CASABLANCA

ANALYSIS

Casablanca was produced in the USA by Hal B. Wallis and directed by Michael Curtiz. Their aim being to create a WW2 long lost romantic tale, idolising the dream in 1942, capturing the hearts of the audience.

The film won Oscars for 'best picture', 'best directors' and 'best screen play', as well as nominated for 'best lead actor', 'best supporting actor', 'best cinematography', 'best editing' and 'best music'.

The most famous quote from this film: "Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all of the world; she walks into mine!" 

Initially, the credit scene was animated in a similar cartoon style to 'Tom & Jerry', very contrasting to the revolutionary war music playing throughout the first 4 mins. Also, the initial dialogue was a UK radio broadcast all about WW2.

The town of Casablanca ends up being an escape for people wanting to disappear and hide from reality. The story slowly develops from a war film into a confusing romance and is shot mainly through 3 conjoining spaces/rooms.

Overall, I feel this film didn't have a strong arcing narrative or interesting key points to remember it by. However, I enjoyed the set storytelling and how it felt a lot like a moving theatre stage. Finally, the musical element - that was used to break up sections within the film - was very clever and portrayed a softer emotional side overall.