Film analysis of Casablanca (1942)
One of the most debated topics in recent history questions if Casablanca is the best film of all time. The film was originally released in New York in late 1942, and then nationally in early 1943. Given the time period and the plot, many found this film to be controversial, yet informative, as the movie follows the story of a group of refugees during World War II. With any discussion, criteria must be set to determine this answer. In this particular review, I will discuss why I believe Casablanca is the greatest film of all time and why. Specifically, I will be comparing the following factors; Plot, music, and casting. Additionally, as this is a historical film, historical context will be compared as well. To begin with, I
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Casablanca was rushed into production in December 1941, the month of the Pearl Harbor attack in Hawaii, which is also the month that the film takes place in. Just as the title implies, the setting is based in Casablanca, Morocco, where Rick Blaine owns a nightclub called "Rick 's Café Américain". As this film takes place in December 1941, the plot revolves around many refugees attempting to reach The United States, which was still neutral during that time of the war. Although, over the years, historians have questioned the historical accuracy, or lack thereof in Casablanca. A specific key to the plot is the “Letters of Transit”, a document that allows those who bear them unquestioned travel through German-controlled Europe. I must add that these papers are completely fictional in our reality. To add on, in the film it is mentioned that General deGualle was the one to sign off on these papers, but deGualle didn’t have any authority in North Africa during that time period, making the papers even more unrealistic (Janes, 2017). Moving on, it is very clear that the Nazi’s are potrayed as the ‘bad guys’ in this film. While this is true, Casablanca characterizes them as “unapologetically evil”
Reasons why Casablanca is considered one of the greatest movies ever made. Casablanca’s leading actor, Humphrey Bogart is considered the best actor of all time by the American Film Institute, and he plays an ideal male role in Rick Blaine, who is rich, honest, well respected, and loved by woman (Rich). The film’s leading actress, Ingrid Bergman, is an attractive, talented actress, who has won three Oscars and a pair of Emmys (Rich).
A Raisin in the Sun PBA Unit 2 Cinematography and filmmaking are art forms completely open to interpretation in many ways such lighting, the camera as angles, tone, expressions, etc. By using cinematic techniques a filmmaker can make a film communicate to the viewer on different levels including emotional and social. Play writes include some stage direction and instruction regarding the visual aspect of the story. In this sense, the filmmaker has the strong basis for adapting a play to the big screen. “A Raisin in the Sun” is a play by Lorraine Hansberry that debuted on Broadway in 1959.
The film 13th directed by Ava DuVernay targets an intended audience of the Media and the three branches of the United States government with an emphasis that mass incarceration is an extension of slavery. It is intended to inform viewers about the criminalization of African Americans and the United States prison boom. 13th uses rhetorical devices in its claim to persuade the viewers by using exemplum in the opening seconds of the film. President Barack Obama presents statistics, saying “the United States is home to 5% of the world’s population but is home to 25% of the world’s prisoners.” Also the film uses a hyperbole in talking about the movie Birth of a Nation produced in 1915 which portrays a black man as a violent savage who will kill white women.
Mise-en-scéne is crucial to classical Hollywood as it defined an era ‘that in its primary sense and effect, shows us something; it is a means of display. ' (Martin 2014, p.XV). Billy Wilder 's Sunset Boulevard (Wilder 1950) will be analysed and explored with its techniques and styles of mise-en-scéne and how this aspect of filmmaking establishes together as a cohesive whole with the narrative themes as classical Hollywood storytelling. Features of the film 's sense of space and time, setting, motifs, characters, and character goals will be explored and how they affect the characterisation, structure, and three-act organisation.
The intriguing world of Casablanca, displays a wondrous mise-en-scene in fashion that accentuates emotions and feeling through aspects of cinematography. From the movement of the camera, to the intricacy of the shot distances chosen to be included within the frame, the film reveals important elements of the diegesis without uttering a sound. The cinematography of Casablanca gives the audience an insight into the intimacy of Rick and Ilsa's relationship, and seeks to situate the viewer’s attention to the space and time of the film. Throughout the film, Rick’s romantic relationship, or rather previous relationship, with Ilsa appears to be a focal point of the film.
