Casablanca

"It's still the same old story, a fight for love and glory, a case of do or die. The world will always welcome lovers as time goes by." Casablanca is a classic Hollywood film made in the golden age, filmed on Hollywood sets using studio actors, directors, and writers as a team rather then one producer. A love story set during the World War II time period, filmed in black and white, with a leading man and a beautiful woman. The film's story is straightforward, not so simple, and in my opinion, very enjoyable.

The movie takes place in Casablanca, Morocco. World War II is going on during this time and people are trying to escape the war and enter freedom in America, Lisbon, and Portugal. People came to Casablanca trying to get to Lisbon because it wasn't easy. Rick Blaine, the male lead in the movie is handed some of the letters of transit which makes him have control over who can escape Casablanca.

Rick Blaine, the lead and owner of Rick's Cafй Americain. He seemed to me to be a complicated, mysterious and selfish man but maybe a good side to him that hasn't been shown at first. He has a girlfriend Yvonne which he disrespects and shows no affection, maybe because of his seriousness, as if he doesn't love her. Because of his past love life with Ilsa, Yvonne doesn't really compare. He seems careless that there is a war going on around him, as if it's not important people are everywhere trying to escape, he never tries to escape. A flashback of himself and Ilsa appearing together in Spain made him look as if he was a happier man, and in love. The pair planned on leaving together but Rick was stood up at the train station leaving him heartbroken and a different man. He lives on to be incomplete and missing his true love.

Ilsa is another lead, married to a man, Victor Laszlo, who was arrested and then rumored to be dead after he tried to escape. He appears to not be dead and she leaves with him. She meets Rick in which she falls in love, and then leaves him for her husband. She claims to love both men, but appears to me that she is more in love with Rick. She tells him Rick that she loves him, because it's obvious she really does, but also because of him being able to help her escape. She seems confused in the film, lost in love not knowing what path to choose. She loves both men in their own ways.

The husband of Ilsa, Victor, is a very generous man. It seems as if he loves her so much that he would sacrifice anything for her although politics are a main part in his life. He finds out about his wife and Rick's feelings and seems to be understanding of the situation which surprises me. Like most men, he didn't try being controlling or starting a fight with Rick, they developed more of a friendship.

The major conflict in the movie is between Rick and Ilsa. The questions he asks about their romance in Paris and why their love didn't work out, as she explains to him why it hasn't. If Rick and Ilsa lasted and became lovers instead of separating, Rick would have become a better man in my opinion. Ilsa obviously loves Rick more than her current husband so it appears she had made the