Casablanca REACTION | This has So Many Iconic Lines*
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- čas přidán 16. 02. 2022
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She thought her husband was dead, then fell in love with Rick, that's not an affair. And her husband knew she thought he was dead, that's why he told Rick no ones to blame. HE KNEW.
Exactly, why judge her so harshly, she did nothing wrong.
She either wasn't paying attention, or she was allowing her personal feelings about affairs to cloud her assessment of the situation. Really got annoying after awhile.
And then Rick understood everything and let her go.
Okay, not technically an affair. But let's at least acknowledge that it was an inconveniently short mourning period for her to get romantically involved again, even if Laszlo wasn't a passionate love.
@@vorlon1 I heard our host Michal blaming Ulsa/Ilsa for going back to Rick for that one night in Casablanca - and Michal was right - that was an "illict affair". Michal seems to be the only person I have heard who picks up on that.
Ilsa was blameless. During her time with Rick in Paris, she thought Laszlo was dead. She left Rick to take the train without her because she had learned that Laszlo was still alive. She admired Laszlo but never loved him.
She loved him, but she wasn't "in love" with him.
Ilsa did not have an affair. At the time she met Rick she had been told that Victor was dead. She only found out that he was still alive just before she & Rick were to leave Paris together.
People who love this movie give Ilsa a break because she thought her husband was dead and then she fell in love again. When she found out he was alive, she did the right thing and left Rick immediately. It was just *bad* luck that they ran into each other again. With the backdrop of the war, and their history, most found this a compelling, blameless love story.
Her husband understood her situation and even told her that he "knew what it was like to be lonely."
It was not an affair she fell in love when she thought her husband is dead. They were in the brink of war and she was hopeless. Elsa loves and admires her husband and Rick both are heroic men.
I think you missed a few things in the movie. She didn't have an affair. she believed her husband had been shot and killed trying to escape the concentration camp and then she met Rick. Also, in the earlier part of the movie she tried to explain that when she met Laszlo she was very young and married him for "what she thought was love."
Exactly. She was told that he was dead.
Almost every line of dialogue is a classic. One of the greatest screenplays ever written.
It won Best Picture. Best Director, and Best Screenplay. And James Cagney won Best Actor in the same director's film of the same year "Yankee Doodle Dandy".
Interesting to me . The last line that Ilsa said to Rick “God bless you “ is also the line in the letter that you didn’t know what it was.
The great writer Elizabeth Bear once told me that this movie is a perfect example of a character whose primary conflict is with himself. Rick initially thinks that he wants to be left alone; then he think that he wants Ilse; but ultimately he realizes that he really wants is to be part of something bigger than himself.
Lazlo is a perfect character -- of course he is; this was the middle of the War, and he was a resistance leader -- and you're right, that's why he cannot be the protagonist. Ilse is flawed, sure, but (1) she fell for Rick because she thought she was a widow without hope, and (2) she didn't tell Victor because she didn't want to hurt him. She never loved Victor, but she admires him, cares for him, and believes in his cause. She's going to spend the rest of her life married to someone she has no passion for, because it's the right thing to do and Rick told her to do it.
Rick is a tool, someone who believes in love and good and justice.
All three of those things, he gives up during this movie.
The difference between the love story in Rocky and the one in Casablanca is that Rocky is primarily about two losers, Rocky and Adrienne, getting a second chance to save 2 lives gone wrong and both the love story and the boxing match is part of that second chance. Adrienne got a second chance at love and Rocky got a second chance at love and dignity. Casablanca , however, is a love story ,but, not primarily a love story. Casablanca is a story of about sacrifice. To Rick, defeating the Nazis was the most important goal, more important than having the woman he loved. So, he sacrificed he and Elsa to the higher good. For most of the movie, because he had been hurt by Elsa, he temporarily lost his idealism, but eventually his meeting her again helped him to rediscover his former self. As for Elsa, I agree that her ambiguity between Victor and Rick is not noble. However, in her defense she was in a confusing situation. She was caught between two loves. She had a powerful passionate love for Rick but a different, but not very passionate love for her good,understanding and heroic husband, Victor. Ingrid Bergman complained that the script didn't make clear who she was supposed to be in love with which made her performance ambiguous. But, this ambiguity gave the story a bit of romantic tension.
1) Rick couldn't go back to the US because he violated The Neutrality Act by working for the Ethiopians and Spanish in those two wars. He would go to prison for a long time.
2) This movie is among a rare few shot sequentially. Ingrid Bergman kept asking how to play her role and the writers were creating the story day by day. The look on her face at the very end of the movie, of disbelief and curiosity, is genuine.
3) "Tinny piano in a parlor downstairs" 15:15 is a description of a bordello way back in the day.
4) "There's no chemistry between them" 17:02 Ilsa was in love with Victor's cause (freedom), but when she met Rick in Paris, she fell in love with the man and not the cause.
5) The tears and emotion (21:05) is real because there were real refugees from Europe in that room.
6) Humphrey Bogart, Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre were also in The Maltese Falcon, also a great movie.
Regarding #5...The actress playing Yvonne was all of 19, French, and a refugee in a strange land. That scene and her honest emotion are one of the biggest punches in the feels for me in this movie.
