Rick Blaine, a club owner in Casablanca, Morocco is as dangerous as he is mysterious. Described as a drunken American who is self proclaimed neutral about World War 2, he tries to keep himself alive in the presence of Nazi’s and the french resistance. Throughout the film you learn more about Rick’s past and decisions including a lady influence. Casablanca is a story about betrayal and sacrificing a love for a higher purpose.
The beginning scene opens to a hustle and bustle of the streets of Casablanca proving the dangers of the city and includes witty comments and wisecracks, then cuts to a club… the first time the audience meets Rick(Humphrey Bogart). We get a feel for how easy Rick moves through the corrupt world by almost keeping his life a secret using the quote, “I stick my neck out for nobody”. Out of every club in the world, Ilsa Lund(Ingrid Bergman)a past lover who Rick had been seeing in Paris, walks into his bar. With a bad past, Ilsa and Rick reunite to find Ilsa’s marriage to Victor Laszlo(Henreid) and the next step in surviving in World War 2. The plot shifts to two tickets to travel to Portugal to escape to freedom. Blaine manages to get a hold of them by Egarte(Peter Lorre) with the return of Ilsa the possibility reopens of them leaving together. With the help of police chief(Claude Rains) Rick makes his don what is right and how things should play out. Sacrificing love for a higher purpose.
In 1942, the movie was not expected to be a success; just another warner brother picture with a low budget. Amazingly, the film did astonishly well making the A-list and director Michael Curtiz won many oscars.
Watching Casablanca, really made me appreciate and understand a quality film. Not too sound like a cliche’ but honestly speaking, this is possible to be one of my favorite screenplays of all time. From, the camera angles, actors/actresses, scene plays, and the diversity of languages and people, it really opened my eyes to the world and almost gave me a little bit of a history lesson. I will admit having to go back and rewatch certain sequences and having to look up different attributes such as words or some history events, but it overall was an amazing learning experience. The movie a had the perfect amount of romance for me to take, and it was funny to see how action scenes were shot. I absolutely adored this film and it will definitely remain in my heart.