At the height of the German occupation in Europe Casablanca is one of the last places its citizens can flee from – for a price. One of the seedy hot spots in Casablanca is Rick’s a bar owned by a mysterious ex-patriot who is careful to mind his own business in Casablanca until fugitive resistance leader Victor Laszlo and his wife Ilsa flee to Casablanca. Ilsa and Rick had once been in love before the German occupation of France and Ilsa and Rick fight to repress their feelings for one another while she urges him to once again fight against the Germans.
Believe it or not Casablanca is a hard movie to break down, there’s just far too much in it. Just trying to define the genre Casablanca lands in is hard enough; it’s a romance, a film noir, a war film, and a drama all wrapped into one.
I’ve seen Casablanca a few times and there is no doubt that this film is an incredibly influential one that has remained an example of a fantastic film for the better part of a century, but it has managed to influence generations of films that followed it. I know that I can inadvertently thank Michael Curtiz for inspiring Christopher McQuarie & Bryan Singer to bring me The Usual Suspects but watching the film again I was struck with how big of an influence this film was on Star Wars. If you can’t picture a 1940’s war film as having anything to do with the 1970’s science fiction epic I will lay out the parallels for you.
Rick’s: Rick’s bar is undoubtedly the inspiration for the Mos Eisley Cantina, right down to the musicians, and nefarious criminals, smugglers and black market deals that go down. Everyone knows you go to Rick’s to have a few drinks and meet the connections you need to outwit the Germans – just like Luke & Obi Wan go to the Cantina to meet Han and make their way secretly pas the Empire.
The German’s: Parallel’s have always been made between the Germans & storm troopers. In Casablanca they’ve just arrived in town and are making it harder for the residents to flee. In Star Wars the storm troopers are a major presence in Mos Eisley and are screening everyone that flows through the city.
Ilsa: Ilsa is the wife of a resistance fighter who believes in his cause. She knows Rick once fought against the Empire…er Germans…and so she spends the film urging him to rejoin the fray. In Star Wars Leia spends the bulk of the film attempting to convince Han that he shouldn’t be the smuggler he is, but instead he should join her in the fight against the Empire…and just like Ilsa she succeeds.
The Music: I’m no musician but there were a few moments in the score for Casablanca that I swore I heard John Williams and pieces of the Star Wars theme. I could be wrong…but I’ve been watching Star Wars since there were only three films…
There’s a few more parallels I could draw but for the sake of having something else to write about later, and not boring you all I will stop there. If you’re a fan of the original Star Wars I think it would be a fun experiment to watch Casablanca and see if you can pick up on anything I mentioned and didn’t mention here. I’d love to know your thoughts or even what other films you think were directly influenced by Casablanca.
Director: Michael Curtiz
Writers: Julius J. Epstein & Philip G. Epstein
Rick Blaine: Humphrey Bogart
Ilsa Lund: Ingrid Bergman
Victor Laszlo: Paul Henreid
Cpt. Renault: Claude Rains
Ugarte: Peter Lorre
Sam: Dooley Wilson
Major Strasser: What is your nationality?
Rick: I'm a drunkard.
Captain Renault: That makes Rick a citizen of the world.
Showing posts with label casablanca. Show all posts
Showing posts with label casablanca. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Friday, February 27, 2009
Only You
On a whim I ordered Only You from Netflix, I was pleasantly surprised. Faith is a little girl when she plays the Ouija board with her brother and asks it who her soul mate is, Faith gets the name “Damon Bradley”; as a teen she goes to a fortune teller and gets the same name which further enforces to Faith that a man named Damon Bradley is a powerful force in her future. Now in her 20’s Faith is an English teacher who is engaged to be married, not to a man named Damon but to a podiatrist and the only ones that still know about Damon are her best friends including her sister in law Kate. 10 days before the wedding a friend of the groom calls Faith to cancel his RSVP because he has to go to Italy and it turns out his name is Damon Bradley. Faith decides to impulsively fly to Italy and track down Damon so she can at least get a look at him before she marries the podiatrist and Kate tags along. What follows is an impulsive journey that leads Kate to her real soul mate, but what she doesn’t know is that this man may not be Damon Bradley.
What is so enjoyable about Only You is that it feels like a classic Hollywood film from the 1950’s; the lovers are a perfect match, the conflict is complete and real, and the film is steeped in classic movie references. Just from my first viewing I recognized homages to Cinderella, Casablanca, Roman Holiday and a few others.
