there are some works of art that are almost impossible to review , not because of their own complexity , but because of their legendary status which prevents the reviewer to say anything original .
one of such masterpieces is casablanca , probably not the best film in the history of the seventh art , but definitely the most popular one .
its popularity can be measured not in a multitude of more or less disguised remakes that were made in more than half a century since its premiere , but also in countless tributes and references that movie makers use in their works to this day .
casablanca is also a movie that has the very rare virtue of both being praised by the critics and loved by general audience .
one of the things that makes this film even more unique was the fact that it was doomed to fail , at least judging by conventional movie-making wisdom of its time .
it was based on a broadway play so mediocre that it hadn’t been produced on stage ; screenplay by three writers – julius g . epstein , philip j . epstein and howard koch – was beeing written as shooting went along ; the main actors were producers’ second choice , and , finally , man behind camera , michael curtiz was considered to be capable , but not great director .
however , the movie was commercially successful and earned three ” oscars ” , including the one for the best film .
until this very day , it is considered to be the best example of hollywood film- making in its own golden age .
the plot of the movie was heavily influenced by the needs of ww2 propaganda , yet it also used rather complicated and now almost forgotten political circumstances of that global conflict in order to make intriguing story .
in december 1941 , casablanca , exotic port on the atlantic coast of north africa is controlled by officially neutral , yet nazi-collaborating french vichy government .
thousands of refugees from war-torn europe are stuck there on the way to lisbon and safety of america , and ready to pay any price for precious exit visas .
many shady characters thrive on their misery , including the corrupt police chief , captain renault ( rains ) .
his best friend is rick blaine ( bogart ) , who used to be idealistic anti-fascist , and now owns popular night club in casablanca and lives by his own cynical philosophy of ” sticking his neck for nobody ” .
however , everything changes when he gets in possession of two precious extra visas .
this event coincides with the arrival of two new refugees to casablanca .
one of them is victor laszlo ( henreid ) , czech resistance leader who escaped three times from nazi concentration camps and became the legend of enslaved europe .
he is accompanied by his beautiful wife ilsa lund ( bergman ) , with whom rick had a stormy affair in the eve of nazi occupation of paris .
the couple needs visas , especially because of the gestapo major strasser ( veidt ) being on their trail .
rick is now forced to choose between love , wounded pride , self-preserving interest and his own hatred of fascism .
the casting for this movie seems influenced by divine inspiration – humphrey bogart , most legendary actor in the history of cinema , is one of the rare character actors who elevated his persona to the star status .
bogart’s portrayal of rick as complicated man , torn between idealistic past and bitter present , was so perfect , that his icon would forever be connected with that character .
another icon in his company is ingrid bergman , great actress of old hollywood , here in her artistic and visual prime .
the cinematic coupling of bogart and bergman became one of the main symbols of that era of filmmaking – some happier times when the romance on the screen didn’t look childish nor trite like in some more contemporary works .
for many people , casablanca is probably the best romantic film ever made .
but the reason for that isn’t the romance itself – it’s the realistic story of people forced to make tough , and often wrong choices in their life .
the casting of casablanca was right on target not just in a case of main leads .
the supporting actors also did a marvellous job .
sidney longstreet and peter lorre were here mainly to give a mystic flavour spotted in a previous bogart classic – john huston’s maltese falcon ; yet both of them managed to portray colourful and original characters .
another shining example of good casting is now almost forgotten paul henreid as the weakest part of love triangle ; character of victor laszlo has believable charisma and looks like a somebody who could inspire millions of people to rise against nazi tiranny .
unfortunately , the charisma that burdened laszlo , leaves little place for difficult choice , making his character forever overshadowed by rick/ilsa coupling .
however , rick and ilsa actually have a serious competiton for most memorable character in casablanca .
captain renault , brilliantly portrayed by claude rains in a role of a lifetime , was embodiment of perfect , almost unmatched balance between ethical corruption and physical charm .
despite being the undoubtful villain in almost entire movie , rains managed to make renault sympathetic character , and his final conversion to the side of good , symbolized in not so subtle gesture at the end of movie looked unnecessary .
rains also gave another dimension to the movie , making it even more ambiguous ; people who like to analyse movies to death discovered signs of homosexuality in renault’s relationship towards rick , and rick’s final words leave room for even more outrageous speculations .
together with well-drawn characters and exciting story , the movie was good in creating his own atmosphere .
professional nitpickers would probably have a field day in discovering numerous historical and geographical inaccuracies , but casablanca is still a shining example of hollywood ww2 movie that is beliavable , if not realistic .
any way , even if we don’t see it as a historical document , casablanca is movie that can be source of entertainment as well as infinite inspiration .