his utter disregard for a French woman

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

Heffernan give account of a French parliamentarian names Louis Marin who knew the truth behind the Vichy government. “He was therefore angered by Pertain’s contempt for democracy, and appalled by the regime’s obvious enthusiasm for active and extensive collaboration with German authorities. ” Pertain’s regime could be explained away as the self-preservation of French patriotism but what happened after the German occupation really speaks volumes on the reality of the Vichy

From the opening sequence one can establish that Casablanca obeys the elementary principles used in the Classical Hollywood narrative structure. In the initial minutes of the film the audience is introduced via a voice over of the various political happenings prior to the films start such as Hitler’s occupation of Europe and the surge of refugees who fled the Nazi’s to Casablanca. The use of narration presents the audience with a simple introduction which the rest of