104: CASABLANCA (1942)
DIRECTOR: MICHAEL CURTIZ
SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS
(TW: Essay has brief mentions of Domestic and Sexual Assault.)
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The 1940s might be the most important decade in film history. Good to see you again! We’re Watching The Decades Go By! and when I make a statement like that y’know I gotta come up with facts, and no fact should ever be more stated than The Hollywood Style. Movies have evolved and will keep on evolving until we can legally start using A.I. to make dead people live again for our entertainment (that’s a joke, that’s a joke, I swear to Christ that’s a joke). So, when we look back at the history of film and the movies that paved the groundwork for the cinema of today, it’s important to recognize their significance and learn about what each of these films did and helped create. That’s not to say our main focus for this essay was The Hollywood Style, but a college class I took made me believe that, so I’m here as a sheep following the herd. The main focus of said Hollywood Style is to create glitz and glamour and give the actors the best possible lighting and near-perfect beauty. This format is what helped create the icon status for people like Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn, Jimmy Stewart, and Elizabeth Taylor. It certainly helped with creating the perfect images of Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman; our leading and loving duo in our representative for, not just the 1940s, but this Hollywood Style that I keep referring to; Casablanca.
In some cases, learning about film is learning about societal and cultural shifts and it is absolutely important for Casablanca’s context because of where America was when this movie came out. The story that gets set up concerning this movie is that, while America was fighting in World War II because of Pearl Harbor, the support for it was middling at best. Despite that being pretty laughable to hear nowadays, does anyone want to support a war after the economy tanked for a pretty substantial period? Said the essayist who was 5 when the recession happened and 17 when COVID started. Nonetheless, there wasn’t a ton of support for the war effort and Casablanca was looking to change that. Did it succeed? Yes! Its political relevancy is one of the reasons why it’s so revered. But does it succeed as a regular movie?… I think it’s dated, but yes.
Here’s the thing, while The Hollywood Style being introduced is paramount to the canon of cinema, its introduction created a baseline for all movies going forward. Watching Casablanca now feels like watching an incredibly basic movie set in World War II. When watching the film two different mindsets come with it. The first is that the music is beautiful and this is probably one of the most iconic movies ever made, and the second is that there isn’t a lot of distinct cinematography that makes this film stand out and these characters will NOT. STOP. TALKING. Now, for the first half of that second phrase…that’s not fair. You have to invent the norm before you get into the really creative work, so I don’t necessarily blame the movie and the time for the lack of distinct cinematography, I chalk it up to a newer generation seeing an older film. The one thing I can’t defend is the second part of that phrase. The dialogue can get away from the emotional aspect of it all. It feels a lot more tell than show, emotionally and story-wise. Practically all of this movie’s story is told through a gazillion exposition dumps and it just doesn’t click well. Maybe it is a byproduct of an older era, but that was the one thing about this film that irked me to no end.
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However, the story we got between Rick and Ilsa was a very interesting and complex one at that. World War II romances have always been interesting to me because they often showcase a fear of the unknown. One of my favorite aspects of The Brutalist (2024) was the relationship because there was this constant anxiety around the marriage even when Erzébet and Lázló are together in the second half. The story itself is hyper-specific to wartime as Rick and Ilsa are in France just before the Germans are about to occupy it. Ilsa was a flirt and wanted to play around with Rick because her actual husband was captured by the Nazis and had no idea if he made it out or not. When have you ever heard of that dilemma nowadays? Not in a modern story.
In terms of performances, Ingrid Bergman did a terrific performance as Ilsa! Regular viewers of the blog will know that I covered Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941). While that performance is around a darker subject matter, I highlighted them both because of Ingrid Bergman’s contrasting personalities and how good she is in both roles. When she’s Ivy in Dr. Jekyll, she turns the theatrics up a notch, providing a dark and emotionally honest look at domestic and sexual abuse. When she’s Ilsa in Casablanca, her melancholy is a lot more centered. She’s able to provide support for her husband while also being trapped by this personal endeavor with Rick.
Speaking of Rick, Humphrey Bogart’s acting seemed legitimately odd. He kept this quiet monotone voice throughout it and I get that he’s tryna be like a drifter who only cares about his job and taking the neutral route, yet in times where he’s not supposed to sound gritty and suspicious he just looks and seems awkward to me. However, I personally like Rick, not because of the actor, but because of the symbolism behind him. I think it’s fair to say that Rick is short for America. His neutral stance sort of showcases the neutral ideology that the American public was taking at the time of World War II, but having him run a gin joint is nothing short of genius. We’re all spoon-fed this idea that America is supposed to be this big melting pot of the world where different cultures come in and we learn off of each other so to speak right? So having Rick run a gin joint in a real-life, neutral ground for the Second World War, a place that brings in members of all races that leaves politics at the front door is the PERFECT metaphor. The entire movie hinges on the balance of Rick‘s decisions because America is the biggest fucking superpower in the world.
Look, the past is the past. I understand why things are a product of their time and I don’t think points should be docked necessarily because of that. That changes when it’s something akin to an idiot modernizing a Dr. Seuss book or it’s some Daily Wire bullshit that tries to pass itself off as substantive. The things that we view as basic or out of date are completely brand new and awe-inspiring to the people in the 40s, and unless you have a fucking time machine, you can’t take that away from people. With that being said, however, that’s not to get rid of genuine criticism for a piece of art. Dialogue and characterization were here long before movies existed, and if you feel it’s not up to par then…it’s not up to par, what else can I say?
7.3/10
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Due to The Regime of Israel’s current decision to block all humanitarian aid and food for Palestinians, it’s crucial that we focus on these current GoFundMe efforts, like the one provided by Gurjot Boparai. Their fundraiser is organized on behalf of Nada Musleh who is a friend of theirs living in Gaza. Nada’s family consists of 7 people and they’ve been moving across the Strip just to avoid violence. Since aid is no longer coming for them, we need to provide them with enough money to get out of Gaza. $100,000 is their fundraiser goal and I hope to see it fulfilled.
Gurjot Boparai/Nada Musleh Fundraiser:
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