CFE
The never-ending battle
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For my acting and Directing Midterm, I was asked to write a script analysis for one of three films:
"Vertigo," "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "Casablanca."
Choosing director Michael Curtiz's 1942 classic, this is what I came up with:
"Vertigo," "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "Casablanca."
Choosing director Michael Curtiz's 1942 classic, this is what I came up with:
The Fundamental Things Apply
A Script Analysis of "Casablana" (Michael Curtiz, 1942)
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By
Chas Blankenship
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The 1940s marked a period dominated by World War II. Artists, intellectuals and refugees all fleeing from Hitlers advances bringing with them inspirations and ideas created out of disillusionment. The earlier years of the decade were a combination of conflict-inspired fear and unbridled patriotism. With the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, America entered the War with gusto; sending troops to Europe and Japan to combat the imminent threats of the Third Reich.
Hollywood obliged the courageous Allied forces with tales of intrigue where brave Americans would fight the good fight against the Axis forces films filled with Anti-Nazi propaganda hidden beneath the veil of profound mystery, elegant danger and operatic romance. It was a time when the audiences saw a picture for its stars and their performances where men were men and women were the kind of trouble worth getting into.
Truly the golden age of film.
And no film weaved the aforementioned elements together as effortlessly, powerfully or poetically as director Michael Curtizs 1942 Academy Award winning classic; Casablanca.
Set before the backdrop of a small city in French-occupied Morocco, the film tells a story of desperation as refugees attempt to escape this no mans land before the Nazis assume complete domination a story of honor as an underground revolutionary fights to escape to America in his continuing struggle for freedom.
But at its heart, Casablanca is a love story at first one of star-crossed lovers trapped in Casablanca by oppression. But then, it evolves into a love story of larger proportions; of pride and destiny detailing the importance of putting ones own needs aside for the greater good and the importance of good triumphing over evil.
In the height of World War II, following Americas entry into the conflict, the Moroccan city of Casablanca attracts people from all over. Many are transients trying to get out of Europe; a few are just trying to make a buck. Most of them -- gamblers and refugees, Nazis, resistance fighters, and plain old crooks -- find their way to Rick's Café Américain, a swank nightclub owned by American expatriate Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart), who runs the joint with cool confidence, attitude to spare and a trademark cigarette dangling from his lips.
Word begins to spread through Casablanca like wildfire two German couriers have been murdered and their letters of transit have gone missing. The papers allow the bearer to travel freely around German-controlled Europe, including to neutral Portugal and most notably Lisbon; from Lisbon, it's relatively easy to get to the United States. They are almost priceless to any of the refugees stranded in Casablanca.
As pointed out by corrupt Vichy official Captain Louis Renault (Claude Rains), Rick is a sentimentalist at heart underneath the swagger and in many ways hes right. Rick is truthfully a man embittered; languishing in Casablanca after an unexpected heartbreak left him cynical, hardened and closed off to the world.
But, as love so maliciously tends to do, Rick is smacked in the face (perhaps by fate) with the unexpected return of Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman), the woman who broke his heart all that time ago, as she walks into his café and back into his life.
Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world she walks into mine.
While Ilsas presence in Casablanca makes quick work of opening old wounds, the more pressing matter is of whom shes travelling with her husband Victor Laszlo (Paul Heyfried), a Czechoslovakian revolutionary who wishes to continue his work of sullying the Nazis in the safety of America to inspire the hope and confidence necessary to defeat their evil.
Torn between his own hatred of fascism (having fought against them in Spain and having run guns to Ethiopia) and his rekindled love for Ilsa, Rick makes the ultimate sacrifice solidifying the overall theme of Casablanca; that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few and love, no matter how devoted or true, should never stand in the way of hope of honor of destiny.
This overall arc of hope and the greater good runs as a building undercurrent throughout the picture, increasing with each new character and most each new scene, despite the attempts of some scenes to break that spirit through dread or fear of failure for Laszlos mission.
Roadblocks such as Ilsas unexpected appearance and the toll that initially takes on Rick try to avert that hope, making the characters dwell on the past what couldve been While the always menacing presence of Colonial Strasser (Conrad Viedt) hangs heavy above Casablanca like a cloud of black, shrouding hope with hopelessness.
But ultimately each scene brings us one step closer to a goal, either a goal of the plot or a goal of closure. For the first 25 minutes of the picture, Rick is a suave and unwavering figure unaffected by Ugartis arrest, the desperations of a female fling, an unruly potential patron, Ferrari (Sydney Greenstreet) abdicating to steal piano player Sam (Dooley Wilson) for the Blue Parrot but Ilsa, and the baggage that she carries with her, topples Rick like a house of cards forcing him to stew in a gin-soaked haze after hours.
Her presence has such a clear effect on Rick that any hope concerning Laszlo seems unattainable After all; Rick still loves her in spite of the pain of losing her. But that pain of vulnerability has taught him to be a solitary character; to never trust (with the exception of Sam) and with this in mind, how could he possibly be expected to help Laszlo?
How dare Ilsa ask such a thing of him after what she had done
At first, Ricks own cynicism and refusal to stick his neck out for anyone forbids him from giving into his love for Ilsa and helping her or Laszlo.
But Rick soon discovers that its that very same love that eventually gives him the strength to set aside his own heart and act for the benefit of his fellow man; truly, an incredible character arc backed by Humphrey Bogarts potent performance.
Many of Casablancas scenes take place under cover of night in Ricks Café taking cues from film noir that night brings an air of mystery, danger and eroticism (truly, Casablanca is one of the sexiest films ever made) and it shows with the sensual and deadly games of cat and mouse between Rick and Ilsa, Renault and Laszlo, our heroes and their foes each with their own motives and purposes.
Such is the nature of epic films with multiple characters.
