Day 21: Casablanca

Philip Epstein, Julius Epstein, and Howard Koch, 1942

Armature: something like, The world is greater than our lives alone.

7 steps:
1. Once upon a time Rick Blaine owned a bar in Casablanca.
2. And every day he looked out for his own interests and treated life and politics with neutrality.
3. Until one day, his old love Ilsa comes to the bar with her husband Victor, who is being tracked by the police.
4. Because of this, the two are unable to leave Casablanca.
5. Because of this Isla asks Rick for his help getting Victor on a plane out of there, while she will stay behind because she still loves Rick.
6. Until finally, Rick helps Ilsa and Victor escape on the plane to Lisbon.
7. And ever since that day Rick has fought for a greater cause than himself.

There are a couple things I want to discuss about this screenplay. I feel like they're worth discussing, seeing as Casablanca is often regarded as the greatest screenplay/movie of all time.

First, I expected this movie to be a love story. And, I suppose, it was. The plot seemed to be focused on Rick and Ilsa's romantic relationship in Paris. But that's not what this story is about. This is about Rick learning how to allow himself to help other people after being hurt by them. Rick is a contained, mysterious character who doesn't make friends or trust anyone. He chooses his words carefully. He keeps a neutral face at all times. But he does have a heart, as we see when Ilsa enters the picture. And he steadily learns to help other people over the course of the film. By the end, Rick is no longer thinking about himself. He even is ready to be all buddy-buddy with Renault.

So I guess the point I'm trying to make is that I'm surprised that everyone seems to remember Casablanca as a love story, when that really isn't the point. There needs to be powerful love involved to get Rick to open up again, but that love isn't what's important. What that love gets him to do is the important part.

Secondly, I'm impressed by how meticulous this script is. Everything is very well thought out. There are many moments that exist solely for the purpose of showing what kind of guy Rick is, but they fit in so smoothly with the plot that you can't even tell. There are a ton of named characters, and a lot of politics going on. Which means there's a lot of dialogue and filling-the-viewer-in-on-what's-happening. But it works, seamlessly. I wonder about the use of a narrator at the beginning, though. Perhaps there was just no other way to give that initial exposition.

Thirdly, I am not sure how I feel about the flashback scene. I tend to not be a fan of flashbacks in general, because I feel like they often serve as a cop-out. Oh, there's this thing the viewer doesn't know about; let's show them a flashback! Like that. But I think the reason there was a flashback was to get the viewer to understand how Rick feels about Ilsa. If he did something like talk about his experience and how he loved her, it would probably be not quite as effective or convincing. Especially since we've already seen Rick interact with a woman by now (Yvonne, his french admirer, who is really only there to show us a contrast against Rick's feelings towards Ilsa).

And finally... I am not actually moved by this script. I have respect for it. I am fascinated by it. But its message doesn't pierce me like some other screenplays have. Oh well, to each their own.