A tale of the burnt out idealist and the redemption of his soul.

Rating: 10/10 (7 July 2000)

Casablanca is an enduring epic about the indomitability of the human spirit. Beside the obvious charisma and passion of the leading actors, Bogart and Bergman, it is also a glorious tale about the human condition. It is a tale about idealism, and idealism gone stale. It is a tale of greed, fear, resignation, smugness, indifference, and re-birth. In short, this is a monumental film about the vortex of human emotions that make up life as we know it, day in and day out.
Bogart and Bergman elude an electricity and a tension that permeates the entire drama. But these brilliant performances are enhanced by the wonderful supporting cast of real, down to earth, "just plain folks" character actors of the day. In their stellar performances we see Everyman: the idealists; the hopeful and the hopeless; the greedy, the needy, the brutal sadists, and the tender hearted. It is ourselves we see in the craggy faces which surround Rick and Ilsa. Unfortunately, we no longer see such faces in today's cinema. For it was their genuine "ordinariness" which shone so brilliantly from the screen, that grabbed us so tightly and swept us up into the turmoil of the story. It was the plainness of these supporting characters that framed the swirling epic raging round them, so unlike today's performers, who seemed to have stepped out from the pages of Elle and GQ with their polished good looks and vacuous performances.
Casablanca is also an epic tale of the burnt out idealist in all of us who have pulled against the grain, but who, like Rick, have lost once too often. It is the tale of the twentieth-century. It is about a man who has spent all he had to spend, whose spirit which once burned with the fiery idealism of youth, is now but a flicker, only to be re-ignited once again by a lost love. It is an idealism rekindled by memories of joy and heartache, of a love lost and now regained--for a brief moment. For Rick is like all of us, far from perfect. In the deepest recesses of his heart, there is a war raging, one which rocks him to the very depths. The better angels of his long suppressed idealism struggle with his cynicism, his burning desire and his passion to be reunited once more with Ilsa, his first and only love. The good of the many takes precedence over the good of the one. It was that spirit that characterized the times, times long past and long forgotten. But times, nevertheless, whose idealism and generosity of spirit are sorely missing from our world today.