Speaking of a "Cat House," did you ever see the pilot episode for "Newhart"(1982)?: czcams.com/video/0R83mcV2NJE/video.html
The Neutrality Act was about to be a moot point. Not to mention, there were many American expatriate units that were involved in World War II prior to Pearl Harbor, for example the Flying Tigers in China and the RAF Eagle Squadron, all were welcomed back to The States.
Victor's cause is communism.
@@witchking8497 Indeed. Madeleine Lebeau who played Yvonne had actually fled through Lisbon to get to the Americas with her husband, Marcel Dalio, who played the crupier in Casablaca. She had lived this movie already.
20:49 - The singing of La Marsellaise in the Cafe is such a beautiful scene! (Like many members of the cast, the woman who played Yvonne was herself a refugee and had recently left her native France due to the German occupation.) And I think you nailed it on the head when you said "they (the Germans) are the few and the people are the many." It's the essence of democracy and really an essential theme running throughout the movie. At the end of the song you can hear Yvonne shout "Viva La France! Viva la democratie!" There are two recurring musical motifs in Casablanca that are each heard several times in the film - one being "As Time Goes By" representing the love story between Rick and Ilsa and the other being "La Marseillaise" representing the theme of democracy. I hadn't noticed at first but bits of "La Marseillaise" can be heard in the soundtrack during the opening titles, of course during that pivotal scene in the Cafe and again during the final credits (right after Rick's famous last lines and "The End" appears on screen).
I first saw Casablanca many years ago when I was in high school. I liked it very much but it wasn't until more recently that I realized how the story was partly an allegory with Rick, the staunchly neutral American bar owner, representing an American view of not wanting to get involved in World War 2. (The movie is based on a play which was written before the U.S. had entered the war. The play landed on the desk of producers at Warner Brothers Studios literally days after Japan had bombed Pearl Harbor drawing the U.S. into the war.) There was a nice story from CBS Sunday Morning about Casablanca from a few years ago when the movie was celebrating it's 75th anniversary. They did a nice job of placing the film in it's historical context: czcams.com/video/Vv0Eo5-LHhk/video.html
I started reading the book "We'll Always Have Casablanca" that is mentioned in the video. In the book I found one line that nicely sums up what could be the primary theme of 'Casablanca' from a Warner Brothers Studio writer who was asked to determine if the story would make a good movie. He wrote: "Behind the action and its background is the possibility of an excellent theme - the idea that when people lose faith in their ideals, they are beaten before they begin to fight. That was what happened to France and to Rick Blaine."
i've found one line in the movie kinda sums it up..when victor says to Rik 'welcome back to the fight' ..it's an invitation to america to get over it's isolationist ideas and help take the world back... and did you notice that the waiter called Rik - Erik, and Ilsa called him Richard... I'm guessing the waiter knows that's where rik came from, and Ilsa just assumed it was from Richard - - meaning they really didn't know very much about each other
The most iconic actor in cinema history, something Bogart, i can't remember his first name. :)
Ilsa thought her husband had died. Not sure that qualifies as an 'affair', this story is far more complex than the simple tropes and formulaic romance stories. All she did was fall in love with a great man she thought had died, a rewatch is probably needed you seem to have completely missed the entire portion of the story almost completely told in back story. As for as she knew she was a widow in a world being taken over by the Third Reich, falling for Rick was just an unfortunate circumstance. Nobody in the triangle was wrong.
Many of the actors were refugees from occupied Europe. That’s why it was so emotional when the cafe patrons defiantly sing the French national anthem (the Marseillaise) to drown out the Nazi soldiers singing "Die Wacht am Rhein" (The Watch on the Rhine), a German patriotic anthem. Many of those actors fled their native countries to escape the Nazis.
Major Strasser was played by Conrad Veidt, a refugee German actor who had fled the Nazis with his Jewish wife, but, ironically, frequently played a Nazis in American films. Because of his long and storied career in German films he was the highest paid member of the cast despite his second billing.
I think it is a great romance, but not in the way most people expect romantic movies to be. That's a big part of why it's great. The male and female lead don't end up together. She's sort of punished in that she does not wind up with the man she loves most. Meanwhile, the male lead walks off into the night with a male supporting character. It's kind of wild for a '40s movie. Renault is great. In a movie loaded with memorable lines, his are the ones I remember most.
Agree. The movie is not about love, it is about idealism, sacrificing our personal desires for a more important goal: a better world
What are you talking about? the cliche of the "biggest" romantic couples in stories and films are precisely that the couple should not end up together: Rhett and Scarlett, Romeo and Juliet, king Kong and Anne; you named.
@@jackprescott9652 Maybe you didn't notice, but you are talking about tragedies, not romance. Tragedies can have an element of romancer in them, but the nature of tragedies is what dictates that the couple does not end up together. Casablanca is not a tragedy. The first time you saw this did you think it would end with Rick and Renault walking off together and forming a new relationship?
@@flibber123 You must be joking. Romeo and Juliet are celebrated everywhere as a romantic couple, the same as Starman and Jenny Hayden, Bonnie and Clyde, Jack Dawson and Rose, Sam and Molly (Ghost), etc. Tragedy and the fact they doesn`t end up together is what made their love a legend.
