Casablanca
Introduction to Film
English 225
Professor Stave
September 29, 2008
Casablanca The movie, Casablanca, based on the play "Everybody Wants to go to Rick's,” still captivates audiences around the world. This movie was a pleasurable afternoon of great movie watching. The setting of the movie is Casablanca, Morocco during the Second World War. Casablanca is the jump off point to get to Spain and then to America. I think that all four factors of a setting have an affect on this story. The temporal factor, along with the geographic factor, really set the stage for the opening of the film (Boggs & Petrie, 2008, p. 101). In the middle of all this is Rick's cafe. The clientele in the café definitely
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"This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship", "but we'll always have Paris", "go ahead and shoot, and “you'll be doing me a favor", these are yet another three quotes which stuck in the minds of audiences everywhere. These quotes help keep the movie and the memories of the actors and actresses alive, even fifty seven years after the original shooting. Let's not forget the variety of great music the viewer is treated to while watching this movie. The wonderful sounds are unforgettable. Even if it may be old, it is still bound to catch the attention of any viewer young or old. The line-up of sounds not only features the original score by Max Steiner but also other classics such as “It Had to Be You,” and “The very thought of you,” and of course,”As Time Goes By.” These songs made the movie more intriguing and helped to keep the movie alive all the way throughout every scene. Some of these songs are still as popular today as they were back when they were first heard. There are a few not so obvious occurrences of symbolism within the movie. It has been said that Rick (Humphrey Bogart) and his night club represent America's "neutral" position before the attack on Pearl Harbor and before the U.S. involvement in the Second World War. Rick is a symbol for American isolationism, the guy who does not get involved until the last
The same applies to a dramatic scene where the music may be deep and frantic to convey to the audience the feeling of anticipation. A scene i would like to focus on is the scene in which Garry and his father have a final ‘showdown’, if you will, at the front of the house. The scene consists of the father imposing himself on Garry and proceeding to continually beat him down time after time only for Garry to rise up and face his father on each occasion. This scene evoked a feeling of pride and admiration from the audience as to Garry’s courage and determination to convey the message to his father that he is ready to stand on his own two feet and defy him. This is a very powerful scene within the movie which initiated powerful emotions within the audience. All of this was accomplished with the notable absence of music of any form. The omission of music in this scene created an atmosphere in which the dramatic affect was amplified due to the silence.
The Second World War began in September of 1939 and was between the Allies and the Axis. It began with Germany’s unprovoked attack and conquest of Poland, and involved Britain and France from the beginning. Its origins lay in German resentment at the terms of the Treaty of Versailles (1919), the economic crisis of 1929-30, which favored the rise to power of Fascist dictators, the failure of the League of Nations to gain international acceptance for disarmament, and the policy of imperialism adopted by Germany, Italy and Japan as a means of acquiring raw materials and markets. As a part of the Treaty of Versailles, Germany had to accept full responsibility for the First World War, which then led up to the outbreak of the Second. The
The movie Casablanca tells the story of Rick Blaine, a bar owner in Casablanca. His heart breaks when Ilsa, his sweetheart, fails to join him in his escape from Paris before the Nazis invaded. Rick’s relationship fall-out begins the movie journey depicted in an authentic World War II time period. It was on a stormy night that Rick received a letter from Ilsa telling him that she wouldn’t be coming with him to Casablanca. Realizing he has been dumped, he sadly hops onto the train and rides off to Casablanca by himself.
World War 2 was a massive war which engulfed the whole world from 1939 – 1935. There were 2 different sides in the war. These two sides were the Allies and the axis. At the start of the war, the Allies consisted of Great Britain and all of its colonies (such as Australia) and France. The Axis consisted of Germany, Italy, Japan and the Soviet Union. At the start of the war the axis powers were dominating. Germany used “Blitzkrieg” (Lighting war) tactics very successfully and overran many countries using it. But some major events occurred and turned the tide of the war to the favour of the Allies. However two of these major events are most often talked about to be the reason that the axis powers eventually lost. One of these events includes the Japanese attack on pearl harbour. This brought America into the war and onto the side of the Allies. The other of the two events was instigated by Germany itself. Germany decided to attack one of their allies. This ally was the Soviet Union. There is often a lot of debate about which of these events is greatest, that is to have had the biggest effect in the war. So the question has to be asked, was it the US entrance into the war that made the defeat of Germany inevitable, or it caused by the German attack of the Soviet Union. In my opinion it was not the US entrance to the war, but the German invasion of the Soviet Union that made the ultimate defeat of Germany inevitable. This is because they put
Throughout the film there is a central which is Rick’s night club. The night club is very popular among the upper class and political hierarchy of Casablanca. Rick's Café Américain attracts a variety clientele, including Victor Laszlo, German officials and refugees departing to reach the United States, including
Doomsday is defined as the day where the world will come to an end and people will face God on Judgment Day. Many people are fascinated by the notion that Doomsday will eventually happen soon, but there’s always a miscalculation when it comes to predicting as when the world will end. World War II is the most significant period in the twentieth century because technology, civil rights movement in the U.S, and the ability to explore outer space took a huge leap of fascination around the world. The two powerful allies emerged during World War II as to begin a Cold War with each other that defined the twentieth century. The idea that the world will come to an end by a nuclear war based on previous events from World War II that can potentially one day happen again because of historic evidence from the Cold War that wiped out two major cities in Japan, scientific evidence of a secret nuclear weapon written in India’s ancient epics, and the production of radiation smoke that builds up overtime can slowly kill humans. Zombies are dead corpse that is revived by a virus. The myth of zombies originated from Haiti in 1626 to 1800s, as an image of inhumanity where slaves were treated ruthlessly. In the Haitian religion, slaves believed that dying was a way for them to return to Guinea, where they are free from torture in the afterlife. Under the ruled by Saint-Domingue in France when African slaves to work for the sugar plantation. Slaves who worked under the French were treated
A Comparison of World War I and World War II World War I and World War II, while started by much of the same
It was said that World War I would be the war to end all wars; unfortunately U.S. President Woodrow Wilson was wrong. In 1939 Germany invaded Poland and the global conflict, World War II, began. Fought from 1939 to 1945, World War II consisted of the Allied Powers and the Axis Powers. The Axis Powers were led by Germany, Japan, and Italy. The Allied Powers were led by the United States, Britain, France, and several other countries. In total, over sixty million people were killed, making World War II the deadliest conflict in modern history. The intervention of the United States after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 brought the end of the war 4 years later.
