Mary Kate Feaster
Film Scene Analysis: Casablanca
15 October 2014
La Marseillaise: A Stand of Defiance
In a downtrodden Casablanca, Rick’s Café Américain is an oasis in the otherwise hopeless desert for those fleeing Europe during the Second World War in the film titled Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1942). As a result, German presence in Rick’s causes tension and uneasiness for the patrons who are fleeing Europe to escape the Nazis. This uneasiness continues until Victor Laszlo intervenes in a pivotal scene in the film when the occupants of Casablanca rise up against the German soldiers to show their support for France through the singing of the French national anthem. The scene of “La Marseillaise” in Casablanca not only shows Victor Laszlo’s …show more content…
It does not need to be said how passionate the French are, nevertheless when they sing their national anthem. The French sing, “arise children of the fatherland. The day of glory has arrived against us tyranny's bloody standard is raised. Listen to the sound in the fields the howling of these fearsome soldiers. They are coming into our midst to cut the throats of your sons and consorts” (Marseillaise). Its sort of ironic that both are singing about very similar things and have the same stance on it, but do not agree on anything else. The importance of these songs is to prove just that. In response to the German song, Victor Laszlo has the band play “La Marseillaise” to try to overpower the Germans. The shot of Victor with the band is the opposite of the secluded German positioning. While the Germans are in their isolated area of the café, Laszlo is in the middle of the café as indicated by the band in front of him and the tables full of people behind him. This, along with Laszlo’s strong voice, indicates a sense of power behind the song, which is only increased as others join in. Through both action and imaging, Victor Laszlo is portrayed as a stronger force than the German …show more content…
As with many wartime films, Casablanca can be considered a strong piece of US propaganda, skewing the audience away from German forces. This scene is no exception from that attempt as it portrays the German soldiers as stiff, loud, and boisterous. As mentioned earlier, a wide shot of the Germans shows that they are isolated from most of the other customers at Rick’s, visually portraying the message that they are not wanted in Casablanca. On the contrary, Victor Laszlo unifies the other patrons as one solid unit, proudly singing the national anthem of France. As with most World War II propaganda campaigns from the United States, the antagonists are the Germans who are portrayed in the media unfavorably throughout the entirety of the war. On the contrary, Laszlo and the underground movement that his character represents are presented as the strong protagonists. Laszlo and his supporters are able to overpower the Germans in song, which is important for the propaganda of the film because it shows that Germans are not
Film Scene Analysis: Casablanca
15 October 2014
La Marseillaise: A Stand of Defiance
In a downtrodden Casablanca, Rick’s Café Américain is an oasis in the otherwise hopeless desert for those fleeing Europe during the Second World War in the film titled Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1942). As a result, German presence in Rick’s causes tension and uneasiness for the patrons who are fleeing Europe to escape the Nazis. This uneasiness continues until Victor Laszlo intervenes in a pivotal scene in the film when the occupants of Casablanca rise up against the German soldiers to show their support for France through the singing of the French national anthem. The scene of “La Marseillaise” in Casablanca not only shows Victor Laszlo’s …show more content…
It does not need to be said how passionate the French are, nevertheless when they sing their national anthem. The French sing, “arise children of the fatherland. The day of glory has arrived against us tyranny's bloody standard is raised. Listen to the sound in the fields the howling of these fearsome soldiers. They are coming into our midst to cut the throats of your sons and consorts” (Marseillaise). Its sort of ironic that both are singing about very similar things and have the same stance on it, but do not agree on anything else. The importance of these songs is to prove just that. In response to the German song, Victor Laszlo has the band play “La Marseillaise” to try to overpower the Germans. The shot of Victor with the band is the opposite of the secluded German positioning. While the Germans are in their isolated area of the café, Laszlo is in the middle of the café as indicated by the band in front of him and the tables full of people behind him. This, along with Laszlo’s strong voice, indicates a sense of power behind the song, which is only increased as others join in. Through both action and imaging, Victor Laszlo is portrayed as a stronger force than the German …show more content…
As with many wartime films, Casablanca can be considered a strong piece of US propaganda, skewing the audience away from German forces. This scene is no exception from that attempt as it portrays the German soldiers as stiff, loud, and boisterous. As mentioned earlier, a wide shot of the Germans shows that they are isolated from most of the other customers at Rick’s, visually portraying the message that they are not wanted in Casablanca. On the contrary, Victor Laszlo unifies the other patrons as one solid unit, proudly singing the national anthem of France. As with most World War II propaganda campaigns from the United States, the antagonists are the Germans who are portrayed in the media unfavorably throughout the entirety of the war. On the contrary, Laszlo and the underground movement that his character represents are presented as the strong protagonists. Laszlo and his supporters are able to overpower the Germans in song, which is important for the propaganda of the film because it shows that Germans are not