Anyway, this blog is really meant to post reviews and reactions to films we watch in our Film History class, but I'll probably talk about other things too, since I'm working on my own movies as well. But be warned: I'm a ranter.
-Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1942) - I love this movie, and a lot of other people do too, so I think we can all universally agree that Casablanca is a great movie.
Like The Godfather, Casablanca to me was (before I saw it) another famous movie I'd heard of that was supposed to be very good. Everyone knows the movies lines like "play it again, Sam" (which isn't actually in the movie, ever), "round up the usual suspects," and "here's looking at you, kid," but it wasn't until I watched the movie that I realized what a great punchline "suspects" is or how emotionally resonant the "kid" line is. When I first saw it, the scene that really spoke to me was when Rick (Humphrey Bogart, now one of my favorite movie stars) was left almost totally alone in his bar after closing time (save for Sam), stewing in alcohol and newly recovered emotions that he'd tried to bury after Ilsa's (Ingrid Bergman) reappearance in his life. And when he said "of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world, she walks into mine," I felt his frustration, because at some point we all have to struggle with what feels good and what we know is wrong, making his personal sacrifice at the end all the more noble. I know that on paper this all sounds extremely corny, but for me, it works; it doesn't matter what's "corny" in a story so long as you feel involved in the events and invested in the characters. See it and tell me if you feel the same way.
This was definitely a movie I needed to see twice; not only was it better to see on a bigger screen, but--for me, at least--the movie is so fast-paced with so much espionage and back-alley deals going on that I just couldn't catch all of the details the first time (the constant writing and re-writing by the screenwriters, including twins Julius J. and Philip G. Epstein, would explain the movie's breakneck pace, perhaps). Scenes like when the customers in Rick's bar drown out the Nazis' (Led by Conrad Veidt! Remember him from Dr. Caligari?) song with a French Resistance anthem affected me more, and I caught more of the witty dialogue and classic punchlines this time. In short, Casablanca emerged as a funnier, faster, fresher, and more involving viewing experience than it did the first time I saw it. Thanks, Dr. Hendricks.
Michael Curtiz was a cool director: he did this, Angels With Dirty Faces (something I need to see), and Errol Flynn classics like The Sea Hawk, The Adventures of Robin Hood and Captain Blood (which I hear is awesome). What a cool career.
Also, on a geekier note, watching Casablanca reminded me of how it's inspired other directors, particularly Steven Spielberg when he made Raiders of the Lost Ark. Granted, the Indiana Jones films take their inspirations from a wide variety of genres and sources, but now when I see Indy drowning his sorrows after fearing that he killed his lady-love Marion, I think back to the aforementioned scene of Rick drinking in his lonesome over a different woman. Similar looks and fedoras aside, Indiana Jones can also have a similar temperment to Bogart characters like Rick Blaine and Fred C. Dobbs from the wonderful The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, although not quite as selfish and ultimately insane as the latter character. It's kind of cool and funny to imagine an alternate universe where Indy and Rick bicker, with Rick infuriating Indy over his demands for a transport visa out of Casablanca, the Nazis hot on Indy's trail.
Or maybe not. Scratch that, fan fiction can be pretty creepy.
