Casaablanca

Film Studies

Pascal Di Betta

Film: Casablanca

August 26, 2107

Not So Much Love

The best scene within Casablanca is the last scene. We have had the entire moving leading up to this point; figuring out the underlying story behind Rick's character and his relationship with Ilsa. It is in the last moments of the when the protagonist changes, or as one might say it, it is at that point in the film when the event of the story occurs. Rick is always saying he never sticks his neck out for anyone, and he doesn’t. It is the resolve of the movie when Rick gives up what he most desire, sticking his neck out for someone he loves. There are two layers of suspense that the writer has set up in the last scene. The spectator might think, “Will the Nazi general reach the runway and stop them? Will the plane crash or be shot down? Will Rick chose the right path or the wrong path?” As known to many, rick does the right thing; he takes down the Nazi general and lets Ilsa and Victor go one their way. This is a major change since Rick had been a self centered character through the whole film, and by doing this, it can be seens that he has grown and adapted, giving a chance for the audience to do so. Because the is the purpose of film. The Audience is  presented with a story and  grows through learning and watching other people's experiences.

This is a classical film, defined by its three part narrative structure and its relationship with other films of the time. First, the spectator is introduced to the protagonist and sense of his day to day life and the world around him/her is established. Then the audience is introduced to the antagonist, and a conflict occurs. Many classical Narratives tend to have the romance as side story. If the love story does take the front stage then it would be a romance film and, to paraphrase, “It isn’t a matter of whether boy gets girl, it's a matter of how.” This movie is not a matter of how, it's a matter of if (and he doesn’t). Casablanca can fall between a romance genre, a dramatic genre, and a war genre. Although the movie doesn’t have any substantial fight sequences, it still has the current war as the overlying circumstance of the film.

A good film has more than one thing going on at once. Casablanca does this so simply and ties it in a neat little bow. The main protagonist needs to have a stronge want, in Rick's case, he wants the girl. The protagonist must not be perfect, for if they were the Übermensch (nietzsche superman) then we couldn't relate and would feel nothing.  A good movie doesn't give the Protagonist what they want, a good movie gives the protagonist what they need.  Rick does not get the girl but it wasn’t what he truly needed. The film achieves this requirement of storytelling while also answering the question, what do we do? Casablanca came out during the beginning of WW2 and it was a struggle to get America involved in the War. This film is saying, “This is what you do, you fuckers.” (I hope it's ok that I said that.) “You are a grain of rice. Your personal struggles can't amount to the mountain of pain which the rest of the world is going through. Become one of the many grains in the pile. The pile that amounts to a mountain.” That is what the film is about.