Casablanca

Casablanca is one of the most beloved films of all time, so much so that it returned to the big screen in spring of 2014 during the 20th anniversary of Turner Classic Movies. I personally remember watching Casablanca as a young girl and becoming immersed in the tale of love, survival and politics. Growing up in a household full of members of the armed forces, who were old enough to remember Casablanca, from their youth; I am all too familiar with the classic black and white movies. Many of the storylines were similar in their Hollywood style during the Golden Age of film – there was love, there was betrayal, possibly a love triangle and someone brave enough to make the sacrifice for all. Casablanca had the setting of its title, a city in unoccupied

The stereotypical Hollywood film background music for Arab cultures, played in the marketplace setting the tone for the ethnic diversity of Casablanca. Showing that despite the hopelessness of the city’s inhabitants because of Germany’s hold, the town was rich in culture and heritage and was still thriving as a town of trade and market for all sorts. It also sets the tone for the importance for what we later learn are “letters of transit”, which allowed the holder to move from one country to another. So important, in fact, that German soldiers are murdered in order to attain these documents, that later transfer owners. We also see a man murdered on the streets for possessing expired “papers” and these letters finally used as a source of influence that eventually allow Victor and Ilsa free passage to the

We see the typical story plots of the guy gets the girl, the girl rejects the guy and the guy impresses the girl and makes her come back for him. What we uniquely see in the love story of Casablanca is a love triangle bound together by loyalty and respect. Two men, both powerful and respected, have a mutual love for one woman who inspires both towards motivation and influence. Ingrid Bergman, playing Ilsa Lund, is seen as a young, naïve, yet encouraging woman standing behind her husband, Victor Laszlo, played by Paul Henreid. Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) is originally seen as a neutral, unemotional, impartial character, as seen in a line he often repeats in the movie, “I stick my neck out for nobody.” is later awaken at the awareness of a lost live arriving in his midst. This emotional bond of shared memories between Lund and Blaine are later shown as avenues of softening Rick’s heart towards the movement he long separated himself from years