Casablanca is without a doubt one of the most beloved American films. The classic and much-loved romantic melodrama is in a class all of its own and defies any standard categorization. The story is a masterful tale of two men fighting over the same woman’s love in a love triangle.
It`s the story of Rick Blaine, owner of a nightclub in Casablanca during the early part of WWII. His cafe has become a heaven for all refugees of the time looking for ways to escape to America. One day, he is approached by a famous rebel and his wife, who turned out to be no other than Rick`s true love who once deserted him. The conflict of the love triangle starts now, as Ilsa wants her husband to flee to America and at the same time to remain herself in Casablanca together with her former lover.
What makes it so special?
The movie is great genre mix, never equaled by another film. We might remember it as a romantic film at first, but it is also a drama involving terror, murder and flight. The story, as would be natural, has its devious convolutions of plot.
The performances of the actors are all of the first order, but especially those of Mr. Bogart who is the cool, cynical, efficient and super-wise guy who operates his business strictly for profit but has a core of sentiment and idealism inside and Miss Bergman, surpassingly lovely and natural, who lights the romantic passages with a warm and genuine glow.
Why should you watch it?
Casablanca brings together some of the very finest character actors that Warner Brothers could muster and a rich, detailed screenplay studded with an indecent number of sparklingly quotable lines. It is a movie to play again, and again. It is about a man and a woman who are in love, and who sacrifice love for a higher purpose. This is immensely appealing. Seeing the film over and over again, it will never grow over-familiar. It plays like a favourite musical album; the more you know it, the more you like it.