I must also say that as much as I really love Robert Downey Jr., I really rented this movie so I could see Bonnie Hunt. Ever since Jerry Maguire I have been in love with her sarcastic, no nonsense style of comedy and she is probably one of my favorite actresses. In Only You Bonnie does not disappoint and if I could choose a sister in law I would want one like her.
While this movie probably plays more to women than men I do have to say that this movie is a very fun watch, and an all around good, light-hearted film. Eventually, I see Only You being added to my DVD collection.
Director: Norman Jewison
Writer: Diane Drake
Faith: Marisa Tomei
Peter: Robert Downey Jr.
Kate: Bonnie Hunt
Giovanni: Joaquim de Almeida
Larry: Fisher Stevens
Damon Bradley/Harry: Billy Zane
Faith Corvatch: Why couldn't we just have arranged marriages in America?
Kate Corvatch: Yeah, at least you could spend the rest of your life blaming your parents instead of yourself.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Lawrence of Arabia
There are several classic films that I somehow missed seeing early in my life. I didn’t see The Wizard of Oz until I was 19, Casablanca until I was in my first film classes, etc. Until last night I had never seen Lawrence of Arabia. Honestly, when I was young I was never interested in the film and when I finally gained my appreciation for classic cinema everyone told me that Lawrence of Arabia was a sight to behold on the big screen and I really didn’t want to see the spectacular visuals on (at that time) VHS. Lucky for me a theatre nearby did a flashback screening of the film so that I would not be subjected to watching what was originally shot in 70mm on my 13 inch tv screen.
I do believe that Lawrence of Arabia is one of the best character studies I have ever seen. If I were still in film school I could probably devote an entire paper to the character arch of Lawrence and how we can visually see him change through cues in the film, and how the character emotionally changes as well (but I’ll only bore you with a brief synopsis here). Lawrence is a character that goes from being an idealist, to a believer, to a man without a country and all the while he is praised by all and still this does not satisfy him because he cannot become who he truly wants to become.
At the beginning of the film we see Lawrence racing through the English countryside on his motorcycle where he meets (what I later came to feel) a sad death compared to his heroic life. At his funeral dignitaries, reporters and officers swarm out after it ends each giving their own heroic opinion of Lawrence to newsmen and each other though most freely admit they didn’t actually know him. Finally, reporter Jackson Bentley is asked his opinion of Lawrence and of course he tells the reporter the typical heroics of Lawrence; once the reporter leaves Bentley remarks that Lawrence was “the most shameless exhibitionist since Barnum & Bailey” and is berated by another attendee of the funeral who did not know Lawrence. This is perhaps the best set up for any character in the history of film save Keyser Soze.
The film cuts from the funeral into the longest flash back of all time and straight into Lawrence’s career with the British Armed Forces in Arabia. He is first sent on special assignment to seek Prince Feisal, and on his way he begins to show that he is not an ordinary soldier. From there his career as a soldier takes a different path; he convinces the Prince to give him 50 men and they will do the impossible by crossing the bleakest section of desert and taking a Turk occupied Aquaba, convincing mercenaries to fight with them on the way. On the way to Aquaba he proves himself to be more Arab than British to the Arab soldiers and proves he can do the impossible – they take Aquaba. He no longer wears his uniform, but the Arab robes given to him by his most trusted Arab ally Ali; it is obvious that he both sympathizes with and wants the best for the people he is actually fighting with – the Arabs not the British.
After every major mission he approaches the British General and asks to be reassigned; but he has made his own bed by proving the impossible possible and the General simply promotes him every time and sends Lawrence back into the field, filling his head with tales of how he will be a household name and a national hero and Lawrence returns to the Arabs more resolute than ever that the British will not replace the Turks as Arabia’s governors.
In the beginning Lawrence is happy among the Arabs; he identifies with them and is told more than once that he is “practically Arab”. As the film progresses his love for the Arabs becomes more and more bitter as he continues to realize that though he is better suited for the Arab culture than the British he cannot ever truly be an Arab and though he tries he knows he can no longer truly be British. By the end Lawrence is finally sent back to England and it becomes final to him: Lawrence wants to belong in the desert with the Arabs, but he cannot just as he cannot pretend to be excited about going “home”.
Steven Spielberg has been quoted as saying when he begins a movie he always watches four films: The Searchers, It’s A Wonderful Life, Seven Samurai and Lawrence of Arabia. Having now seen Lawrence of Arabia it is easy to spot how this film has influenced Spielberg to become the director that he is today.