But... It's not an affair. She fell in love with him after she thought he husband was dead. So now ... she's torn. She gave up her heart to two people.
I think that Ilsa fell in love with Lazlo and his ideals. She realizes how important Lazlo is to both his and her (and, ironically, Rick's and the rest of the freedom loving world's) ideals.
Rick knew that she was essential to keeping Lazlo motivated to do his work which was hurting the National Socialists terribly.
I think this is why she lied to Lazlo about her relationship with Rick in Paris. She knew that to tell the truth would hurt him so much that it could endanger his work. And his work was why she loved him.
So she was being true to her love of her husband by being false to her husband about her love for Rick.
Do you tell a dying child in his last hours that when he goes to sleep tonight he won't wake up and will never see you again, or do you smile and tell him that you will see him in the morning?
War gives us these hard choices.
Ilsa didn't have an affair with Rick. She believed that Victor was dead.
Wow, Michal, that is the most uptight moralizing about Ilsa I've ever heard. Did you not piece together that Lazlo wanted their marriage kept secret, and then after he was captured and sent to the concentration camp that word arrived he'd been killed trying to escape? Was your grandmother in the same exact scenario?
I don't see how you can compare the two love stories: they are so different, and the point of them is different. The characters are different and they are fighting for different ways of expressing what they need from each other. The end differently - the great point of the love between Rick and Ilsa is the strength to leave each other for the greater cause. Rocky is a love story. But "Casablanca" is not a love story: it's a story of relinquishing.
A word in defense of Ilsa: as noted below, she married Victor out of admiration for the greatness of his character. She is young - remember ten years before meeting Rick she was having braces put on her teeth, so she was student-aged when she and Victor fell in love. The attachment of a young girl to a man like Victor is extremely strong, and difficult to identify, especially when it comes up against something like what she feels for Rick. In the middle of this very tense and dangerous situation, and especially after she has specifically asked Rick to take control, it would be a mistake to risk upsetting Victor - that hill of beans that Rick refers to at the airport. Remember too that when she meets Rick, she thinks Victor is dead. Rick is a lot like Victor, which like explains a great deal of her attraction to him. When she had the affair with Rick, she was not cheating, because she thought she was a widow. When she finds out she is not a widow, she runs to her husband. Victor comprehends all of this, and also the larger picture, which is why he welcomes Rick back to the fight, and leaves the very final decision in Ilsa's hands ("Are you ready, Ilsa?").
I think you really need to truly love someone to let her (or him) go.
@@jackprescott9652 Exactly. If anything, 'relinquishing' makes it a greater love story.
the guy who played Strasser escaped from Germany with his Jewish wife and only agreed to do the movie if he could play the Nazi without any redeeming qualities totally evil
Conrad Veidt, who played Strasser, was a huge star in the silent movie era in Germany, check out "The Cabinet of Dr Caligari" and "The Man Who Laughs". The Nazi's made him an offer that if he divorced his Jewish wife, he could stay in Germany and continue to work in their films. He responded by changing his religion on all his official forms to "Jewish", even though he wasn't, to support his wife and openly oppose the Nazis.
He despised the Nazis and fled, with his wife, to England and then on to the US. While in England he became a British citizen and for the rest of his life he donated large amounts of his salary to the British war effort.
Sadly, he died only a few months after Casablanca went on general release in 1943. He was only 50 years old.
To see the range of Humphrey Bogart's acting skill, watch The African Queen - a completely different story but equally brilliant, and he gets to show his comedic skill.
21:24 Oh, imagine seeing this *when it came out.* Remember, this film debuted in 1942, and World War II was still ongoing. D-Day is still two years away, and the outcome of the war was very much unknown. Many of the extras in that scene, were refugees from the European side of the war; the emotions you see there, are very, very real.
I was so looking forward to this. Michal was made for classic movie reactions. No complaining that it's shot in black and white, or inane comments about social differences between 1942 and 2022, etc., etc.. Just intelligent commentary to a great film.
YAAY! This one is a special favorite of mine. Puts my emotions in a spin, every time. I love all the characters like old friends.
This is the classic of it’s time. Humphrey Bogart was one of the great stars of his generation. Every character actor in the show was a main stay. The other great Bogart movie was To Have and Have Not. That one introduced Lauren Bacall who became his wife.
In fact the American Film Institute voted Humphrey Bogart as the top male Hollywood star.
@@johnwaga3702 I would say The African Queen, The Maltese Falcon, Key Largo, and The Treasure of the Sierra Madre are also all great Bogie movies.
@@vickirecord5534 Indeed, my favourite being The Maltese Falcon although The African Queen runs it a close second as I love Katharine Hepburn!
Yes, Humphrey Bogart. There is a HUGE inventory of these older B&W films out there. I would like to see you watch more of them.
Rick: How can you close me up? On what grounds?
Captain Renault: I'm shocked! Shocked to find that gambling is going on in here.
[a croupier hands Renault a pile of money]
Croupier: Your winnings, sir.
Captain Renault: [sotto voce] Oh, thank you very much.
[aloud]
Captain Renault: Everybody out at once.
Perfection. I try and work on my cynicism every day yet I can't even approach that level.
