"Casablanca"

Title: "Casablanca"
Director: Michael Curtiz (RIP)
Producer: Hal B. Wallis (RIP)
Editing: Owen Marks (RIP)
Composer: Max Steiner (RIP)
Starring:
- Humphrey Bogart (RIP) as Rick Blaine
- Ingrid Bergman (RIP) as Ilsa Lund
- Paul Henreid (RIP) as Victor Laszlo

Plot and Critical Review: Rick Blaine is a bitter, cynical American expatriate living in Casablanca. He owns and runs "Rick's Café Américain", an upscale nightclub and gambling den that attracts a mixed clientele. Although Rick professes to be neutral in all matters, it is later revealed that he had run guns to Ethiopia to combat the 1935 Italian invasion, and fought on the Republican side in the Spanish Civil War against Francisco Franco's Nationalists.

Ugarte, a petty criminal, arrives in Rick's club with "letters of transit" obtained through the murder of two German couriers. The papers allow the bearer to travel freely around German-controlled Europe, to neutral Portugal, and from there to America. Ugarte plans to make his fortune by selling them to the highest bidder, who is due to arrive at the club later that night. However, before the exchange can take place, Ugarte is arrested by the local police under the command of Captain Louis Renault. Unbeknownst to Renault and the Nazis, Ugarte had entrusted the letters to Rick. Ugarte dies in police custody without revealing the location of the letters.

At this point, the reason for Rick's bitterness re-enters his life. His ex-lover, Norwegian Ilsa Lund arrives with her husband, Victor Laszlo, a fugitive Czech Resistance leader long sought by the Nazis. The couple need the letters to leave for America to continue his work. German Major Strasser arrives to see to it that Laszlo does not succeed.

When Laszlo speaks with Signor Ferrari, a major figure in the criminal underworld and Rick's friendly business rival, Ferrari divulges his suspicion that Rick has the letters. Laszlo meets with Rick privately, but Rick refuses to part with the documents, telling Laszlo to ask his wife for the reason. They are interrupted when Strasser leads a group of officers in singing "Die Wacht am Rhein", a patriotic German song. In response, Laszlo orders the house band to play "La Marseillaise", the French national anthem. When the band looks to Rick for guidance, he nods his head. Laszlo starts singing, alone at first, then long-suppressed patriotic fervor grips the crowd and everyone joins in, drowning out the Germans. In retaliation, Strasser has Renault shut down the club.

That night, Ilsa confronts Rick in the deserted cafe. When he refuses to give her the letters, she threatens him with a gun but is unable to shoot, confessing that she still loves him. She explains that when she first met and fell in love with him in Paris, she believed that her husband had been killed trying to escape from a Nazi concentration camp. Later, with the German army on the verge of capturing the city, she learned that Laszlo was in fact alive and in hiding. She left Rick without explanation to tend to an ill Laszlo.

With the revelation, Rick's bitterness dissolves and the lovers are reconciled. Rick agrees to help, leading her to believe that she will stay behind with him when Laszlo leaves. When Laszlo unexpectedly shows up, after having narrowly escaped a police raid on a Resistance meeting, Rick has waiter Carl secretly take Ilsa back to the hotel while the two men talk.

Laszlo reveals that he is aware of Rick's love for Ilsa and tries to get Rick to use the letters to at least take her to safety. However, the police arrive and arrest Laszlo on a minor charge. Rick convinces Renault to release Laszlo by promising to set him up for a much more serious crime: possession of the letters of transit. To allay Renault's suspicions about his motives, Rick explains that he and Ilsa will be leaving for America. However, when Renault tries to arrest Laszlo, Rick double crosses Renault, forcing him at gunpoint to assist in their escape. At the last moment, Rick makes Ilsa board the plane to Lisbon with her husband, telling her that she would regret it if she stayed, "Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life."

Major Strasser drives up by himself, having been tipped off by Renault, but Rick shoots him when he tries to intervene. When police reinforcements arrive, Renault pauses, then tells his men to "Round up the usual suspects." Once they are alone, Renault suggests to Rick that they leave Casablanca and join the Free French at Brazzaville. They walk off into the fog with one of the most memorable exit lines in movie history: "Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

"Casablanca" is a film that made it big, even though no one expected it to. In it's release (which coincided with the actual Allied invasion of North Africa), people felt that they had enjoyed a good movie, but nothing out of the ordinary. But as more and more people saw it, it gained popularity and momentum. Much of the excitement grew around the movie's strong anti-Axis message; a truly endearing sentiment for the many Americans who spent their spare dollars to go to the cinema and watch something encouraging to their own cause. By the time the Oscars rolled around, "Casablanca" had grossed a considerable amount of money and had a strong following. It was nominated for 8 Oscars but won 3; Best Writing - Adapted Screenplay, Best Director, and Best Picture.