Director: David Lean
Writer: Robert Bolt
Lawrence: Peter O’Toole
Prince Feisal: Alec Guinness
Sherif Ali: Omar Sharif
Jackson Bentley: Arthur Kennedy
Prince Feisal: Well, General, I will leave you. Major Lawrence doubtless has reports to make upon my people and their weakness, and the need to keep them weak in the British interest... and the French interest too, of course. We must not forget the French now...
General Allenby: [indignantly] I've told you, sir, no such treaty exists.
Prince Feisal: Yes, General, you have lied most bravely, but not convincingly. I know this treaty does exist.
T.E. Lawrence: Treaty, sir?
Prince Feisal: He does it better than you, General. But then, of course, he is almost an Arab.
I do believe that Lawrence of Arabia is one of the best character studies I have ever seen. If I were still in film school I could probably devote an entire paper to the character arch of Lawrence and how we can visually see him change through cues in the film, and how the character emotionally changes as well (but I’ll only bore you with a brief synopsis here). Lawrence is a character that goes from being an idealist, to a believer, to a man without a country and all the while he is praised by all and still this does not satisfy him because he cannot become who he truly wants to become.
At the beginning of the film we see Lawrence racing through the English countryside on his motorcycle where he meets (what I later came to feel) a sad death compared to his heroic life. At his funeral dignitaries, reporters and officers swarm out after it ends each giving their own heroic opinion of Lawrence to newsmen and each other though most freely admit they didn’t actually know him. Finally, reporter Jackson Bentley is asked his opinion of Lawrence and of course he tells the reporter the typical heroics of Lawrence; once the reporter leaves Bentley remarks that Lawrence was “the most shameless exhibitionist since Barnum & Bailey” and is berated by another attendee of the funeral who did not know Lawrence. This is perhaps the best set up for any character in the history of film save Keyser Soze.
The film cuts from the funeral into the longest flash back of all time and straight into Lawrence’s career with the British Armed Forces in Arabia. He is first sent on special assignment to seek Prince Feisal, and on his way he begins to show that he is not an ordinary soldier. From there his career as a soldier takes a different path; he convinces the Prince to give him 50 men and they will do the impossible by crossing the bleakest section of desert and taking a Turk occupied Aquaba, convincing mercenaries to fight with them on the way. On the way to Aquaba he proves himself to be more Arab than British to the Arab soldiers and proves he can do the impossible – they take Aquaba. He no longer wears his uniform, but the Arab robes given to him by his most trusted Arab ally Ali; it is obvious that he both sympathizes with and wants the best for the people he is actually fighting with – the Arabs not the British.
After every major mission he approaches the British General and asks to be reassigned; but he has made his own bed by proving the impossible possible and the General simply promotes him every time and sends Lawrence back into the field, filling his head with tales of how he will be a household name and a national hero and Lawrence returns to the Arabs more resolute than ever that the British will not replace the Turks as Arabia’s governors.
In the beginning Lawrence is happy among the Arabs; he identifies with them and is told more than once that he is “practically Arab”. As the film progresses his love for the Arabs becomes more and more bitter as he continues to realize that though he is better suited for the Arab culture than the British he cannot ever truly be an Arab and though he tries he knows he can no longer truly be British. By the end Lawrence is finally sent back to England and it becomes final to him: Lawrence wants to belong in the desert with the Arabs, but he cannot just as he cannot pretend to be excited about going “home”.
Steven Spielberg has been quoted as saying when he begins a movie he always watches four films: The Searchers, It’s A Wonderful Life, Seven Samurai and Lawrence of Arabia. Having now seen Lawrence of Arabia it is easy to spot how this film has influenced Spielberg to become the director that he is today.
Director: David Lean
Writer: Robert Bolt
Lawrence: Peter O’Toole
Prince Feisal: Alec Guinness
Sherif Ali: Omar Sharif
Jackson Bentley: Arthur Kennedy
Prince Feisal: Well, General, I will leave you. Major Lawrence doubtless has reports to make upon my people and their weakness, and the need to keep them weak in the British interest... and the French interest too, of course. We must not forget the French now...
General Allenby: [indignantly] I've told you, sir, no such treaty exists.
Prince Feisal: Yes, General, you have lied most bravely, but not convincingly. I know this treaty does exist.
T.E. Lawrence: Treaty, sir?
Prince Feisal: He does it better than you, General. But then, of course, he is almost an Arab.
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