Film: Casablanca

Post #267,858 by inthane-chan 9/17/06 7:11:42 PM Reply	Film: Casablanca Ah, the classic tale of two lovers, seperated by the winds of war, then brought back together one last time by the cruel winds of fate. It's so classic, I've managed to never see it until now. Like many films from its generation, the ending is telegraphed a mile away, at least for this filmgoer. This is not to say the film is without merit - au contraire, it is a good film. In late 1941, Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) manages a small saloon in the town of Casablanca. Casablanca itself has become a haven for refugees from the Nazi conquest of Europe, and is the final step for their exit to the United States - if they can navigate the perilous local economy and get enough money to purchase an exit visa from the local forgers. Into this town comes Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman) and Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid). Victor is an escapee from the German concentration camps, and an important figure in the resistance against the Nazi occupation of Europe. Having been chased across Europe, they come to Casablanca for the same reason everybody else does - escape. But as they arrive, so do officials from the Nazi party who wish to take him back. Their only hope lies in the hands of Rick, who apparently knows Ilsa from some earlier life... I can't quite put my finger on why I liked the film. The acting was fairly wooden, the plot transparent, and the sudden change of heart of a certain character is not sold properly by the actor, even if it makes sense within the story. There are some VERY quotable and famous lines in the film, which despite having heard them already, still made me chuckle. I have to admit that I'm having a hard time finding anything to say about this film - the film itself doesn't say a whole lot in and of itself, other than telling one that forgiveness is divine. Even with that mediocre endorsement, any lover of film should see this one, just so they can at least check it off their list. Odoru aho ni miru aho! Onaji aho nara odoranya son son!
Post #267,867 by bepatient 9/17/06 10:17:59 PM Reply	There's a reason its a classic and thats because it is good. Too much of today's music is fashionable crap dressed as artistry._{Adrian Belew}
Post #268,003 by tuberculosis 9/18/06 8:16:14 PM Reply	I have it on video I probably watch it 3-4 times a year. I think a lot of the appeal is the atmosphere (what a club!), the music, the characters (Claude Rains, Sydney Greenstreet, Bogart, Wilson (Sam), all the staff at Ricks, Conrad Veidt as the evil Strasser, and so on - all wonderful little sketches) and the ultra-snappy dialog. The special effects were first rate as well. The airplane in the final scene as viewed through the fog and hangar door is a wooden cutout drawn in perspective, the mechanics are midgets so as to appear to be in scale. I consider it to be the greatest film ever made. [link\|http://www.blackbagops.net\|Black Bag Operations Log] [link\|http://www.objectiveclips.com\|Artificial Intelligence] [link\|http://www.badpage.info/seaside/html\|Scrutinizer]
Post #268,012 by boxley 9/18/06 9:07:52 PM Reply	great but not the greatest better to name a few state of grace treasure of the sierra madres lord jim comancheros apocalypse now I will give you greatest of its genre and I also own a copy thanx, bill Any opinions expressed by me are mine alone, posted from my home computer, on my own time as a free american and do not reflect the opinions of any person or company that I have had professional relations with in the past 50 years. meep
Post #268,066 by tuberculosis 9/19/06 3:07:52 PM Reply	OK - greatest from the golden age of Hollywood. [link\|http://www.blackbagops.net\|Black Bag Operations Log] [link\|http://www.objectiveclips.com\|Artificial Intelligence] [link\|http://www.badpage.info/seaside/html\|Scrutinizer]
Post #268,030 by rcareaga 9/18/06 10:57:32 PM Reply	"wooden" acting Keep in mind that excellence in acting is a moving target. The performances to which you condescend did not seem anything like so artificial to the audiences that originally watched the film. Casablanca was, at the time, just another drama off the WB assembly line. Only years later was it understood that somehow a random blend of ingredients had got it just right. cordially, Die Welt ist alles, was der Fall ist.
Post #268,034 by inthane-chan 9/18/06 11:26:38 PM Reply	I do recognize it as a product of its time. I've seen many films from that era, and the acting comes across to me as stilted as well, so I've come to believe that it's a philosophical difference in how films were directed at the time. Believe me, I enjoyed it - my comments at the end were more "watch it even though I can't find anything to say about it" than "this film sucked, so watch it just so you can say you have." Odoru aho ni miru aho! Onaji aho nara odoranya son son!
Post #268,068 by tuberculosis 9/19/06 3:18:16 PM Reply	Actually people used to talk like that, see. And how. Does that mean our grandparents were stilted too? I mean, what's the big idea shootin' your mouth off about something you're too young to remember? Some swell movie critic you are. Why I oughta give you what for thats what I oughta do. You know, like the 3 stooges. You want to see lame acting? Check out Hell's Angels - a triumph of arial photography - with awful acting and a stupid plot woven in. To my ear, Casablanca has some of the least contrived dialog of the era - which is saying quite alot. CB gave us easily as many quotables (now cliches) as any two Shakespeare plays. [link\|http://www.blackbagops.net\|Black Bag Operations Log] [link\|http://www.objectiveclips.com\|Artificial Intelligence] [link\|http://www.badpage.info/seaside/html\|Scrutinizer]
Post #268,247 by andread 9/21/06 2:51:30 PM Reply	Love It but Plot has Holes why couldn't the Nazis just invalidate the letters of transit? who would the holders of the letters complain to? also when Maj. Strasser meets Ilsa and Victor at Rick's Capt. Renault 'suggests' to them that they appear at his office in the morning in the morning, Renault tries to impress Strasser by saying that Victor is on his way over, when Strasser already knows that A Play I Some Music w/ Papa Andy Saturday 8 PM - 11 PM ET All Night Rewind 11 PM - 5 PM Reggae, African and Caribbean Music [link\|http://wxxe.org\|Tune In]
Post #268,273 by Ashton 9/21/06 5:24:58 PM Reply	Pearls before swine? I mean - you'd complain if they hung you with a golden rope!
Post #268,322 by andread 9/22/06 9:42:57 AM Reply	but not for long Play I Some Music w/ Papa Andy Saturday 8 PM - 11 PM ET All Night Rewind 11 PM - 5 PM Reggae, African and Caribbean Music [link\|http://wxxe.org\|Tune In]

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