Yeah, that is just SO classic!
It's not as bad as it seems. When Ilsa first met Rick it was AFTER she had been told Lazlo was dead. She was distraught and mourning and then Rick appeared and they fell in love. They are about to leave together when she finds out Victor is NOT dead and she immediately breaks it off with Rick, sending him the note and going to her husband. She's young, mixed up, thinks she has lost the only man in her life and then Rick appears and he's more than a comfort for her. But she does the right thing once she learns her husband is still alive. That doesn't make her stop loving Rick. Later she finds herself in the current situation with the husband she admires and loves on a different level and the man she loves on a romantic level. She's caught in a web of her own emotions. She's not a tramp; she tries to do what is right. And she goes to Rick because he can provide the means for Victor to escape the Nazis. Be fair...difficult position for anyone.
Great job reading cursive! and in the rain with runny ink too. "Always will" were the words you missed. Right thing in the end... Casa (house) Blanca (white)...
My view of Ilsa is that she's willing to do everything she can think of in order to save her husband's life.
With the government threatening to kill him, Ilsa starts her next conversation with Rick by appealing to his honor and duty fighting fascists...”It was your cause too.” Next she plays on his sentiment...”If those days meant anything at all to you...” Then she tries to hate Rick and threatens to shoot him. Then she tells him that she's still in love with him and can never leave him again.
The end result of ALL those efforts would have been that Victor gets out of Casablanca alive. In the first three Ilsa likely gets away too but only her offer to stay with Rick seems to work, from her POV.
She didn't have an affair. She thought her husband was dead. It was reported that he was killed escaping.
Did she marry for love? In a way. She explains earlier in the film that she head of Laslo, this legendary revolutionary figure. She says she has a feeling she "supposed" was love. Leaving it ambiguous as to if it really was love or something less. But i think at least she does have love for Laslo. She idolized him She was a very young girl and she fell in love with her idol. He was captured for months and was reported killed. Thinking he was dead, in her grief she met and fell in love with Rick. She's older by then as well. So she fell in love with two men but her love for Rick was genuine love and not "supposed" love of a young infatuated politically idealistic girl.
25:18 I understand your point of view, I don't like affairs either, but I don't think you are being quite fair to Ilsa, she wasn't unfaithful. This movie is not about love, it is about idealism, and sacrificing to make a better world. It is made clear in the movie that Ilsa never loved her husband. She met him young, idolized him, and is fiercely loyal to him. She has sacrificed, sharing his exile and danger as fugitives all over Europe, to support his work as a world leader of the resistance to Naziism. Lazlo knows 17:04 22:04 she doesn't love him. She had the Paris love affair with Rick when she thought Lazlo was dead, and broke it off the minute she found out he was alive. She loves Rick, and perhaps more importantly feels the hypocrisy of staying with Lazlo when she doesn't love him, so she is tempted. But as Rick himself implied in his finale speech, she believes in Lazlo and the cause he represents, freedom and democracy, too much to abandon him.
Rick always said he cared for no one but himself but, as established in conversations, he still always ended up fighting for the underdog. Helping the young couple, paying his staff when the club was closed and making sure Sam was taken care of Rick cared. In Paris Ilsa was caught in a situation she knew was wrong but didn't have the courage to tell Rick but ran away from him because she knew she belonged with her husband. Her flaw was and is not having the courage to say the tough things, a very common shortcoming. War creates strange situations, Ilsa, a young girl/woman, had to decide between keeping her word or following her heart. She didn't have the courage to do what she really knew was right so she asked Rick to make the decision. Lisa's flaw was being weak, she needed a mother or good friend to think through what she should do but didn't have that luxury. Great reaction to this movie though, good observations.
If you look at the first scene Humphrey Bogart is in he is drinking then. He doesn't start later, just goes to excess trying to stop the hurt.
Many of the cast and extras were expatriates from Europe, including France. The woman singing La Marseilles was crying real tears and impulsively cried out "Vive la France!" That's how important this movie was to them.
14:30: The words are "God bless" you.
I was disappointed in your lack of understanding. We can't help who we love. Ilsa had an affair with Rick when she thought her husband was dead. She went back to her husband when she discovered he was alive. She was torn between the admiration she had for her husband and the love she had for Rick.
The great part about art is we get to disagree about it
It seems you haven't understood that she fell in love with Rick when she thought her husband was dead.
I don't think I've ever watched a Humphrey Bogart movie I didn't thoroughly enjoy & Casablanca is one of my favorites. The love story in this movie is unique enough to make it hard for me to compare to others, its definitely complicated, The Rocky love story was very sweet & blossomed like a flower. Lots of great characters in this movie with Carl the waiter being my fave none main character. Enjoyed your reaction & input as always.
‘Casablanca’ is renowned and is justly acknowledged as one of the most romantic films of all time but it is much more than the tale of a love triangle. Of course, it shows that the power of love can affect the human psyche, as demonstrated by Rick’s metamorphosis.
This film has so many levels to it that it takes many viewings to appreciate them. The main theme is not romance but self-sacrifice as the film’s message to the world at war is to give up the personal agenda for the common cause. It reminds wartime audiences, many of whom have loved ones fighting abroad, that their situation is the same as that of Rick, Ilsa and Victor.
