Romantic, gritty, stoic, larger than life, and epic

Rating: 10/10 (29 November 2017)

There's not really much one can add all of the comments about this film, a masterpiece that is truly deserving of being in the list of top movies of all time. The story is perfectly crafted, intersecting a love triangle with the crushing pressures of wartime, and It's perfectly told by Director Michael Curtiz, with a flashback, a few surprises, and not a single wasted shot. Most importantly, the film captures the feeling of those huge moments in life that we'll always remember, where everything in one's life pivots, as well as the pain of love lost. Bogart holding that note in the rain, the ink beginning to run down as he's urged to get on the train, is later mirrored by him watching the plane disappear into the fog, the signal light reducing to a pinprick, and both moments are incredibly poignant.
The cast is also outstanding – Bogart and Bergman of course, but also almost all of the supporting characters. Claude Rains as the Vichy French captain whose loyalties sway in the wind is my personal favorite. In a sweeping story that could have easily been cloying or corny, there is great realism in characters who are morally ambivalent (Rains, Lorre, and Bogart himself) put next to those who are willing to sacrifice themselves for a good cause, and those bent on taking over the world. There are many wonderful scenes, and not just those between Bogart and Bergman. Paul Henreid is great with Bergman too, and the scene where he leads the French ex-pats in singing 'La Marseillaise' to drown out the German officers singing their own patriotic is rousing. And let's not forget Dooley Wilson, who is so smooth, singing among other things the iconic "As Time Goes By". This film is romantic, gritty, stoic, larger than life, and epic - and one that I never get tired of seeing.