Casablanca's Depiction of War

The movie, Casablanca, directed by Michael Curtiz is a story within a story. In order for one to truly appreciate the greatness of the film, one has to look beyond what meets the eye. By doing so, one can identify the importance of the character, Rick Blaine. While Rick Blaine is the main character and protagonist in the film, the true importance of his role can only be identified by looking at his character's development. Throughout the course of the film, Casablanca, the character Rick Blaine goes through a series of character developments.

Propaganda can also control people’s thoughts through the portrayal of the country and the government’s attitude to resistance. In Oceania, the movies are more propaganda than entertainment, which is typical of many authoritarian countries (Varrachio 4). The government informs the citizens about the important events through this type of propaganda. The portrayal of only the positive events that are occurring in Oceania helps the citizens to exhibit a form of extreme patriotism. The Oceanic government concludes that the propaganda exhibited through the movies leads to less resistance to the government since the positive images prevent the citizens from plotting against the government. However the propaganda used in Oceania may not have an influence on some of the citizens since “Perceptions are not only unreliable; they are also

Casablanca debuted in 1942, shortly following the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the United States' entrance into World War Two, although there was plenty of anti-Nazism sentiment, the movie fueled these feelings. There is pro-Allied forces propaganda to support the war, from the scene with La Marseillaise, to the characters of Renault and Rick, and to the last scene. Although the majority of the French patriots were elated to sing their national anthem, it created tension with the German soldiers who imposed their patriotic songs on the crowd, representing the imposition of Germany on France during the war. Captain Louis Renault, who tries to placate who he believes will be the winning side, seems flimsy when compared to Rick, the firm

Casablanca has all the basic structures of a Classical Hollywood film, as indicated with the opening shots. In the first few minutes of the film, few details are told to the audience, explaining that the Germans were talking over Europe, the coming of World War II, and the political refugees fleeing. Lisbon was the common point of exit and there was often no easy way to get there, so many people travelled to Casablanca, in Morocco. In Casablanca, people would do anything to get an exit visas. The narration was beneficial for audience to easily follow and this helped the story to develop.

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.

In the 1942 film, Casablanca directed by Michael Curtiz, is a classic film noir. A film noir or black film, is characterized by the tone of dark elements, physically and psychologically, the element of crime, and the element of World War II and post-war disillusionment with influences of German expressionism. This film captivates the classic film noir characteristics thematically through Rick Blaine’s behavior, the characters and atmosphere, and the significance of the one setting used through the entire film as well as cinematically through the overall cinematic elements that establish scenery.

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

Throughout this romantic drama, “Casablanca”, many changes regarding character’s attitudes and decisions take place; an example is Rick’s moral growth from self- interest to engagement and sacrifice; a shift that can be compared to America’s willingness to go to war to oppose fascism in other countries. During WW2 many Europeans sought exile in America once the Nazis started to take over control; in order for this to happen, exit visas are required and as Rick eventually has the chance to leave, his apathetic attitude is tested

Casablanca would be considered propaganda because when people wanted to flee the country they were in they wanted to go to America. The people who wanted to flee to America thought of America as the “safe’ country. Casablanca portrayed America to be as the to go to country, the safest place to be during the War. Everyone tried getting their passports to go to America, they bought all of their passports from the black market just to try and get to America. The people wanted a better life and to be accepted, also they would be safe from the Germans.

“Ads implied that if you bought a war bond your sacrifice was on par with that of the man in the front lines.” (74) The US government and industry played on Americans’ sense of patriotism in order to get them to support the war or buy their products. However, “Advertising had inherent problems as an educational tool. It is by nature emotional, rather than intellectual; it sells feelings rather than ideas.” (73) Government propaganda and business advertising were not the only factors in forming the inaccurate myth of the Second World War. Hollywood made films where “people get blown up with their clothes and fall gracefully to the ground” (100). Through the realism of motion pictures, such as 1998’s ‘Saving Private Ryan’ and 2001’s ‘Pearl Harbor’, Americans were falsely led to believe in a glorified war.

During the narration of Rick’s story, his past was revealed after Ilas’s arrival at Casablanca, it is necessary to help emphasize what kind of person Rick is and how different he was. Captain Louis also took an important role in this story. At the beginning, he seems like a person who doesn’t care about other people, only cares about himself, but as story goes, he can’t hide his feeling to befriend with Rick, finally escapes Casablanca together with

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.

A reading of Casablanca beyond it's pretense of being an old Hollywood romance is the interpretation of the film as a piece of American or Allied propaganda during its time of release. Present day, the word propaganda gets a bad reputation, and many consider it a form of manipulation that doesn't belong in art, however, it is of my belief that, seeing as all art contains a message that it wishes to convey to its audience, all art is, in some form, political or supports some school of thought or ideology. For clarity, I will define my use of the word 'propaganda' to mean the dissemination of information in favor of an ideology or cause, for the means of garnering sympathy towards the cause and validating the emotions of sympathizers.

Casablanca, a city home to over 3 million people located in the country of Morocco in Africa, but it would seem that most people in America when they hear “Casablanca” they think of the 1942 classic movie; Casablanca. Rather remarkable when you think about it. Anyways, onward to the film; Casablanca.