Casablanca

Casablanca is a romance film that was directed by Michael Curtiz and won an academy award for best picture in 1943. Previous to watching Casablanca I did not know much about the movie other then the fact that it was a romance film. I learned that there is a much deeper meaning then the average romance film to this particular movie. I normally do not care for romance films very much but Casablanca is one that I actually enjoyed. Films have come a long way since the black and white days. I noticed that the effects were nothing like they are today. For example in Casablanca when someone got shot all they did was grab their chest or back and crumble to the ground. Todays films injuries look as realistic as possible. With this said it could be debatable that actors and actresses had to be better at acting in the black and white days for the fact that they did not have the advantages of technology as we do today.

Casablanca primarily takes place at Rick's Cafe Americain, owned by Rick Blaine, in the city of Casablanca. Casablanca was a neutral territory in Africa during WWII where many refugees fled to. The movie Casablanca is a romance film but it is deeper then just that. In Casablanca and all over the world at this time there are many social problems that were taking place. I believe that this was an important point of the movie to point out the struggle that many individuals and ethnicities were going through. Casablanca shows a constant problem among governments, businessmen, and relationships.

All was going well in Casablanca for Rick, who comes off as a very stern character who does not bend or budge for anyone. For this reason the local officials trust Rick and think Rick will not be participating in the helping of others even if others were to die if Rick didn't help. The film set Rick apart from anyone else in the town because of these qualities. All bets are off when Rick reunites with Ilsa Lund, a previous lover. Rick later finds out Ilsa is married to Victor Laszlo and was married at the time they fell in love. Victor is a resistance leader who had escaped from a Nazi concentration camp and needs to obtain a letter of transit. Rick has letters of transit and is then put in a complex and moral decision on what to do. Rick decideds to give the letters of transit to Ilsa and Victor knowing that it is his neck on the line. I found this a very brave thing to do for Rick. A lot of times we know what is the best thing to do but do not do it because it may hurt us in return. I believe some problems in today's society stem from this very problem.

Casablanca was a lot deeper then I had imagined it would be. Casablanca deals with personal relationships and on a deeper level it deals with morals, ethics, and human rights. I think this movie gives some insight on what life was like while the Nazi regime was in control.