Casablanca

When sitting down to watch a movie that has been described as a classic, one will most likely start making assumptions as to what they are about to see. One might expect to see adventure, violence, love, or some kind of underlying theme that relates to many people on a personal level. Casablanca, with all of its elements, definitely lives up to being labeled as a classic.

With this movie being produced in the 1940s, there is certainly an adjustment that viewers will have to make at the beginning of the film. I found the first few scenes to be extremely confusing. This confusion can be attributed to the fact that the movie's plot correlates with World War II. For younger generations, who may not have the same understanding of World War II that some older generations might, it is crucial that one focuses during the first few scenes and start making connections between the actors. Another challenging aspect is that the movie is in black and white. Viewers must rely on their listening and observational skills to decipher between characters and their affiliation, which can be difficult to do in movies with characters in military uniforms. In addition to the challenge of distinguishing between military affiliation, another challenge stemmed from the actor's accents. Many different countries were represented in Casablanca; however, all the actors seemed to have very similar dialect.

As my initial opinion of the film wasn't the most positive due to the challenges described above, my thoughts changed dramatically in the final scenes of the film. I found it a bit amusing to see how my reaction to the film followed the textbook's methods for analyzing a film quite accurately. On my primary analysis, I didn't see how the film was considered a classic. After more thinking and consideration, I was able to understand and react to the underlying message and theme.

It is easy to see why so many people were able to connect and respect Casablanca at the time of its production. The final scenes of the movie clearly explain why. There were several underlying themes from my perspective. The first theme pertained to love. As I saw it, the director was trying to convey that love conquers all. Despite all the troubles surrounding the characters in this film, love can still exist and is far superior to war. Though this is no doubt one of the most obvious themes in Casablanca, I felt that the director wanted to also present a theme of patriotism since the film was produced during WWII. From Victor's analogy between breathing and fighting to Renault covering up Rick's murder of Strasser, the theme of patriotism is quite apparent at the end of the movie.

After analyzing the underlying messages in Casablanca, it is understandable that this film is referred to by many as a classic. The themes presented in this film would have had a huge impact on society at the time of its production.