I just re-watched this movie, after only having seen it once when I was little. It didn't make much of an impression on me the first time, and I decided not to write a review based on that experience (especially considering how terrible a review I would have given Gone With the Wind if I had based it only on my childhood impressions).
I really enjoyed seeing it again. It all made so much more sense to me. The circumstances and politics (not to mention the complicated relationships) made so much more sense this time around.
Really a classic movie. It is packed full of famous lines. As mentioned, I had only seen it once years ago, but I still knew practically all the lines in the last scene. That's the sign of a pretty amazing script.
The plot revolves around Rick, a bar owner in Casablanca, a part of Vichy Occupied France in Morocco. He is minding his own business, keeping his hands clean while WWII rages, when lost love Ilsa arrives with her husband, Victor Laszlo, an important Czech leader on the run from the Germans. Rick and Ilsa had been in love in Paris before the Occupation, and had planned to run away together. Instead, she sent a note to meet him at the train, saying she wasn't coming and not much more. Rick is understandably angry, and still clearly hung up on her, despite holding a nasty grudge.
He has become bitter and cynical, and only looks out for himself. Even though he has the ability to help get Ilsa and her husband out of Casablanca, he is resentful and refuses to be of any assistance. Ilsa finally gets him to listen to her story, and explains that she had married Victor before she had met Rick, out of a sense of admiration and respect rather than true love. She had fallen in love with Rick after being told that Victor had died. Though Rick is the man she truly loves, when she found out that Victor was alive, near Paris, and ill, she returned to him out of loyalty. She says she doesn't have the strength to leave Rick again, and he agrees to help get Victor out of the Casablanca, while she plans to stay behind with Rick.
At the last minute, Rick famously tells her that he is sending her with Victor: "Inside of us, we both know you belong with Victor. You're part of his work, the thing that keeps him going. If that plane leaves the ground and you're not with him, you'll regret it. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life."
In my opinion, she should have stayed with Rick. Life's too short and love too precious to be wasted.
All the acting was great, and I particularly liked Claude Rains as Louis Renault, a shady character who ultimately does the right thing. My favorite scene was probably when the Germans were singing a German soldier song, and Laszlo gets the others in the bar to drown them out with the French National Anthem. A bit reminiscent of the UW marching band drowning out USC's incessant playing of Conquest! in 1991. If you've ever been to a USC game and heard how many times they play that song, you'll understand why this was so important (and why the band was named MVP of the game). I digress!
Anyway, a really great movie, and I'm glad I watched it again to have the opportunity to really appreciate it.
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