TheMovieFrog Reviews: Casablanca

Rating: 10/10 (5 April 2013)

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So, what do you write about a film that has been discussed and lauded for seventy years? Is it a timeless classic about love, loyalty, honor, and sacrifice or the greatest piece of corn-pone pro-war propaganda ever visited upon the American public? Well, the answer is yes...and yes. It is all of those things and more.
It is, first and foremost, a classic story of love and sacrifice, almost biblical in the way that it is layed out. Lazlo is the Christ- like figure. He has sacrificed everything: his safety, his freedom, and the purpose of his life to the cause of inspiring others to rise up and fight the Nazis. The only sacrifice he will not make is leaving behind the woman that he loves. Ilsa is his inspiration and the thing that keeps him going.
In turn, Lazlo's example of ultimate sacrifice inspires others to sacrifice for the greater good as well. His ability to inspire is demonstrated most dramatically and obviously in the scene where he leads all the patrons of Rick's in song. You can see in the faces of everyone joining in all the pain, fear, and uncertainty of living in a world turned upside down fade away to be replaced by a greater sense of pride and purpose. It is a very powerful moment in the film. However, this man's greater power is in how he impacts and inspires individuals from Ilsa, to Rick, to Renault. Rick has every reason to despise the man, yet it is not just Ilsa that leads him to break precedent and have a drink with the couple.
Is the film a little corny? Well, yes, but only in the best tradition of the time. The dialog is fantastic, but when every other line is a zinger, it does stretch believability a bit. No city has ever been populated by that many people who are that witty that much of the time. Yet the wordplay (continued at www.TheMovieFrog.com)
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