Filmic Qualities in Casablanca

The "Filmic" qualities in Casablanca are sometimes less pronounced then other films and lean more toward stage then screen . The kinetic environment of Rick's Café serves as the launching point for virtually every dashed hope or desperate desire the World War II victims act out.

There are no grand battle fields and no mighty clashes. The poignant "Skirmish" of Victor Laszlo and his impromptu army of singers and musicians lead to the pummeling of Strasser and his Gestapo stooges in song. The patrons/forces at Rick's Cafe resist listening to German anthems and it's a powerful example of the sort of "contained" fighting found in stage plays, rather than that of film. When Laszlo's musical salvo stops, Strasser orders everyone out of Rick's; another "exit stage right" moment, that paints Casablanca in a theater sensibility rather then film.

Conversely, however, Casablanca draws on many classic film techniques. When the character of Rick sits rumming at the table, Sam's piano moans in the background; and Bogart delivers the, "Of all the gin joints in all the world, she walks into mine" line. The audience sees a subtle, albeit unconventional manipulation of time. We want to know what the back story is and wait anxiously. We are finally rewarded with a classic flashback; A Paris rendezvous from which is produced the iconic, "We'll always have Paris" quote delivered at films end.

The most outstanding "Filmic' aspect of the Casablanca is it's music. Sam is manipulated by first Llsa then Rick to extract the distant memory of love and romance through "As Time Goes By". The song (and score itself) is worked masterfully throughout the film. The tune is used as an enigmatic foreshadowing device. A naughty taboo Sam knows he shouldn't be playing. Later on we understand why.

War and battle grounds are places of death and weather. If they take place in reality or a cerebral landscape like the film Casablanca they are never the less places one wants to escape. Sam and his piano literally hold the keys, the letters of transit, which are able to transport the characters and the audience out of this chaotic theater of war; into the dream of a more civilized world. The place that the "beginning of beautiful friendships", and counter-revolutions are conducted.

Rick's Café is Casablanca, and a superb representation of such a place and time.

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