Casablanca has been one of my favorite movies, although I don’t get to watch it often. I have always loved the characters in the movie and how they interact with one another.
I have had a crush on Rick Blaine since the first time that I saw the movie back in 1991. He’s bitter, indifferent, cynical, yet something about him is alluring. There is a sense of dangerousness and excitement about him despite his claims of staying out of politics. There is something glamorous about the life that he lives, although he is alone. I don’t particularly find Humphrey Bogart physically attractive but he has a charisma about him.
Rick makes a transformation throughout the movie, eventually dropping his bitterness and indifference and fighting for the greater cause. Rick also shows that he isn’t so hard and indifferent when he helps the young woman who comes to him to ask if Captain Renault is an honest man. Captain Renault has promised her exit visas for her and her husband if she will perform some sort of sexual favors. Rick keeps their marriage uncorrupted by setting things up for her husband to win at the roulette tables.
Another example of Rick really being a good person is the fact that he ran guns in Ethiopia and fought on the loyalist side in Spain. He claims he got paid well for it. Captain Renault points out that he would have got paid better on the winning side. This shows that Rick does care about the right and just causes.
I really feel for Ilsa’s situation. Ilsa met Victor Laszlo when she was young and she was moved by everything she stood for. She loves him and the cause he fights for. At one point she believes him to be dead and she meets Rick. She falls in love with Rick only to discover that Laszlo is alive. This has to be very confusing and difficult for her. I’m sure she felt horrible about carrying on a love affair when her husband was still alive. It’s hard to love two people. She stayed with Laszlo which I believe is the right decision but she should have explained the situation to Rick instead of leaving him bitter and jaded all that time. Despite her fancy clothes, Ilsa has suffered much for the cause.
Victor Laszlo is somewhat of a celebrity. He has escaped a German concentration camp and remains constantly loyal to the underground, fighting the Nazi’s. He is very courageous to remain so loyal to this cause despite all that he has suffered. We need more people like this today. He also loves Ilsa very much. He is willing to send her to safety while he stays behind in Casablanca where it is dangerous for him. He also knows that she had an affair while she thought he was dead, but he let’s the subject drop when she says that there isn’t anything she needs to tell him.
Victor also approaches Rick and says he knows there was something between Ilsa and that he wants Rick to take Ilsa and leave Casablanca. Victor loves Ilsa, but he is willing to let her leave with Rick in order for her to be safe. Throughout the movie Victor remains a good husband and a good example for others to follow.
Sam has been with Rick for a long time. He is a good friend to Rick. He takes care of Rick when Rick is drunk and seems to always be looking out for Rick’s best interest. When Ilsa comes in Sam tells her Rick isn’t there and to leave him alone. He doesn’t want Rick to get hurt again. Sam’s loyalty is also evident when Ferrari offers him more money to work for him and Sam tells him no thank you.
Captain Renault is Rick’s other friend in the movie. I like Captain Renault but I’m not sure why. He is lacks backbone through most of the movie, and although he claims to hate the Nazi’s he spends most of his time kissing up to them. I probably like Captain Renault because in the end he stands by Rick and decides to flee Casablanca with him. He finally makes a stand for what he really believes in. He is also the comic relief in the movie. Captain Renault has many humorous lines and he and Rick play off of each other’s sarcastic remarks.
I used to daydream when I was younger that I was living in this time. I know now that there is nothing glamorous about war, but this movie makes it look so exotic. I sometimes think I was born in the wrong time. I know these characters are just characters, but it seems like they made the people better back then.
