by Chris Marshall:
Amazingly, Casablanca was
the earliest Best Picture winner I had ever seen before starting this project.
I think I’ve watched it twice previously all the way through, and I was amazed
even when I first saw it as a middle schooler. There’s absolutely nothing bad
to say about it.
You know the story already. Rick runs a successful restaurant/café
in Casablanca at the beginning of the Second World War. He is not a political
man; he doesn’t stick his neck out for anybody. He has no interest in showing
favoritism toward either the French or the Germans. He’s in exile from the
United States for unspecified reasons, but this helps him remain neutral. He
isn’t burdened by patriotism.
There’s no reason to go through all the details of the
story, as they are already well known. The story itself is only one reason why
this film is so revered, but that fact should not obscure its
brilliance. It’s a love story, a morality tale, and a character study all
rolled into one. If Rick, Ilsa, and Laszlo weren’t so well developed, the story
would have lost all its power.
