Brilliant film-making and wonderful acting

Rating: 8/10 (22 October 2009)

I have a poster of Casablanca on my wall because my fiancé has seen it and he made me put it up. I never thought that I would see the movie, but now that I have, I am glad. I thought that the lighting was outstanding. The use of the spotlights outside the windows gave it a suspenseful tone. The spotlight on Sam, the piano player, definitely made him stand out. The camera was very versatile, with close-ups and long shots combined in a very artistic and meaningful way. I noticed that the face of Bergman seemed almost perfect through the use of lighting as well. Rick was definitely the protagonist in the movie, but he was not a hero at all. He was mostly concerned about his own well-being throughout the entire movie. The antagonist in the movie was the Nazis. I enjoyed the fact that the movie touched on the fact that the Nazis were human beings as well. It showed the weaknesses that they have. I don't think I have ever seen a film in which the Nazis are portrayed in this way. I also noticed that there was a lot of sound in this movie. The piano was playing almost the entire time, there was singing, and there was humming. It really brought it all together and significantly contributed to the verisimilitude of the film.