The screenplay is so intelligently written. It is a masterpiece of complexity, containing subliminal political opinions and messages all carried along on a thrilling plot with brilliant one-liners and memorable quotes, comedic elements together with contemporary, social commentaries. Basically, the film is politically motivated because it is a plea to America to join the war. Please note that the action takes place in pre-Pearl Harbour, December, 1941.
This is the the first non-musical movie to use music almost as an another protagonist, (which Tarantino does now). For example, ‘As Time Goes By’ is a valuable recurring theme and, in Paris, Rick and Ilsa dance to ‘Perfidia’ which means untrustworthiness.
Michael Curtiz’s direction is multi-faceted: Documentary, Film Noir, German Expressionism, Flashback etc. He is the master of creating the plot via seamlessly connecting a series of rapid-fire vignettes.
There is subtle direction and cinematography. For example, Ilsa wears black and white clothes and is cast in shadows and in a mirror which symbolise the ambiguity of her role.
POINTS OF INTEREST AND NOTES FOR SUBSEQUENT VIEWINGS.
Rick’s initial selfishness, (I stick my neck out for nobody’), is a metaphor for USA indifference. It must be remembered that the events and politics are hard to comprehend and put into perspective for current audiences than for those living through WW2, nit knowing who the victors would be.
The script can be considered as a 'State of the Union' address, both for home and foreign policies, in which there are references to Civil Rights, as embodied in Sam and, of course, the debate about America’s involvement in the conflict.
Each character represents a country e.g. Two Japanese plotting; the Italian on the tail of the German; American indifference; French collaborators; the British robbed by foreign policy. Even the Balkans are mentioned via the Bulgarian couple. Quite evidently, Rick’s actions symbolise the USA in its change in policy from isolationism to participation and ‘….the beginning of a beautiful friendship…’ is the USA and Europe joining forces to fight Nazism.
The significance of Letters of Transit is a metaphor for the might of America’s power and resources and must be delivered to the right side.
The ‘La Marseillaise’ scene is the pivotal moment in which both Ilsa and Rick realise that saving Victor is more important than their own personal relationship. It also comes in just as Rick and Victor are about to argue over Ilsa but both drop the issue when they hear the music. This scene is rousing now but imagine how it must have felt for audiences right in the middle of the war when Germany seemed invincible and modern viewers need to put it in perspective in terms of world events full of Nazi and Japanese domination and when the outcome looked very bleak.
The facial close-ups used throughout the film speak a thousand words: but particularly note Ilsa during ‘La Marseillaise’ when her expressions show her admiration of Victor’s power and her realisation that this must be preserved at all costs.
In any case... there is so much alcohol!!!!
POINTS TO WATCH
‘It’s December, 1941 in Casablanca: what time is it in New York?...
I bet they are asleep all over America’. PEARL HARBOUR
‘Even Nazis can’t kill that fast’
CONCENTRATION CAMPS
‘I don’t buy or sell human beings..’
CIVIL RIGHTS
The Bulgarian couple keep appearing as symbols of hope and determination.
In the bar room fight over Yvonne, Rick attacks the German only and not the Frenchman.
Captain Renault dumps the bottle of Vichy water to represent his rejection of the Nazi- collaborating French Government which was located in Vichy.
Just one example of the excellent and complex scriptwriting occurs immediately after the roulette scene. The girl thanks Rick for letting her husband win and Rick replies, ‘He’s just a lucky guy’, which, on the face of it, refers to the gambling, but, in Rick’s mind, means that the husband is ‘lucky’ because his partner truly loves him.
I had to giggle when, during Rick's brooding, you said "He is a vampire," because one of Humphrey Bogart's earliest roles was playing a vampire in THE RETURN OF DR. X in 1939.
That scene with the singing of La Marseilles is so powerful and even more so when knowing that many of the extras singing had been personally affected by the persecution from the Nazis. Some trivia: Conrad Veidt, who played the menacing Major Strasser was actually a very strong opponent of them. He not only raised large amounts of money but also donated much of his personal finances for the resistance. Loved the reaction. Cheers!
I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed revisiting this movie with you thank you thank you for bringing this movie through different eyes love your reactions
Regarding the mist at the airport. The scene was shot entirely on a soundstage, indoors. The plane was a scaled down prop. Made at the correct scale to keep the perspective accurate. The mechanics you briefly see working on the plane were children and midgets also chosen to keep the perspective accurate. The fog helped hide the fact is was all on a fairly small soundstage. Sounds goofy, but you can look it up if you do not believe me.
This film is justifiably famous for many reasons. The dialog. The great acting by even minor characters in Rick's Cafe. And all the clever tricks the filmmakers used to shoot the movie on a tight budget.
she thought Victor was dead
Love your reactions and commentary. Thank you for sharing.
Many of the actors were actual refugees from the Nazis, so the emotion in the Marseillaise scene was genuine and not played.
What affair? Ilsa thought her husband was dead! A young woman alone and afraid!!
No: he finally got the FACTS from Ilsa -- and he was able to live with that. And Lazlo is an honorable man.