On December 7, 1941, with Japanese attack on Perl Harbor, all debate over avoiding war and the policy of American isolationism was gone. It was the beginning of a great war that brought death, devastation and finally the victory and power to United States. At the time of Roosevelt’s appointment in 1933, historically crucial events were taking place in Japan, Italy and Germany which had to shape the future and the fate of United States. This paper studies and analyses the major factors which contributed to American success both at home and abroad during WWII in addition to world’s view about American participation in war and bombings on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
In today’s digital age, development of new technology and weapons are at an alarming rate, hence arises the need to stay ahead of advancements in order to properly defend the nation, as well as coalition forces and allies. In this period of warfare, the number one threat comes in the form of air breathing and ballistic missiles. During World War II, this threat was present, but was not thought to be prevalent.
The movie “All Quiet on the Western Front” can provide us with a lot of insight about the soldiers experience in World War I. The movie and what we learned in class can help us out with this. In the movie there were a lot of kids and just by looking at their face you could tell what they were thinking. Some of them were very scared of what might happen to them, some of them were determined to come home well and alive, and some of them looked excited to be serving the Fatherland and doing their duty. Back in Germany they told the students over and over that it was their duty to fight in the war and that is what men do in Germany. They were told they were serving the Fatherland and bringing glory back to
World War II had a definite impact on the United States. It changed how people lived and how other people were viewed. Not many people realize the treatment of people from our own country during World War II. Three groups of people that were affected were women, African Americans, and Japanese Americans. The lives of these people were changed drastically, whether by having to work, mistreatment because of skin color, or by being blamed for something that was done by a country they were native to.
“The world must know what happened, and never forget.” (World War 2) General Eisenhower reflecting upon the world war II, and acknowledging it as a pertinent event in the history of the United States of America. War is war, it is not pretty or humane, but what it is, is a diplomatic way in which to settle disputes and aggressions between countries. By analyzing these wars of the past, the people of the country can learn many things, be it mistakes made by one side, strategy from someone else or battle field etiquette. And it is through this analysis that the human race is able to further itself to not repeat the mistakes made by their ancestors. There are many lessons to be learned from looking at the
The lighting of a film intricately ties into how the film intends on showing certain scenes through use of the camera angle. Such examples of this in Casablanca are how during these close-up scenes we see the lighting of certain characters light up significantly. This is seen, again, in the famous “Of all the gin joints scene” because of how the audience sees multiple close-up scenes of Isla’s face, most notably how we see the tears flow from Isla’s cheeks. Another way lighting plays into the classic feel of a Hollywood film, according to Bordwell, is how “a dark street will realistically motivate single-source lightning; the closeup of a woman will be more heavily diffused than that of a man” (Bordwell 27). One famous example of this is how the tension builds up when Isla returns to Rick’s nightclub after her husband goes to meet with a meeting with the local resistance against the Nazi regime. In this scene, we see how the lighting is much more darker than scenes where we are focusing on Rick and another character. Watching the film, the audience gets the sense that the film attempts to create a certain mood through the lighting whenever Isla and Rick are alone. When the two are alone, like in this very scene, the tension builds up due to how much darkness there is in both the room and between the two former lovers. Conversely, when there are conflicts between Rick and Captain Louis Renault, the French commander in the city, represented towards the end of the film before Isla and Victor leave the city, the lighting of the room is significantly more bright. This is not to say that there exists no conflict between Rick and the French captain, but rather how the film conforms to Bordwell’s description of how lighting contributes to a classic Hollywood
While we are always reminded of the negative effects of war, it is not everyday that we learn to understand the deeper factors of war that can turn a small conflict into an international outbreak. World War I was said to have been sparked by the assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand but there are various deeper reasons that contributed to the commencement of the Great War. These factors include militarism, imperialism and the alliance systems.