Casablanca, an American Beauty

Rating: 8/10 (9 May 2014)

This movie was a wonderfully shot movie. I may have not found it all that interesting but it had some beautiful photography. I thought the story line drag a little in some parts, and I may stand alone in that however the visuals I think made up for my lack in interest. This movie was shot in black and white and I don't think it could have been better in any other way, the black and white added glamor and beauty to a lot of the scenes. Also the lighting was key in this movie, a lot of the lighting was soft lighting especially when Ingrid Bergman was the focus of the frame. The image had a soft filter and it gave Bergman this innocent and glow. Using the soft lighting in this movie also added to the romantic mood of a lot of the scenes. The use of shadows was also very apparent in this movie. One scene that used low key lighting was when Bergman is up in Humphrey Bogarts room hiding, the lights are off and she has a large shadow casting across her, this use of shadow gives us the tone of the scene, and really insist that she must stay hidden in the shadows. Casablanca also uses high key and hard lighting in the film to create crisp and clear pictures as well. Soft and hard lighting will even be used in the same scene. An example of this being used is in the ending scene when Bogart is saying goodbye to Bergman's character. The camera will do a close up of Bogarts face and it will be in hard lighting, the image is very clear and crisp of his face, we can see every wrinkle under his eyes and such, however when the shot switches to a close up of Bergman's face we see her in a soft lighting like I have mentioned before. This make her look young and glowy. The contrast is very apparent and really sets the two characters apart. Casablanca is a classic movie and I urge you to pay a lots of attention to the images and photography on the screen!