Casablanca

Casablanca is one of this that if you've never seen it everyone else will be quick to attack you.

"What?! You've never seen it?!" 

"What is wrong with you!?"

"Do you not like amazing movies?!" 

So clearly I had to check it out.  To be honest i didn't know much about Casablanca, going in. i just thought it was a sappy love story with that one seen that has become so iconic. You know what I'm talking about. Its the scene where humphrey bogart is wearing a fedora  as he insists that Ingrid get onto a plant because she will regret it. So, I wasn't too excited to see this one. 

So how did I feel after watching it? exactly how everyone expected me to. its a great movie with a solid story and solid characters. 

On the Eve of the Second World War; refugees from all over Europe flee to Casablanca in hopes of gaining passage to America as the Nazi army continues to expand. How do these refugees get their safe passage? why at Rick's of course. Rick is the owner of a popular bar in Casablanca who uses said bar as a cover so that he can sell falsified transport papers to the refugees. things are going well for  Rick until he is approached about the possibility of person of interest to the Nazi Party being present in Casablanca, seeking passage, and to top it off he has a woman with him. Rick assure the police that he'll have nothing to do with it, that is until he find sit the woman is a long lost love of his. now Rick struggles between his love for this woman all the while watching as the Nazi's close in on Casablanca, and the only hope is for his form love a her rebel fiancé to escape Casablanca and soon.

watching the movie, I found my self just amazed at how quotable the movie is. It's some of the finest dialogue writing in film history. i particularly love everything that Humphrey Bogart has to say in the movie "here's looking at you kid" and what not. It all comes off quite natural. 

Theres an excellent scene in particularly involving the four main protagonists of the story. the entire thing is done around a table and while its  straight forward talking, you can get an idea for who these characters are. You get that Humphrey Bogart is the wise cracking, straight shooter with a soft spot. you get that the police officer he chums around with is,  lead by is humor. you get that ingrid Bergman'

s character is nostalgic an that there are still un resolved feelings for her, and you get that the rebel boyfriend is constantly cautious and only interested in his ultimate objective of getting out. its wiring like this that makes the screen play alone a masterpiece.

And now its obvious that we need to talk about the love story. It's so hard to find a legitimately good love story in film now a days. one of the best i can think of is the movie musical Once. But a lot of them are heavily flawed. YES I'm looking at you Notebook, and Twilight.  typically these stories deal with characters that will do ANYTHING to be with each other, particularly hearing the ones that love them.  Its something I take great issue with in romance movies that one of the two main characters is willing to leave behind their families who have done nothing but support them or even leave people who have are legitimately decent people and in a lot of ways better than the actual character our protagonist is in love with.

So with that being said what is it that makes the love story in Casablanca so great? Well for one thing these characters are both given the opportunity to throw away everything for one another. both characters are aware of what is at stake if the choose to be together. Humphrey's character will not only damn a man to death if he chooses to be with ingrid's character, but will also hurt the european resistance against the third reich. All the while Ingrid is torn between  her love for her fiancé and her  un resolved feelings for Humphrey. 

What makes this love story so great is the fact that things DONT work out for them completely. in the end ingrid gets away with her fiancé and Humphrey is able to let go of his anger.  but do they forsake the rest of the world for each other? NO because they both understand there are far more important things going on , and it would be selfish of them to push aside what really matters for each other. i really love that final scene because fit sums it up so well. if they stay together they both know they will ultimately regret that decision. They will have to live with the fact that they had the opportunity to be a part of something greater than themselves and didn't.  There seems to be an idea in modern film that views the "entire world is against us"  plot device which was used in Romeo & Juliet as being  the greatest love story of all time. But God I'm sorry every time i see stories like that, or Twilight or anything all i see are a bunch of selfish kids only thinking of themselves.  

Casablanca dared to show a couple that loved each other so much that they understood not being together was the best possible thing for both of them.  they saw the responsibilities placed before them and lived up to those responsibilities. Why doesn't anybody make a werewolf zombie frankenstein vampire teen romance novel about that? huh?… huh?!

all in all Casablanca is an excellent movie. well acted, well filmed, and extremely well written, theres no question as to why it's consider one of the greatest films ever made. if you want to see a movie that is both exciting and romantic. this movie is there perfect movie to watch on a friday night with your significant other.