Essay On Casablanca

In the film Casablanca dir. Michael Curtiz, an American named Richard “Rick” Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) runs a popular cafe in Casablanca. During World War II, Casablanca is a common place to go to try to get letters of transit to America. Victor Lazlo (Paul Henreid) - an anti-Nazi that has escaped a concentration camp and wants to inspire a rebellion against the Nazi party - and his wife Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman) - an ex-lover of Rick - end up in Casablanca on their way to America. Rick, formerly unaffiliated with politics, develops a stance on politics that heavily influences the plot. The theme of the movie is that selflessness will always prevail over selfishness, and that love inspires selflessness, which is shown through the film techniques …show more content…
Music that the characters can hear plays important roles on a few separate occasions. It sets the initial mood of the cafe which is light and happy and jazzy. Then, when Ilsa comes, she asks the pianist to play “As Time Goes By,” which is the song that she and Rick were both very attached to when they were in love together in France - this song becomes very important to the theme because it not only makes them remember their relationship, but it represents their relationship. Music in the cafe also plays an important role in the theme of the movie when Major Strasser and the other Nazis are singing a song about Germany, and Victor Lazlo asks the band to play a song about the French and gets more people in the cafe to sing and overpower the Germans’ singing. This happening convinces Major Strasser that Lazlo is a dangerous character and can’t be let out of Casablanca but neither can he stay there - it makes Casablanca a dangerous place for both Victor Lazlo and Ilsa Lund. Because his only love is in danger, this is a tipping point for Rick Blaine. He makes a decision that places himself into politics in a way that he had been avoiding from the beginning of the