Why Does It Work?

Rating: 10/10 (27 June 2003)

This is a movie so flawed it is in danger of falling apart. Bergman is cold, confused and remote - unconvincing as the woman who dominates the lives of the mysterious and highly respected American Rick Blaine, and the much sought after inspiration of the resistance Victor Laszlo. The Paris sequence is corny and embarrassing producing one of the worse lines in cinema history - "Was that cannon fire or is my heart pounding?" Yet this film remains my all time favourite. No matter how many times I see it I'm still moved. I get goosebumps when Laszlo encourages the staff and customers of Rick's to sing La Marseilles in response to the Germans singing. I smile at the jokes. I melt at the supreme sacrifice at the end. I nod knowingly at the references to America's neutral stance in the war. I admire the theme of commitment and sacrifice in a time of stress. And I love the colourful, quickly drawn characters given vivid life by smooth, confident actors such as Claude Rains, Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre. Why does it work so well? Is it Bogart in a white suit? Is it the impressionist tour de force opening where every character and every theme is introduced in a fluid journey through Rick's bar? Or is it the totally unpredictable and totally original story-line the conclusion of which could never be guessed, but which feels so right, so heroic, so romantic, so awesome. "Here's looking at you, kid!"