Ingrid Bergman was from Sweden. But as the character Ilsa she says she's from Oslo. At the time Norway was under Nazi occupation. Research Norwegian "Quisling".
I get the feeling you've never been torn between two lovers and you care about both of them. Never an easy choice. Also, she did think her husband was dead when she first met Rick, and could not tell him about it because of the danger.
"Saturday night fever" would be a good movie to watch too.
"She killed him"? AH! HA! HA! Thanks for the laugh.
Good reaction! I always thought there was a strong theme of sacrifice in this movie. Everybody is giving up something for the larger issue: ongoing crisis of war (even Captain Renault ends up dumping his comfy, profitable job). Guess this would be inspiring for the audience at that time with rationing, etc at that time. A very moral tale.
Favorite line is Ugarte talking with Rick: " You know, Rick, I have many a friend in Casablanca, but somehow, just because you despise me, you are the only one I trust."
There was a similar love story movie that takes place in a troubling background starring Warren Beatty and Diane Keaton, "Reds". It won the best picture Oscar.
For decades there are catch phrases from Casablanca that have been quoted and misquoted. "Play it again Sam" is the most misquoted that "was NEVER said by anyone in the movie. Anyone who tells you that it was said that way is full of total bunk. [ I think this is correct: "Play it...if you can play it for her you can play it for me."]: "Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world she walks into mine" "Round up the usual suspects" "Here's looking at you kid" and a few others were often used in comedy movies and TV shows, in everyday conversation for fun. and "I think this is beginning of a beautiful friendship."
How is Ilsa a bad person, cause she fell in love with Rick, and is still in love with Rick?
Rick is the love of her life.
She is devoted to, and admires Victor because of his work, and how good a man he is, but she isn't in love with him.
Victor is in love with her, but she.......isn't.
There was more duty in love back then I guess, than there is now.
And Ilsa fulfills that duty.
How does any of that make her a bad person?
I dont get it.
It's sad for her that she can't wind up with the actual love of her life.
Sad for Rick, as well.
Rick gives up the woman he loves for a greater cause.
That's the duty part of "being a citizen of the world."
I don't remember saying she's a bad person. If I did, cross that off. But I did lose some respect for the character because she lied to someone who trusted her when he was clearly understanding and gave her an opportunity to tell him everything. I'm sure he would have understood and would have let her go. Honesty and communication is key 🙂
@@MichalZismanReactions She never lied to him.
"Ilsa, were you lonely in Paris?"
"Yes, Victor, I was."
"Is there anything you wish to tell me, Ilsa?"
"No, Victor, there isn't."
She didn't lie.
And, when she fell in love with Rick, she thought Victor was dead.
I dont see what Ilsa did that wasn't right, or honorable.
@@track16ofthechronic21 Perhaps I'm judging her too harshly 🙂 Because I just wanted her to tell him how she feels and that she is not going with him, and not hide behind Rick and have him be the one to break the news to Victor. And, you know, she did kiss another man. It was true love, I understand, but it still goes against the marriage vows, and not a very honourable thing to do. Maybe if she was like "no, Rick, we mustn't, it's wrong", I would have viewed it differently. Other than that, I can only have speculations about what she told Victor when she went out to meet Rick the first time. Or did she sneak out without telling, which is also kind of iffy for me.
@@MichalZismanReactions How can anyone tell their spouse about falling in love with someone else, when they thought their spouse was dead?
Laszlo was missing for months, then was reported dead.
Ilsa wasn't waiting around to fall in love with somebody else.
She was frantically searching for her husband, and stopped when she was informed of his 'death'.
As Victor says, "Since no one is to blame, I demand no explanation.".
Ilsa was doing everything to try to get the exit visas.
She wasn't going to sleep with Rick, like the young girl from Bulgaria did with Louie.
But, she was going to do whatever it took to help her husband escape.
Victor tells her, that no matter what, he'll believe in her doing what she can for the cause, for him.
It just so happens that Ilsa found the true love of her life in Rick, and it would rip her guts out to tell Laszlo.
But, she would've gotten on the plane with Rick, or ran away with him, anyway.
This......is........the.........LOVE OF HER LIFE.
At the end, Ilsa is crying, because she wants to be with Rick.
But, also happy that her husband has gotten his miracle, and made it out of Casablanca.
Louie captures the moment, "What you did for Laszlo, and that fairy tale you invented to send Ilsa away with him.
I know a little about women, my friend. She went.
BUT SHE KNEW YOU WERE LYING."
Rick had to tell Laszlo that, or else he'd have a haunting doubt in the back of his mind about his marriage.
Laszlo is going to be the man that will end World War II, he doesn't need his soul destroyed by knowing that his wife is STILL in love with another man.
Rick, as the saying goes: took one for the team.
In this case, it was for all of humanity.
@@MichalZismanReactions This is a very complicated situation during war time, with complicated relationships that affect millions, conflicted feelings, a once believed dead husband reappearing, cruel and sudden coincidences, broken hearts... This is not a housewife having an affair with the milkman.
It is is easy to say somebody is "clearly understanding" when you are a god-like viewer. Try to put yourself in the shoes of the actual character that is not watching the movie,
The Les Marseilles scene is one of greatest movie scenes ever. Ilsa was asked to make an unmakeable, live or death choice. She did not have much more than influence, but no power. If Lazlo was arrested again, Ilsa might still have Rick to land with.
