Casablanca(1942)
*ing Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Claude Rains
Director : Michael Curtiz
Voted as the greatest American romance by AFI, I decided to watch this film only because I had never seen a Humphrey Bogart film before. And I am also not a big fan of movies made before the 1950s.
Casablanca is set ….well in Casablanca, a French Protectorate where people escaping from wartime Europe have to seek refuge before they can board the plane to America. The largest source of entertainment in town is Ric’s café, an establishment run by one Richard Blaine, a cynical lone wolf, played by Humphrey Bogart. Things just drift until one day, Ric’s old flame Ilsa(Ingrid Bergman) turns up at the café with a lover and things start to move from there.
There are two kinds of love stories, one which get cheesy and too mushy with dialogues and then there is Casablanca with just the right amount of emotion capturing the subtle nuances of romantic affection. Even its sub plots and other characters are so good that you really start feeling that you are living in this Moroccan coastal town.
This movie has some of the most razor sharp dialogues, I have ever heard along with the movie I am going to review next and ofcourse Guy Ritchie and Tarantino movies. Coming to performances, Humphrey Bogart really packs a punch ironically with a laidback style of dialogue delivery. Ingrid Bergman looks stunning and performs admirably. Out of the supporting cast, Claude Rains just stands tall over everyone else with a charismatic depiction of the amiable French captain Renault.
Once again, technically for a 1942 film even though it is B&W, the music and photography is slick. Winner of three academy awards for Best Picture, Best writing and Best Director, Casablanca touches on many themes like greed, selfishness, love and redemption. In a nutshell Casablanca remains a real classic which should be watched by everyone.
*ing Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Claude Rains
Director : Michael Curtiz
Voted as the greatest American romance by AFI, I decided to watch this film only because I had never seen a Humphrey Bogart film before. And I am also not a big fan of movies made before the 1950s.
Casablanca is set ….well in Casablanca, a French Protectorate where people escaping from wartime Europe have to seek refuge before they can board the plane to America. The largest source of entertainment in town is Ric’s café, an establishment run by one Richard Blaine, a cynical lone wolf, played by Humphrey Bogart. Things just drift until one day, Ric’s old flame Ilsa(Ingrid Bergman) turns up at the café with a lover and things start to move from there.
There are two kinds of love stories, one which get cheesy and too mushy with dialogues and then there is Casablanca with just the right amount of emotion capturing the subtle nuances of romantic affection. Even its sub plots and other characters are so good that you really start feeling that you are living in this Moroccan coastal town.
This movie has some of the most razor sharp dialogues, I have ever heard along with the movie I am going to review next and ofcourse Guy Ritchie and Tarantino movies. Coming to performances, Humphrey Bogart really packs a punch ironically with a laidback style of dialogue delivery. Ingrid Bergman looks stunning and performs admirably. Out of the supporting cast, Claude Rains just stands tall over everyone else with a charismatic depiction of the amiable French captain Renault.
Once again, technically for a 1942 film even though it is B&W, the music and photography is slick. Winner of three academy awards for Best Picture, Best writing and Best Director, Casablanca touches on many themes like greed, selfishness, love and redemption. In a nutshell Casablanca remains a real classic which should be watched by everyone.
watching a film as old as 65 years is really tough, you just cant ignore the technical aspects, may it be color or sound recording etc.
Casablanca certainly stands tall among those movies. In fact even today people remember it is a great achievement.
Another movie that falls in this category is "Citizen Ken"
I haven't watched Citizen Kane as yet but plan to watch that next. But yeah, for a film as technically as good as this, it is a phenomenal achievement for its time.