Casablanca Blog

David Degady                                                                                                             12/26/20

Dr. Toth

English-255

                                                            Casablanca Blog Post

            In Michael Curtiz’s 1942 film Casablanca, there are several noticeable trends, behaviors and symbolizations that reflect common ideological values that were present in the time-period when the film was created. One of the most common symbols in the film that reflect the era is the representation of American nationalism. The film’s story, just like the time period it was created in, takes place in the early years of the second World War. This allows for the portrayal of America as a last bastion of hope for refugees as Europe is undergoing the Nazi occupation. This is heavily incorporated within specific scenes of the film. One example is when Richard Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) makes concessions and schemes for a Bulgarian couple (Joy Page and Helmut Dantine) to leave Casablanca for the United States. The way that the refugees describe America as a haven in this particular scene illustrates how the film portrays American-based freedom as unique compared to the rest of the world which is why many refugees in Casablanca desire to emigrate there as it is the only place that seems to be a worthy place to go.

As the film progresses, certain aspects of characterization begin to reveal themselves as a way to explain to the audience what each character’s role is and what their background is a representation of. In order to do this, Curtiz associates very stereotypical portrayals of characters regarding their ethnic origin. Blaine’s character is portrayed as the strong man with a moral compass who is battling confliction. This isn’t an uncommon portrayal of protagonists in American films. The German officers in the film such as Major Strasser (Conrad Veidt) are shown as ruthless Nazi occupiers who don’t care for logical negotiating and express blind loyalty to their cause. Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman) is shown to be a loyal wife to Lazlo who often presents herself with the stylishness and composure of Parisian women in film. There is also a scene at the beginning of the film where military officers from various European countries are introducing themselves to the arriving Germans and when the Italian officer tries to present himself, he is quickly pushed aside and overshadowed. By including this in the scene, Curtiz highlights the stereotype that all Italians are militarily inept to the point where it can be used for comic relief.

One of the reasons that the film is able to successfully illustrate a large degree of internal character depth while at the same time, also symbolizing the greater picture of the events taking place during the Second World War is due to the shots and cinematographic measures that the film takes. One of the most noticeable ways Curtiz shows character depth and important emotional moments is by using eye-level shots (Barsam, Monohan, 209). A scene where this tactic was specifically incorporated was when Lund tried to get the passport documents from Blaine. When he refuses and her threat with a gun doesn’t work, she gets emotional and talks about their past relation. As she tears up the eye-level shot takes place in order to show the audience how important their past connection is to the current ongoing plot.