"Casablanca" remains at the top of most "Best" lists to this day and is widely regarded to be one of the most influential American films of all time. It's sensitive music, thoughtful cinematography (yes, even in black and white!), and tender writing remain standards in the field of motion picture making to this day.

My Rating: 8.5/10

Content to Caution:
V-2 - Some brawling. Two deaths as a result of gunfire.
L-2 - Some cursing.
DU-3 - A significant amount of smoking and drinking throughout.
RT-2 – Racial tensions abound between the French and the Germans, including the infamous "dueling anthems" scene.
H/S-0 – No comment.
CH-0 – No comment.
S/N-1 – Some kissing.

The "Reel Revelation": "Departure and Return"

Have you ever lost something of importance and, in a moment of complete random chance, found it again? I don't mean when you've misplaced a $20.00 bill and found it in your jeans right before you threw them in the washing machine. That's great, but that happens all the time. I mean something important that you felt had been lost forever. Maybe "lost" isn't the best word, but you know what i'm hinting at; something that's been taken out of (or left) your life with no promise of returning. And then to find it again...what bliss! Or maybe not...

"Casablanca" is a story about loss and gain. Consider the time period in which this film is set and the war being waged over land, economies, and the domination of entire continents. During the brutal conflict of World War II, armies of titanic size were losing and gaining the advantage everyday. If 1,000 troops were lost on the front lines and the battle seemed to be over, reinforcements arrived as 1,500 soldiers were sent to replace the fallen. A near loss and an unexpected recovery, but at what cost? More blood, more death, and the war marched on.

That's an illustration of loss/gain on the largest scale, but it helps to illumine the principal loss/gain storyline in "Casablanca", that of Ilsa returning to Rick after so many years apart. Do you remember the scene in Paris in which Rick goes to meet Ilsa at the train station? Do you remember the note she leaves for him? Here's a reminder:

These were the last words Rick thought he'd ever hear from Ilsa, and thus, this was his final memory of her; reading a heartbreaking letter in the rain at the train station in Paris. Time passed, and "Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world...", she walked into his. What he thought had been lost forever suddenly had been regained, but there was no bliss to be found in this reunion between the two former lovers.

Things change when we regain what we thought we've lost. Sometimes there can be great joy when we reconnect with an old friend, discover an old opportunity that's been reopened to us, or gain back a gift we thought was lost. Rejoice in those moments and give thanks to God! But in Rick's case, when it seemed he should have rejoiced greatly upon Ilsa's return, he was challenged. He was challenged by the presence of his lingering feelings for her and the heartbreaking memory of Paris that had caused his heart to grow cold and bitter over the years. Yet even though it presented a difficult challenge, it was Ilsa's return that propelled most of the drama for the remainder of the film and, in the end, was the primary reason Rick gave up the chance to escape Casablanca; for the love of his darling girl.

While "Casablanca" is a great illustration of the depart/return dilemma, there's no finer illustration than the Bible. The Bible is, to some degree, a collection of stories about how lost people return to God, or how God "regains" that which has been "taken" away from Him. Not that anything can actually be "taken" from God, he is God of all that is, after all. But we wander away from Him on our own accord, so he seeks after us and "regains" us to Himself. I hope you don't trip over the semantics like I did.

There's probably no reunion more startling than when God appears. Some people "lose their religion" and spend decades (and lifetimes) apart from God. What a surprise when they discover that God is back and wants to take back those who have went away from Him. But not all reunions are teary-eyed and sentimental and full of the "I'm so sorry, please forgive me, i'll never do it again..." language we might expect. Some people have become like Rick and when they look into the eyes of the Father they once loved they feel nothing but bitterness, anger, and hatred toward Him. It's natural to feel that way, but not very helpful.

When things (or people) from our past suddenly return to us, we realize how little control we have over our lives. Give thanks to God for that, for His control is much more secure than our own. When we experience unexpected (and potentially unwelcome) reunions, we come face to face with our own sinfulness as we realize how we've hurt others and ourselves by our actions and words. Give thanks to God that He is the healer of all relationships and will restore us to each other through His love. Indeed, Give thanks that God is gracious, understanding, and can handle our confusion and anger in the moments when we struggle with the reappearance of the things from our past; including Himself.

"O LORD, do not rebuke me in Your anger,
Nor chasten me in Your wrath.
Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am pining away;
Heal me, O LORD, for my bones are dismayed.
And my soul is greatly dismayed;
But You, O LORD - how long?
Return, O LORD, rescue my soul;
Save me because of Your lovingkindness." (Psalm 6:1-4)

See you tomorrow - E.T.