I recently had the pleasure of watching Casablanca. I have typically shied away from black and white films but in this particular film I was lost in the story, the cinematography, and setting. I was surprised to find out just how many famous quotes and songs come from this movie. Although, I could have done without hearing "here's looking at you kid" so many times. I can see how by having it said a number of times sets the dynamic of the characters but after a certain point it takes away from the romance in the line.
In this day and age a movie set in Morocco during WWII may lose its effect with an audience, but the passion and love in the writing keeps it fresh and a classic. I don't know how many times I had heard something or another about this movie and never understood just because the age of the movie kept me from watching it. I was gladly mistaken in finding the greatness of what this story means in the ultimate sacrifice a person can make for the one they love. Letting them go in order to save them. Another thing that stuck me was the glamour of the time. You don't see the actors dressed casually and the casual moments are still so fancy. For instance when the 2 main characters where in Paris Ilsa was wearing a robe and the setting was in their hotel room. Even in a setting as relaxed as that her hair was perfect and the robe was a shiny silk like material. In movies today I think that this glamour effect has been lost. It was just so beautiful it makes the audience or at least me what to beautify myself and dress in better than just jeans and a t-shirt.
One thing about black and white movies that I had never realized is how much it can add to the cinematography. It creates such great shadowing and can increase the intensity of visual effects with very little effort. I don't know if its just me but it seemed as though every shot in this film had deliberate and calculated lighting to create the wonderful shading that it has. I did notice in some of the shots that it was obvious the shading was intentional but in others it left me guessing. I wasn't sure if the effect of shading was just a benefit of the black and white or if it was intentional with lighting to create those effects. A particular scene that had obviously intended to use lighting for the shading effect was in the night club and Ricky was getting money from his safe. The director did not show Ricky himself in the shot just his enlarged shadow on the wall. I am a bit confused by that scene. What was the intention of using the shading? It was not a dramatic scene. Was it just to add to the moment due to it not being as interesting as others?
Back to the plot. I felt that this script and plot can and does relate to the audience today. As long as the world has war and love this film will relate to many people. What a great idea! Ilsa thought her husband was dead and she being lonely and in the mist of an invasion by the Nazi's she sought comfort in the arms of a man she ended up falling in love with only to find out that her husband was not dead and needed her. How could she tell Ricky it was painful enough to think that she had lost her husband but then to say goodbye and explain the situation to the man she fell in love with after she lost her husband. WOW! Such a dramatic story with music that so fits the story line it basically tells it.
The acting was wonderful and so dramatic without being overly dramatic. I think that it really helped the actors feel the emotions of the time being that the film was created soon after WWII. Emotions around the world were high at the time and just about everyone was feeling it. So many had lost loved ones that to watch this film with the heart felt acting really hit home with the audience.
Overall this film was widely accepted by the people of the time and by people still today. With the combination of a great story line, plot, acting, cinematography, music, and glamour it made for one hell of a movie.
In this day and age a movie set in Morocco during WWII may lose its effect with an audience, but the passion and love in the writing keeps it fresh and a classic. I don't know how many times I had heard something or another about this movie and never understood just because the age of the movie kept me from watching it. I was gladly mistaken in finding the greatness of what this story means in the ultimate sacrifice a person can make for the one they love. Letting them go in order to save them. Another thing that stuck me was the glamour of the time. You don't see the actors dressed casually and the casual moments are still so fancy. For instance when the 2 main characters where in Paris Ilsa was wearing a robe and the setting was in their hotel room. Even in a setting as relaxed as that her hair was perfect and the robe was a shiny silk like material. In movies today I think that this glamour effect has been lost. It was just so beautiful it makes the audience or at least me what to beautify myself and dress in better than just jeans and a t-shirt.
One thing about black and white movies that I had never realized is how much it can add to the cinematography. It creates such great shadowing and can increase the intensity of visual effects with very little effort. I don't know if its just me but it seemed as though every shot in this film had deliberate and calculated lighting to create the wonderful shading that it has. I did notice in some of the shots that it was obvious the shading was intentional but in others it left me guessing. I wasn't sure if the effect of shading was just a benefit of the black and white or if it was intentional with lighting to create those effects. A particular scene that had obviously intended to use lighting for the shading effect was in the night club and Ricky was getting money from his safe. The director did not show Ricky himself in the shot just his enlarged shadow on the wall. I am a bit confused by that scene. What was the intention of using the shading? It was not a dramatic scene. Was it just to add to the moment due to it not being as interesting as others?
Back to the plot. I felt that this script and plot can and does relate to the audience today. As long as the world has war and love this film will relate to many people. What a great idea! Ilsa thought her husband was dead and she being lonely and in the mist of an invasion by the Nazi's she sought comfort in the arms of a man she ended up falling in love with only to find out that her husband was not dead and needed her. How could she tell Ricky it was painful enough to think that she had lost her husband but then to say goodbye and explain the situation to the man she fell in love with after she lost her husband. WOW! Such a dramatic story with music that so fits the story line it basically tells it.
The acting was wonderful and so dramatic without being overly dramatic. I think that it really helped the actors feel the emotions of the time being that the film was created soon after WWII. Emotions around the world were high at the time and just about everyone was feeling it. So many had lost loved ones that to watch this film with the heart felt acting really hit home with the audience.
Overall this film was widely accepted by the people of the time and by people still today. With the combination of a great story line, plot, acting, cinematography, music, and glamour it made for one hell of a movie.
No comments:
Post a Comment