The movie Casablanca has similarities to World War II. The movie begins by the viewer meeting Rick Blaine. He is the owner of a club that helps people from other countries receive their letters of transit. This club was a safe haven for many of the refugees. This club would allow for the refuges to obtain their letters of transit as well as earning some quick cash for traveling from gambling in the secret room.
In the end, in the brightness of the hanger, Rick and the French official are forced to abandon the shadows and their neutrality to pick a side. They let Isla and Lazlo leave, kill Major Strasser, and walk into the foggy darkness, neutrality abandoned, committed to freedom. The cinematography in Casablanca is critical in directing the audience’s attention, shaping the audiences feelings, and revealing the theme of the movie. Ultimately, the movie helped America abandon its neutrality, join the Allies and defeat
Narrative is generally accepted as possessing two components: the story presented and the process of its telling. A story can be presented in two basic ways, as a linear narrative and as a non-linear narrative. Linear narratives follow a straight line and non-linear narratives usually start at in the middle or in the height of conflict. Casablanca and Memento are two films which contrast in narrative approaches.
Michael Curtiz’s Casablanca (1942) is a film based in WWII around different nations involvement in the war. Casablanca is a stylistic piece of propaganda based in Casablanca, Morocco, a hotspot for Europeans escaping the war and Nazi government. Within the movie each character represents a nations stand in the war. Because of this each character is compromised in certain ways and has clear flaws. Ilsa Lund, the main female character in the film is renowned for being extremely manipulative and overly emotional because of the way women were seen in this era.
Camera Movement in Casablanca (ESSAY #3) (A-) It’s important to watch Casablanca while thinking about the context in which it was released. After the United States entered World War II, it was a little over a year before audiences saw Casablanca. It doesn’t take much investigation to see how the war plays a part in the storytelling, but certain film techniques helped emphasize messages the film wanted to tell its audience. Through the use of camera movement, the finale of Casablanca puts the spotlight on Strasser and Rick’s newfound relationship, which can convey a message about the United States and its allies.
Watching the movie Casablanca in class you realize the difference between the film of the movie, how most films are directed and produced today. The movie is one of the top classic black and white films in American history. The elements of design in Casablanca, the setting is realistic during the time of 1942 and World War II. The setting shows the emotion of the people in the film during this time, with the stress of getting off the island and to America where it was safe. The people there were doing anything they could to get away since Hitler was taking over, and they knew bad was coming from it.
O Brother Where Art Thou? is a film that will take you on a perilous journey with Ulysses Everett McGill and his simpleminded cohorts. This film may be set amidst the early 1930’s Great Depression era, but it still has a Homer’s Odyssey feel to it. Down in the dusty and highly racial south, Everett recruits a couple of dimwitted convicts, Pete Hogwallop and Delmar O’Donnell, to help him retrieve his lost treasure and make it back home before his wife marries another suitor.
The Godfather (1972) is said to be one of the greatest films ever made. When this movie was released in 1972, it was nominated for Ten Academy Awards and it won three: Best Picture, Best Actor and Best Adapted Screenplay. The film was adapted from the book with the same name written by award winning author of mafia fiction, Mario Puzo. This film takes place in a span of ten years following the life of Don Corleone, the head of the Corleone Crime Family. It was a film that changed the history of cinema, introducing a very talented filmmaker and several acting legends in the telling of a story of a Sicilian Crime Family.
In the movie Casablanca directed by Michael Curtiz, the theme of this mysterious/ romantic is self-sacrifice and unhappy love. These themes are best expressed in the interactions of the three main characters: Victor Laszlo, Ilsa Lund, and Rick Blaine. A love triangle forms with both men’s mutual love for Ilsa. Unlike the typical romantic love triangle, in the end, the results lead to unhappiness and loss for all of them.
In the film 12 Years a Slave the editor, Joe Walker, makes use of a couple of techniques and styles that adds to the film in its own way. Long shots – Joe kept the long shots as long as he thought was necessary to add to the subject matter and the feeling he wanted to bind with the story. At the end of the film there’s this extremely long shot where Solomon is practically staring at the camera for about a minute and a half. The timing of that shot is so perfect because it’s not too short so you don’t have enough time to think about what just happened or too much time to overthink the situation. Closer to the end of the shot he lets the sound fade slowly and rapidly gives you a wakeup call when the next shot starts off where Solomon and the rest of the slaves are busy working in the field.