Even novice film critics who have only written one movie blog in their lives have heard of Casablanca. It is widely considered to be one of the greatest films of all time and a staple of Hollywood's golden era. However, the world has changed. 80 whole years have passed since its release and a few things have happened in the interim. The human consciousness has adjusted to all sorts of triumph and trauma. What about a millenial born in the 1980s who grew up watching Arnold Scharzenegger movies. Will it resonate with him? Will he enjoy it? Will it change the way he thinks or feels?
We join American immigrant Rick (Humphrey Bogart) who owns a saloon in Casablanca, Morocco during the Second World War. North Africa is on the edge of war-torn Europe and Casablanca is a bustling migrant port offering refuge and transit to those able to escape the conflict raging across Europe. Rick's saloon has an "edge of the world" feel to it - a bit like the Cantina in the Outer Rim planet of Tatooine (insert Star Wars reference). The lines of conflict are not so obviously drawn here. Vichy French, Nazis, Americans, European refugees and the local population cohabit in an uneasy city where life is cheap.
A sequence of events leads to Rick holding two tickets of transit to the United States - priceless commodities at such a time. To complicate matters his former lover Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman) appears with her husband seeking transit to America. What follows is a gripping tale of lost love, renewed love, resistance to fascism, friendship and betrayal. This is all in a world where telling the truth too much can lead to imprisonment or even death. Bergman's performance can access even the blackest of hearts and Humphrey is a solid customer. Together they say some of the most famous lines in movie history. This film was not just for the war or the 1940s but for all time. It even beats Rebecca.
Rating: 10/10
Reflections:
Some people are meant to come into your life only for a season - stretching out their stay artificially will ultimately cause no end of suffering.
We were all refugees once.
Despite what we are sometimes led to believe - there are callings far higher than romantic love.
Oscar Best Picture Rankings:
1. Casablanca (1943)
2. Rebecca (1940)
3. How Green Was My Valley (1941)
4. Gone With the Wind (1939)
5. Mrs. Miniver (1942)
6. All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
7. Wings (1928)
8. Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
9. You can’t take it with you (1938)
10. Cimarron (1931)
11. Grand Hotel (1932)
12. It Happened One Night (1934)
13. Cavalcade (1933)
14. The Life of Emile Zola (1937)
15. The Great Ziegfeld (1936)
16. The Broadway Melody (1929)
A superb review, Joe 🌟 xx