The phrase "...fall in love..." meant (in those days}) an affirmation of (perhaps unappreciated) attention.
"The heart wants what the heart wants."
One of tightest scripts ever written. To think several movie studios turned it down and it almost never got made.
Humphrey Bogart and Claude Rains have the best quotable lines of the movie.
Fun Fact: Casey Robinson, who re-wrote the romantic scenes between Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, was offered screen credit but turned it down because at the time he was only taking credit for scripts he wrote entirely by himself. By declining credit, he did himself out of an Academy Award.
Oh Casey, whyyyyy!
The movie written on the fly. There was no script, not one that even resembled the finished one. Casablanca is one of the few examples where improvising every day got them a masterpiece.
Casablanca, was made in 1942 right in the middle of World War II.
When the movie was released, it was November 1942, and the outcome of the war was very in doubt. Practically all of Europe was under German control or influence, South East Asia and the Pacific was largely under Japanese domination. In fact, when the movie was debuted, the US was landing troops in Morocco, near Casablanca, in what would be the first "European theater" landing of the US.
Of all the video streaming services, of all the recommended videos, she had to appear on mine. 🤣🤣
Probably the most famous line from the movie, was never actually said- "Play it again, Sam."
This is probably the most quoted movie ever.
She couldn't even tell RICK. But usually all that is overlooked in order to criticize Rick for being "rude" to her.
There's a great crime movie called 'The Usual Suspects'. It involves a heist and one of the members is arrested and questioned. He tells a story about the crime. I won't write more because I don't want to give too much away.
Ilsa betrayed Rick, without explanation. Then, when she could have explained to Rick she instead acted insulted when he attacked her for what she had done.
A reason is that the script was written a day at a time, without knowing until the very end how it would end.
This has been my favorite movie since I was a teenager
I am more considerate of Ilsa's available time to adjust to all these issues. She's a widow for years, then she finds out he's miraculously alive just as her heart is beginning to glow again. She breaks her new heart and goes back to Victor. She could have left him, I suppose - she decided to honor and be loyal, and suffer the new loss instead. And she does ALL of that in a matter of hours. Congrats. As for finding Rick later, far away, I don't see her situation has changed - timing is so short, danger is so near. I consider those factors not her "lying" or being "unable to tell" - I mean - this assumes no one is EVER confused or overwhelmed, that Time Alone can't let decisions be made more deliberately, more thought out? I consider those issues.
It's not fair to compare the two movies- Rocky and Casablanca. Both are great love stories in their own right.
Part of the beauty of Casablanca is the ennobling power of selfless love and sacrifice; the fight for a greater cause above self. Also its redemptive power.
You'll note, Michal, if you watch this movie closely a couple more times, that Victor and Ilsa don't show affection publicly. Lazlo's "story" is that he's Ilsa's guardian, she acts as his "ward."
Casablanca isn't just a love story. It's about a man having to make a moral choice. Ultimately, Rick chooses responsibility over his own selfish interest.
You're right that there isn't much chemistry between Victor and Ilsa. She admires him, but doesn't have passion for him. You can see this in the scene where they played La Marseillaise. She looks at him with such adoration. But it's not because she has passion for him, the way she does for Rick.
Many of the actors in Casablanca were refugees from the Nazis. Conrad Veidt, who played Major Strasser, was a German who fled his country. He hated the Nazis, and insisted that his character be portrayed as irredeemably evil.
Madeleine LeBeau was another refugee. She played Yvonne, the young woman in the bar who cozied up to the Germans after Rick abandoned her. LeBeau fled her home country of France ahead of the Nazis. She and her husband first went to Lisbon. They then tried to go to Chile, for which it took two months to obtain visas. But when their ship stopped in Mexico it was discovered that the visas were forged. They ended up stuck there until they were somehow able to obtain temporary Canadian passports that enabled them to enter the U.S. The similarity of her personal story to that of the character she was playing wasn't lost on her. Her tears as she sang La Marseillaise were real.
A movie I'd love for you to react to is "The Third Man." It's a British film set in post-war Austria, although the main character is American (played by Joseph Cotten). It's on many critics' top-ten lists. I think you'd really like it.
It is less simple than that. Calling their love selfish interest is misguided, and what he does a responsibility too simplistic. Rick knows they are both on a moral conundrum. He knows they would not survive, emotionally, the consequences of endangering others. They know they cant put themselves above the well being of others and that if they do, they will suffer. They are both too good a pair of people to do otherwise.
But calling the love they feel selfish interest is diminishing the price they pay, and calling their choice a responsibility detracts from the choosing itself and the inherent value it has.
Yes... I am THAT pedantic. Sue me.
Good observations about protagonists. Amadeus is an awesome film to review. It's kinda long though.
Ilsa TRAUMATIZED Rick EMOTIONALLY. SHE knows why she ended the relationship -- BUT RICK DOESN'T. SHE OWES HIM an explanation.
