Casablanca DVD
Warner Studios
Rated: PG
Genre: Drama
Length: 145 minutes
Director: Michael Curtiz
Year: (1942)
Britt Gillette's Casablanca DVD Review
One of the greatest, and certainly one of the most quoted, films in cinema history, Casablanca brings all the essential elements to the big screen - adventure, romance, intrigue, suspense, and of course, evil Nazi bad guys (if you doubt this last one as an essential element, then reference the success of the Indiana Jones films). With a director and cast second to none, Casablanca makes a strong case for consideration as the best movie ever made - cementing its status as a must-see film.
The story begins in a place called Rick's, a popular watering hole in Vichey controlled Morocco on the outskirts of Nazi dominated Europe. An important travel hub, Casablanca plays host to innumerable colorful characters with any number of varying agendas. Arms dealers, spies, and revolutionaries walk side-by-side through streets littered with pickpockets. But at Rick's, everyone seems to enjoy themselves. Owner Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) seems content with his life of serving customers and making money until she walks in - Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman), the love of his life.
A couple of years earlier, as the Nazis moved into Paris, Rick and Ilsa fell in love. But in the act of fleeing the Nazi advance, Ilsa sent Rick a note at the train station informing him that she could not go with him. She offered no explanation. Now, she was appearing in his establishment with her husband - fugitive and Nazi resistance leader Victor Laszlo.
As the hours unfold, and the Nazis search for Laszlo in an attempt to cut off his escape, Rick learns the whole story. When he met Ilsa in Paris she was married to Laszlo, but she thought he was dead - a victim of the Nazi regime. But before she could flee Paris with Rick, she learned that her husband had escaped a Nazi concentration camp. She stayed behind to care for him.
Needing help to aid her husband's escape to the United States, Ilsa appeals to Rick. It is clear that they still love each other. But will Rick use his influence and connections to help himself and Ilsa or Victor Laszlo? Will his idealism prevail over his hard pragmatism? The Third Reich is closing in on Victor Laszlo and only Rick can save him…
Britt Gillette
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Posted on 10 December 2004