Dusting off the Classics: Casablanca

When the American Film Institute released their 1998 list of the top 100 films of all time, "Casablanca" was second on the list, and with good reason. "Casablanca" doesn't contain a particularly intricate plot line or dynamic cinematography often associated with more recent classics but, to be honest, it doesn't need them.

Instead, "Casablanca" relies on the memorable and infectious dialogue between the surprisingly deep characters that defy their archetypical behavior. Shot during World War II, "Casablanca" depicts a Moroccan city still in French jurisdiction. The Germans are moving through Europe with surprising speed, and the Third Reich has some power over the local chief of police, ladies man Captain Renault. For Europeans who want to leave for America, Lisbon is the place to be. But many can't get to Lisbon through Europe and have to travel to Northern Africa and then take a plane to Lisbon. In order to do this; however, they must obtain exit visas, which are particularly hard to come by. Casablanca has become a town of vagabonds, refugees, fugitives and thieves, and many men profit from others' misfortunes.

"Casablanca" follows the lives of three individuals. Rick Blaine, the owner of the very popular Rick's Cafe Américain, his former lover, Isla Lund, and Isla's husband and famed Nazi resistance leader Victor Lazlo. Lazlo and Lund try to leave Casablanca, but lack the necessary paperwork to do so, paperwork that Rick has but refuses to give them because Isla left him for Victor. What Rick doesn't know is that Isla only left him because her husband, who she thought was dead, escaped a Nazi prison camp. Upon realizing her love for him, Rick relents. Torn between the two men she loves, Isla plans to stay in Casablanca with Rick, but Rick orchestrates their escape via plane to Lisbon.

As mentioned above, the most powerful aspect of "Casablanca" is the dialogue, which is sharp, witty and yet very emotional. "Are my eyes really brown?" Rick casually asks a Nazi officer after the officer has revealed he has a detailed report on Rick's past. It is Rick's nonchalance in the face of threat, danger and even love contrasted with his great capacity for personal sacrifice, as evidenced by his effort to get Lazlo and Isla to Spain, that makes him one of the most interesting leading men in film history. All around are a rich cast of memorable characters.

The movie is perhaps the most quotable of all time, and certain phrases have embedded themselves in America's conscious. Your experience with "Casablanca" will be, as Rick remarks to Captain Renault, "the beginning of a beautiful friendship."