Its no secret that Casablanca is a great film.its a near perfect movie in every aspect. Passing through all those reasons though, its core is how authentic it is concerning the classic design model of narrative and how it uses that devotion to a tight plot in its advantage.in spite of that its not at all standard.But how so?Well ,it puts in the bin many elements that would later become the standard but somehow never a given.First of all plot and themes go along fro the start.The motives that make the characters act are very clear no matter how complicated or simple they are.They are not a mystery as it is the case with many films nowadays.In that way it achieves real substance,which of course is combined with impeccable style.
The dialogue is very discreet and full of subtext.That way the film spices up and it becomes more clever than most films today.All the lines seem really suited to the characters and thus organic.
Acting is of course top notch and very ahead of it time.Bogey gives Rick a poetry between the lines just with his eyes.He really keeps the balance between the suave and confident guy and the beaten dissapointed in romanticism man.The way he performs is not typical of that era its more suited to the the realism of the seventees.Ingrid is perfect in playin a beautiful but very deep young woman.She really does justice to this great,conflicted character who wants who of course has the beliefs of a mature individual.She doesnt just seat around thinking about the way to make the world better,she acts on it.At the same time she is very conflicted about her feelings.Ilsa is one of the first truly strong but real female characters to come out of hollywood.As far as the other actors are concerned they all give great supportive performances from Petter Lorre to claude rains and Dooley Wilson as Sam.
Now that i have fineshed talking about the obvious greatness of the movie i wanna adress the thing that struck me the most in my last viewing of the film.All that devotion to the classical model and the clear application of the structure on the tree act model allows the movie to flirt with some elements that transcend it.The cinematography for instance is very similar to noir fimls which adds an extra layer to the film.That element progresses the themes in the sense that it compliments the characters at any given moment.That being said the story doesnt have many of the usual tropes of noir film but it really makes it more complex.The flashback sequence is anther thing which is less convential than usual.Flashnacks dont always work but in this instance its really reavealing and it comes in the right moment.Its a film that crosses genres and with the very unique and iconic elements such as the ending or the screenplay overall for that matter it deserves a place in the hall of fame of masterpieces.
In this review i wanted to avoid literary language because i wanted to talk about the things that really hit me in this last viewing i had the other day.The gist of what i talked about is that its a film that really made an impact because its not typical in its conservative narrative.In other words ,although its a perfect example of the strengths of the classical model it turns around or it uses many elements that a true piece of art.
Review of Casablanca
