Casablanca

Rating: 5/5

One of the greatest classics of all time.

Casablanca is a movie that took me far too long to see for the first time, and then had too long a gap before giving it a second viewing. Prior to this most recent watch of Casablanca, I couldn't really remember much about it , which was to no fault of the movie. If memory serves correctly, I had been incredibly tired when I first saw it, and wasn't able to give Casablanca the full, undivided attention that it deserved. I remember appreciating it at the time, but it wasn't until watching it for my Academy Award Best Picture challenge that I fully understood why Casablanca was considered such a classic. I completely get it now.

Casablanca was released during a time where Hollywood was producing a massive collection of films centered around the war. Many of these could very much be seen as propaganda movies, and though Casablanca does discuss the concept of World War II and resisting the Nazis, it doesn't feel like a 90 minute add for war bonds. There's an effortless sense of class and elegance when it comes to Casablanca. A huge part of that is the ease of Ingrid Bergman's glamour, but it's also the on screen chemistry she has with Humphrey Bogart and the beautiful way their story is shot.

When you think about it, there's very little change in location for Casablanca. Without the flashback scenes, pretty much the entirety of the story would take place in Morocco and in Rick's nightclub. It can't be an easy task to make such a limited number of locations remain interesting for an entire film's runtime, but even though we see that nightclub a myriad of times throughout all of Casablanca, it never feels the same from one shot to the next. In some scenes, it's boisterous with the sounds of gambling and drinking, a place full of life. In others, the lights are dimmed, only the sound of a single piano is heard, and it's suddenly a location for painful memories and reflection. It's amazing to see how one venue can turn from a location of triumph to one of despair, just by the way the performances within the space are being done, and the way it's being filmed. True art on the screen.

I really look forward to seeing Casablanca again, because it seems that every time I watch it, I enjoy and appreciate it more and more. There are some movies that are labeled as classics, where it may not seem obvious to the masses why it's considered so, but Casablanca is proof of why some films, no matter how long it's been since being initially released, will never and should never be forgotten.

1944 Best Picture Winner- Casablanca

1944 Best Director Winner- Michael Curtiz

1944 Best Writing, Screenplay Winner- Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein & Howard Koch