I like your attitude concerning Rick and Ilsa
Ha, I'm happy you mentioned that you've already seen "Citizen Kane" and "Rear Window" because those were two movies I was going to suggest! 🤣 (Did you like them? I'm especially interested in your opinion of "Citizen Kane"! I so wish there were more reactions to that film!
Here's looking at you, kid!
Fun fact, the last speech that Rick gives to Ilsa was written by like 4 people
4 writers?! That's crazy!
@@MichalZismanReactions Yep! Well, that's assuming I can trust my memory of listening to the Ebert commentary 15 years ago...
Then. on the last "Les Marseillais" vamp, I just wanted to roll into "Play It Again Sam."
Wow....."Something Bogart" Humphrey Bogart was a big movie star of the 40's and 50's.
Your dogs look very happy
Jimmie Stewart starred in "It's a Wonderful Life"
Congratulations. You just saw one of the best movies ever and understood nothing of it.
Just a movie, José. Have a nice day 🙏
@@MichalZismanReactions sure thing. Same 2 u.
Astute. I've seen this movie a thousand times and never made the connection contrasting the ulgarian couple with Rick, Viktor, and Ilsa.
Seeking investors for "The Tragedy Of Ugarte."
Elsa told him her feeling are mixed you just don't get her. You are totally missing the point and the characters
I agree with mostly everything you said about Ilsa but I also believe had she not thought he was dead she never would have gotten with Rick. That said her flaws are exactly what drew her & Rick together. They both had a lot of bad in them as well as good which was her & his true nature. Victor clearly was that perfect man she was taught to like & love & being young she fell for him only to realize in her heart it wasn't apart of her nature unlike Rick. Ultimately her & Rick did the right thing cause she married him. However had she knew who she was before she met Lazlo she would have realize as great of a man he was she would never love him as much as other people did & realize he was too good for her while rick is perfect for her. He's not a better man but he's a far better match. Lazlo was the perfect man but Rick was the perfect match
Let’s not compare Rocky romance and Casablanca romance. They are both great in their own time.
"Something Bogart?" Really?
After reading a number of comments no need to explain why Ilsa fell for Rick and did what she did. Now that you know why I would say, if you haven't already, watch it again and you'll have a greater understanding of Ilsa. Another clue is when the young woman was talking with Rick about her husband gambling trying to win money to get out. She was saying if a girl did a bad thing, which was getting "intimate" with Captain Renault to get the visa, and locked it in her heart would it be all right?
At that moment Rick seems to start thinking about Ilsa and what she did, not showing up at the train station for one when she found out Victor was alive. So basically the cause they were in was greater than all of them and their circumstances.
Greatest romance ever, and one of the greatest movies ever made.
You won't see this comment with this video being so old, but it's new to me; so here it goes. First I want to say I have seen this movie easily one hundred times, and it never occurred to me that Lazlo may have influenced Rick's decision about sending Lazlo and Ilsa away on the plane instead of going with her himself; that was very interesting. Secondly I think everyone agrees Ilsa was never really in love with Lazlo, she respected him; but she was never unfaithful to him, remember she thought he had been killed before she met Rick and started their relationship. Lastly "Rocky" did have a more pure love story, but the difference is there was no love triangle to contend with in "Rocky". Good reaction, I enjoyed it.
Heya! Glad you enjoyed.
I was just telling another commentor here, that what bothered me about their love story is how Ilsa had no intention of facing Lazlo on her own and tell him she's not going with him.
It was unfair of me to compare this love story with the one in Rocky, because this is more serious and complex, while Rocky love story is wholesome 😊
@@MichalZismanReactions Hi again, just letting you know I wasn't trying to change your mind about Ilsa, I just wasn't sure if you had caught it when she was explaining the situation to Rick; I don't believe I heard you comment directly about it. I like your channel, keep the reactions coming :).
Time for another iconic film? Try "To Have and Have Not" with Bogie and Bacall (and my high school French teacher/fencing Maestro).
Why do you think Rick never drank before Ilsa arrived. Louis simply said Rick never drinks with customers. He further said he was a drunkard; a citizen of the world.
The entire movie is an allegory for the entrance of the US into WW2. As with WW1, the US largely saw the war as another Incestuous European war. Neutrality would have continued had Japan not attacked the US and then Germany declared war on US because of a pact they had with Japan. You must remember the movie was written before Dec. 7, 1941.
Rick represents the US and its reluctance to make the war its own.
Victor and Ilsa leaving had nothing to do with the couple (roulette) getting exit visas. These were letters of transit, unique and a completely separate issue.
"Something" Bogart. I hope that was a joke!
Nope. Just had trouble remembering his full name on the spot. Sometimes I even forget the names of people I know irl.
I find it hard to believe you are a student of film and never watched this classic.
I said I took a few film classes, not that I was a film student. Quite the difference.
I think many men feel more romantic about this movie than many women.
She was informed that Lazlo was dead. Later Rick made the sacrifice (well, I think he got closure. Not really sacrificed anything that was really his.) Ilsas only 'fault' was that she was confused. She did not know what to do, and can we blame her?
f course the love story in Rocky is better. Casablanca is a love story with focus on sacrifice and a love triangle. And it is a war movie. Rocky is a love story wit ha happy end.
Ilsa is one of the most noble characters in the story. You missed a lot of the story line basics.