Casablanca Film Analysis PDF

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Running head: CASABLANCA FILM ANALYSIS

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CASABLANCA FILM ANALYSIS

2 Casablanca Film Analysis

Casablanca is a wartime melodrama romance movie that has passed the test of time. The film was released and became an accidental success. It has since gained more popularity after it became an accidental success of the studio assembly line. The movie carries much more weight than it did when it was released in the year 1942, the stirring and poignant love story is eternal and timeless. The lighting, atmosphere, and the black and white cinematography of the film reflected the dark, pessimistic social climate of World War II. The main theme of the movie of self-sacrifice, honor, and redemption in a chaotic world is still relevant seventy years later. This paper discusses the contextual information, plot, aesthetic choices, and social impact of Casablanca movie based on the auteur theory. Contextual information Casablanca is a 1942 American film set during the contemporary World War II. The movie features a drama set in the genre of romance. It focuses on the story of an American expatriate that should choose between his love for a woman and assist her to escape with her husband or escape alone from the city of Casablanca where the fight against the Nazis continues. The film is directed by Michael Curtiz and is based on the unproduced stage play titled Everybody Comes to Rick’s by Murray Burnet and Joan Alison. According to the auteur theory, the work of a cinematic of cinematic art is achieved as a result of a personal statement of the film’s creator, the director. Michael Curtiz was a famous director known for his criticism of the English language that for his creativity. Curtiz creatively makes Rick’s café seem very real. He makes use of dialogue to create an interest and irony in the film. As the director, Curtiz used famous stars Rick (Humphrey Bogart) and Ilsa (Ingrid

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Bergman) to stage the romance film. Rick is a handsome café owner and has a love past. The film is mostly set up in the business where his friend Sam (Dooley Wilson), is the piano player. Another character that stares in the play is Victor Laslo (Paul Henreid), Ilsa’s husband. Other characters in the film include Claude Rains, Sydney Greenstreet, Conrad Veidt, and Peter Lorre. Plot Analysis Casablanca features the story of Rick Blaine, a cynical, world-weary expatriate that runs a nightclub in Casablanca, Morocco. He faces constant pressure from local authorities, but his place has become a destination for refugees that want to obtain letters that will help them escape to America. Ilsa, a former lover of Rick, shows up with her husband at the coffee one day. Rick is bitter to Ilsa because she ran out on him in Paris. When she learns that she had a good reason, they plan to run off together again. The plot of the film starts off in the nightclub and gambling den. There are black and white film screenshots of several people in the nightclub. Ugarte is a crook that obtained “letters of transit” after murdering two German couriers. He shows those letters to Rick, the papers allow bearers to travel freely around the Germany-controlled Europe. Ugarte plans to sell the priceless papers at the nightclub to the highest bidder. Rick is entrusted with the letters after Ugarte is arrested and dies in custody. Former Rick’s lover, Ilsa, enters the establishment. Ilsa spots Rick’s friend, Sam and asks him to play the song “As Time Goes By.” Ilsa is accompanied by her husband Victor Lazlo, a renowned fugitive Czech Resistance Leaders. The two need letters to escape to America where he can continue his work. Rick refuses to sell the letters at any price and asks Laszlo to ask his wife the reason. They are interrupted when Major Strasser comes in, a German who has come to

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Casablanca to ensure that Lazlo remains. The officers enter singing “The Watch on the Rhine” in German. Laszlo orders the house to play “La Marseillaise.” Laszlo sings along, and he is joined by the band and crowd. This drowns out the Germans, and they are forced to leave. Ilsa confronts Rick to get the letters. She explains to Rick that he left her to nurse her sick husband. Rick’s bitterness dissolves, and he agrees to offer help. Laszlo is later arrested on a minor charge. Rick persuades Renault to release him by promising to set him for a much more serious crime. After his release, Renault tries to arrest Laszlo but is confronted by Rick at gunpoint. Rick makes Ilsa board the plane going to Lisbon with her husband, Laszlo. Major Strasser had been tipped by Renault and arrived alone. Rick shoots him as he tries to intervene. Renault pauses when the police arrive and orders that they “round up the usual suspects” (Casablanca, 1942). Rick walks away into the fog. In filming, a plot could be described as the sequence of events that make up the entire narrative. A story, on the other hand, reveals why and how the events happen. The story can occur in the event of a narration from the background or one of the actors (Murtagh et al., 2009). Casablanca follows the story of a fight for love and glory and a case of do or die. It starts off by giving the viewer a background of how current events came about. One beginning story is about Rick, an American with a mysterious past who was an underground fighter in Europe. We get to see his life before we first see him through the plot. Rick’s past is also told in the form of a story. The man that murdered Nazi courier and then stole two exit visas is told in the form of a story. The plot begins after the man that murdered the couriers, Guillermo Ugerto entrusts the exit visas to Rick. We see him handing the visas making it the first plot event. From then on, apart from a flashback, the plot of the movie is straightforward and chronological. The general flow of the movie is that of a plot and not of a story.