And those characters that populate the streets and marketplaces and venues of Casablanca are archetypes true to form, transcending the fabric of the films narrative to become legends unto themselves.
Rick represents the initial sense of hopelessness in Casablanca; at first a victim when hes not only forced to flee France as a result of the advancing Gestapo but hes abandoned by Ilsa, who unbeknownst to him, had learned the news of her husbands death had been greatly exaggerated. Eventually, Rick comes to accept Victor Laszlos importance and Ilsas importance to Laszlo in turn becoming the films reluctant hero by aiding in Victor and Ilsas escape. In the end, despite his sacrifice, its clear that Ricks helping of Laszlo is out of his love for Ilsa and if they cant be together, her happiness and freedom is more important.
Ilsa is the emotional lynchpin of the entire picture. Through Ingrid Bergmans portrayal, were given a character that we simultaneously love and resent. On the one hand, having identified with Rick earlier on we tend to side with him on the matter of her abandonment casting her in the light of an outcast who isn't deserving of redemption by the audience or Rick. But it soon becomes clear that hurting Rick was never her intent and in actuality, the fact that he came into her life in a time of bitter loneliness made it the happiest days of her life. Bergmans beauty and screen presence most certainly work in her favor in transitioning from the vile thing that broke our beloved leads heart to the mesmerizing love of Ricks life that he never truly forgot.
Playing the opposite end of the spectrum from Rick, Victor Laszlo represents a flicker of hope for Casablanca infectious enough to rally an impromptu chorus of "La Marseillaise" amid the opposing musical display of Nazi fervor. While Ilsa might share passion and love with Rick, Laszlo represents the positive qualities of her own character honor, duty, bravery.
On the surface, Rick and Laszlo appear to be two warring sides of the same coin the former symbolizing what Ilsa wants while the latter symbolizing what she needs. In truth, both men are quite similar in their obvious affections for Ilsa but more than that. Theyre both natural born leaders, unflinching in their beliefs of right and wrong and their sense of morality their resentments towards the Gestapo and, by the films finale, their mutual understanding and respect of one another.
Sam is a rather intriguing character. On the surface, hes the kindly piano player and Ricks confidant. But in many ways, he represents Ricks conscious and rationality. For instance, in the midst of Rick drinking his sorrows away following Ilsas return, Sam tries to reason with him to forget wallowing in depression and leave the Café for the night. In another example, Sam convinces Rick to stop pondering Ilsas note of not being able to join him and physically pushes (i.e. convinces) him to board the train and depart from Paris.
Sam also fulfills this character trait through his music, playing songs that mark the emotional beats of the characters culminating with playing As Time Goes By for the first time since that fated day at Labelle Aurore.
The film is not without its antagonists. Ranging from Ferrari the crooked owner of opposing club The Blue Parrot Ugarti, the man responsible for the murders of the couriers and for getting Rick involved in the mess of the transit papers in the first place and, most obviously, Colonial Strasser the evil Nazi official determined to put an end to Laszlos message of hope by any means necessary.
One curious player is that of Captain Renault a character that appears to jump between protagonist and antagonist before finally, through circumstance, deciding to side with Rick, Laszlo and Ilsa.
Each of the villains captures the impending threats hidden within Casablanca from corruption (Ferrari) to Fascism (Strasser) and potential Police Brutality (Renault).
However, Renaults own sense of patriotism eventually does turn him to the side of the angels, once again permeating the hope that Laszlo brings to the story to Ilsa, to Rick and eventually to Renault himself.
Overall, the conflict of Casablanca is that of love of personal desire and duty; the responsibilities of a higher purpose. And in a logical yet captivating turn (still to this day) duty prevails with the dynamic climax of Rick convincing Ilsa at the airfield to stay with Laszlo and serve the same higher purpose both he and Laszlo have to.
Inside of us, we both know you belong with Victor. You're part of his work, the thing that keeps him going. If that plane leaves the ground and you're not with him, you'll regret it. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life --- Ilsa, I'm no good at being noble, but it doesn't take much to see that the problems of three little people don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world.
This finale shows that Rick and Ilsas love is one for the ages as fleeting and supposedly doomed as it may seem.
But in truth, their bond is one of deeper value and meaning out of the fact that Rick gives up his own desire to be with Ilsa so that she can keep Laszlo going there romance is captured perfectly by the song they share; Herman Hupfelds 1931 As Time Goes By representing that while they may never physically be together again, their love is eternal and as time continues on, they will always have what time they shared.
Theyll, as Rick assures, always have Paris.
Putting myself in Michael Curtizs position as director of Casablanca, I would be absolutely clear on the storys defining attribute of forsaking personal obligation for the greater good I would want to say that in the midst of foreboding darkness we will never succumb so long as hope and the strength of the human spirit remain intact. My goal would be not to create a legendary motion picture (Im neither that pretentious nor that naïve) but to create the best motion picture I could; through pitch-perfect casting, taut direction, bold lighting and production design, well executed editing and pacing and an unforgettable score all necessary components utilized to support and tell, to the best of my ability, a wonderfully conceived story.
However I wont bother asking what if and Ill forever remain grateful that Curtiz himself achieved all of this in Casablanca himself.
After all, Im positive I couldnt pull all of it off certainly not in such style.
For nearly 70 years Casablanca has captivated generations of audiences with its wit, its charm and its uncanny ability to stand the test of time a feet that many films are rather envious of.
It ignites our sense of noble patriotism, camaraderie with our fellow countrymen and that were all in this crazy world together. It instills one with a spontaneous sense of romance of a love that might be of the most special kind.
But above all, Casablanca is an unforgettable classic that reminds us that with a little hope and a song in our hearts anything is possible.
Now, now Heres looking at you, Kid.
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