"Casablanca" The Classic Masteriece

                 

Casablanca  

A classical romantic masterpiece that takes one to historical events with a unique love story full of sacrifice and patriotism. Between love and duty, patriotism and conscience, the story of the 3-Oscar-winning movie Casablanca, shown in 1942, is a classic of world cinema and one of the best in its history. The film won Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director for Michael Cortez, and Best Screenplay, which went equally to Julius Epstein, Philip Epstein, and Howard Koch. Although the film's main actors, Humphrey Bogart, and Ingrid Bergman, did not win the Best Actor and Actress award despite their outstanding performance at the time, they got it after that for other films. The irony is that the film was to be presented as a play entitled "Everything Comes to Rick" on Broadway in 1940, written by Murray Barnett, but the complexities of political and social life during World War II prevented it. Although the budget of the film did not reach a million dollars, it achieved an income of 6.9 million dollars, which is a large amount in its days compared to the events that the world was witnessing.  

 

 

Story 

The story of the movie revolves shortly around an American expatriate bub owner (Rick Blaine) living in Casablanca who met coincidentally the love he lost in Paris when he was waiting for her (Ilsa Lund) at the train station as planned, but mysteriously, she did not appear leaving him heart-broken. After a long period “of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world,” the woman he loved unexpectedly walked into his bub, renewing the spark of love in him again, but with her husband (Victor Laszlo) a Czech resistance leader who was fighting against the Germans. 

 

Ilsa tried to explain her situation, but Rick's grief did not allow things to be justified.  

Her husband, Victor, had to leave Casablanca before he mysteriously disappears.

Rick was the only one who could help him, but he refused due to the heartbreak caused by Ilsa. 

  

She did not find a way but to go to him and ask him for help herself, but his refusal was clear. That led her to awaken her deep-seated love, which had not yet died, and she explained to him that when she fell in love, she thought Victor was dead, but when she knew he was alive, she could not go with him. But she will stay with him if he agrees to help her husband get out of the country, and Rick agreed to that. But although they agreed on this, Rick could not ignore his feeling of patriotism and being in the same position as Victor as a political resister one day, and therefore he gave up on his love for what he saw as good for her and everyone else and helped them together to travel abroad, and he returned with Louis, who had acquired him as a friend to Casablanca.  

 

 

What makes it a good movie? 

 

There are a lot of reasons why 'Casablanca' is one of the best Hollywood movies of all time. First of all, his greatness in terms of the film's production process (shooting, script, music, and directing). All this has been perfected until this masterpiece came out. First, the script was very special, and each dialogue in each scene carries several  of deep meanings, so that many quotes from this movie were spread. Additionally, in the directing process, the director succeeded in drawing a distinctive character for each actor in the film and made each character capable of performing in an unforgettable manner. Furthermore, the music and songs that were shown in the movie had a great influence on making this movie so beautiful as it involved the viewer in the aura of the movie. Finally, filming succeeded in using lighting and camera angles to determine what the audience sees and the situation in which it enters. For example, in some scenes, there were heavy shadows and a gloomy situation, while in other scenes, such as when Elsa and Rick were together, the lighting was bright, which adds a happy touch to the film.

 

On the other hand, the greatness of the movie also lies in (the story, the acting, and the message).

At the outset, the story of the film brings together many noble and beautiful human meanings in terms of love, friendship, honor, and patriotism. The film's story is not traditional, and although it is one of the oldest Hollywood films, its story is considered good and exciting in every decade and for every generation. In addition, it offers a beautiful humanitarian message in sacrifice. Sacrifice for what a person believes and what he sees is in everyone's interest, not just what is in his own interest. Again, the characters and the acting, the performance of each actor in the film was an essential contribution to making it so great. For example, Ericke succeeded in showing a self-confident, mysterious character with a mysterious history and deep sadness that emerges when meeting his old love. Also Elsa, where she appeared as a woman who loved in circumstances she is not responsible for and sacrificed for this love in order not to betray her loyalty to her husband, so her good performance appeared when she succeeded in combining feelings. Her love for Eric and loyalty to her husband so as not to betray him. In addition to secondary characters such as Sam, Louis, and Victor, they each had a distinct personality and performance. Finally, the film has a Plot Twist, which is a lesson of love and sacrifice, so Eric sacrificed his love to help Elsa and her husband escape the country, but in return, he made a good friend and continued their lives in Casablanca.