Analysis of The Movie Casablanca

Casablanca is a movie that took place in Casablanca, Morocco, which was the pace for people trying to get away from the bad conditions of the war in Europe as well as the Nazi concentration camps. This film demonstrates the conditions in Europe and the importance of the letters of transit, which allowed people to travel freely in Europe and the hope it gave to their survival and their dream of reaching America.

The transit was a major theme in this movie that started at the very beginning and came back at end bringing a close to the movie with what Rick the main character decided to do with that. Also the movie showed the control and influence of Germany in the French government. The main message that this film used a major theme of neutrality. Whether it was between countries or the characters in the movie. This film expressed that during times of war, it was difficult for a country to stay out, because eventually there were events and circumstances that provoked and drove them into the conflict as well. Characters – Rick, Victor, Major Strasser, Ranaud.

Rick was the main character of this movie. He owned a cafe in Casablanca where he allowed German and French soldiers in his hopes for neutrality. He was heartbroken when he left Paris to Casablanca. He was a self-sacrificing idealist, committed to helping the Allied cause in World War II. Victor Laszlow was a Czech nationalist, who was a journalist and wanted to express to the world about the deeds of Nazi Germany and how they broke the rules set by the League of Nations. He was on the run most of the movie as they wanted to arrest him. At the end Rick got him and his wife Ilsa back to America. Ranaud was portrayed as a French person, who represented the Vichy France. Louis showed his act of loyalty only to the superior side, which was Germany in this case. Even though he expressed his loyalty for Major Strasser, but it was just an act in order to satisfy the German officers so they would not suspect him of being against their rule and this act also ensured his own survival and not being arrested or sent to the concentration camps for treason or ideas of resistance. He and Rick became good friends at the end.

Major Strasser was the German commander who was sent to get Laszlow. He is the typical villain like Nazi character. At Ricks cafe he was nice to Laszlow and everyone but it was all a cover.

Works Cited

1. Bergman, A. (1942). Casablanca [Film]. Warner Bros.
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6. Gorbman, C. (1982). Casablanca: Intertextual transactions between film and music. Cinema Journal, 21(1), 1-22.
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8. Keathley, C. (2003). "Left in Casablanca": Post-colonialism and the politics of adaptation. Quarterly Review of Film and Video, 20(1), 57-64.
9. Palmer, R. B. (1981). Casablanca: Cult movies and intertextual collage. Literature/Film Quarterly, 9(3), 157-164.
10. Wood, R. (1995). Casablanca: Script and score. Literature/Film Quarterly, 23(2), 97-103.