BRIEF OVERVIEW: This essay was written in response to watching one of the films on the list of top 100 movies according to American Film Institute that we had not seen before.
One of the one hundred top movies according to the American Film Institute is Casablanca. This movie was directed by Michael Curtiz. Although this movie was very well done, it was not a movie that I would care to see more than one more time. The reason that I would want to watch it again is that I might be able to pick up on some of the innuendos or identify foreshadowing scenes. However, after that, this movie would not be one that I would watch often.
This movie did not strike me as having a strong romantic theme in the beginning. Initially, I thought that this movie was going to be mostly involving a war or some other military involvement. Although many stories involving different war based themes have romantic interests, this movie’s resolution was closely related to the romantic theme involved. However, the romantic interest twists in the plot of the movie definitely increased my interest. I thought it was very interesting how Rick and Ilsa’s relationship took place in Paris. The idea that they had no idea about each other, yet, Rick wanted to runaway and get married soon after. Then, when she does not show up until he is in Casablanca, he is upset with her. This part seemed unfair because he did not know anything about her, therefore very possibly having prior obligations that she could not leave.
Another part about the relationship that I found to be interesting was at the end when Rick decides not to have her stay with him but for her to go with her husband instead. This showed a great character arc for Rick because he was able to look past his own wants and the anger and hurt he felt because of Ilsa, and make sure that her moral integrity as a wife was, at least, being pushed in the right direction.
Casablanca is a movie that I knew through quotes, but did not realize that Casablanca was the movie that they came from. For example, “Here’s lookin’ at you, kid” is a quote that they used for a theme at my high school’s senior dinner when I was a senior. Before I had seen Casablanca, I liked the quote much more. In the way that I had been interpreting it, I had seen it in a much lighter mood. However, after watching the movie, I did not particularly like the phrase as much, and by the third time the line came up, I felt it was overused. I think that this quote is much more mysterious related after watching the movie.
Another quote that I had heard before was “Out of all the gin joints in all the world, you had to walk into mine.” This quote, unlike the last one, I enjoy just as much after watching the movie as I did before. This quote maintains its own idea that everything happens for a reason. Not only does this quote enable a deep theological and thought provoking question, but it also stays true for the storyline. This story would have been completely different if it was not for this crucial aspect of the story. The theological idea behind this line was another reason that I found the movie interesting and well done.
One major reason that I found that I did not enjoy this movie as much as I was expecting to definitely relates to the theme of the movie. Although there are many movies involving wars that I would definitely consider to be amazing movies and could watch many times, such as Saving Private Ryan and Schindler’s List, I did not find that this movie was as moving as the other two movies were. Because this movie mostly served the ‘behind the scenes’ politics involving the war, I did not feel the emotional connection as strongly as I might have if it related more directly to the war affecting those in concentration camps or innocent civilians.
From a director’s aspect, this was definitely quite a movie. Each scene definitely grew on the previous scenes and, for the most part, kept an interest from the audience. The story was portrayed very well through the visuals and definitely showed a clear direction from the director. The shots and camera angles used, as well as the light and dark contrasts, definitely helps the audience to understand the mood that the director was hoping the audience to experience.
Also, the script was very well written. The director was definitely making a smart decision when he decided to work on this movie once he read the script. The fact that there are two specific lines that are very well known that I was able to mention and give examples involving the lines in the script, as well as many other lines that others were able to compile from this movie, proves that the script was absolutely spectacular. I do not think that this movie would be able to have been such a memorable movie if it was not for some of the lines provided by the script.
In conclusion, although I did not particularly enjoy the movie as much as I had hoped, I completely understand how and why this movie was able to make it to the top one hundred movies and why it was able to resonate with so many people.
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