CASABLANCA FILM ANALYSIS

5 Aesthetic Choices

The aesthetic choices of the film have been used with great efficacy to enhance the narrative and theme of the film. The mise en scène elements that were creatively applied in the film include the lighting, sound, composition of frame and music. The Casablanca shows various techniques of film noir with the use of shadows. The effect of lighting is seen in Rick’s Flashback where it is the only bright sequence; this brings forth the happiness of Rick and Ilsa. The lighting used has been used to enhance the theme and mood of the film. The lightness of the film has been used to suggest truth, love, and joy (Daenekindt and Roose, 2011). Music can be used to enhance the theme and mood of the film with or without lyrics. One important section of the film was the sound where Rick and Sam were alone, and Rick requests the song “As Time Goes By.” Sam plays it, and Rick goes into a whirlwind of memories he has been avoiding for years. The song has been used to show love and romance between Ilsa and Rick. Other instances of sound include the sound of heavy rain when Rick takes a train from Paris. The German warplanes were overheard with their tanks rolling towards Paris. This was used to create a mood that alerts the audience that there is danger. Editing is a very important technique in film. Editing can be used expansively and is stressed compared to other film techniques. Editing in Casablanca was important for the storyline and engaging the audience in scenes of romance. Through the use of cuts, the director was able to show several coincident scenes that represented the different genre. At one point, Laszlo and Karl are in a Free French meeting but must escape the Nazis. Immediately after the scene, the viewers encounter a romantic noir scene between Rick and Ilsa. This plays well with the audience because they follow a love story filled with many unusual elements.

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Released in the year 1942, Casablanca did not have any advance use of technology effects. At the time of production, most studio films did not use special effects. When used, they were meant to be invisible for a large part of the film. One instance of technological effect was the use of rear-projection. Rick and Ilsa go out for a spin in his sports car, there is a mounted camera near the car allowing the film to be shot on the street. The release of the film was on Thanksgiving Day in 1942. The start and release of the film took place during politically significant events when Casablanca, Morocco was in the headlines. Social impacts Several historians have argued that film represents the social and political customs of the society at the time of production. The argument is questionable because it can reflect the political and societal customs of a society or the society could drive the entertainment (Paletz, 2002). Casablanca was released in 1942 when Americans were toying with the issue of personal commitment to the War that characters in Casablanca represented. Casablanca rose to become one of the most influential movies in the American film industry. At the time of release, the movie impacted the perception of intervention into the Second World War and the intervention of foreign affairs. Casablanca started a trend where Americans intervened in difficult world situations. America would no longer stand idly and permit undemocratic evil to occur. At the time of release, Americans were dealing with the issue of personal commitment to the war. One reason that led to the making of the movie was the notion that America was asleep and inattentive to world events such as the war. The war coupled with social and political issues at that time led to the production of the film. The timely release of the film saw it achieve various awards and accolades. Casablanca won the Best Picture, best screenplay, best direction and the Academy Awards.

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In conclusion, Casablanca is a movie that has passed the test of time. From the analysis of the contextual information, plot, aesthetic choices, and social impact of the movie, Casablanca was creatively created and became highly successful. At the time of its release, no one expected that the movie would become anything out of the ordinary. However, the movie became a hit due to its timely release, proper filming, and enchanting storyline.

CASABLANCA FILM ANALYSIS

8 References

Casablanca. (1942). Casablanca Movie - 123Movies. Retrieved 9 March 2018, from http://www1.123movies.ag/watch/casablanca-1943-online-123movies.html Daenekindt, S., & Roose, H. (2011). A mise-en-scène of the shattered habitus: The effect of social mobility on aesthetic dispositions towards films. European Sociological Review, 29(1), 48-59. Murtagh, F., Ganz, A., & McKie, S. (2009). The structure of narrative: the case of film scripts. Pattern Recognition, 42(2), 302-312. Paletz, D. L. (2002). The media in American politics: Contents and consequences. Pearson College Division....