Casablanca - film education

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CONTENTS:
PAGE 2
Introduction
PAGE 5
Character analysis
Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart), Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman)
PAGE 6 Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid)
PAGE 7 Captain Renault
PAGE 8 Strasser
Clip 2 – Ilsa and Rick in Paris
Clip 3 – The Marseillaise
PAGE 11
Discussion questions
© Film Education 2007. © 2007 Park Circus Limited. All rights reserved.
Casablanca © 1943 Turner Entertainment Co. A Time Warner Company.
All Rights Reserved.
1
 INTRODUCTION
These study notes, linked to key sequences from the film, are aimed at AS/A2 Film Studies and
Media Studies. A Level students studying History or Politics may also find them useful.
Elements in the Highers Media Analysis include representation, purpose and narrative structure.
They aim to bring the classic film Casablanca to a new audience through contextualisation and
analysis.
© Film Education 2007. © 2007 Park Circus Limited. All rights reserved.
Casablanca © 1943 Turner Entertainment Co. A Time Warner Company.
All Rights Reserved.
2
 HISTORICAL CONTEXT AND SETTING
You may well be able to quote (or misquote!) some of the dialogue from Casablanca even if you
have never seen it. ‘Play it, Sam’; ‘We’ll always have Paris’ and ‘I think this is the beginning of
a beautiful friendship’ have become part of the lexicon of film history and have been voted some
of the most memorable film quotations of all time.
Casablanca was first screened in New York on 26 November, 1942, coinciding with the Allied
invasion of North Africa and the capture of the city of Casablanca. It was more widely released
on 23 January, 1943, during the high-profile meeting between Churchill and Roosevelt in
Casablanca itself. The critical reception to the film was generally good, and it was nominated
for eight Academy® Awards and won three: the Academy® Awards for Best Picture, Directing
and Writing: Adapted Screenplay. The main theme song, ‘As Time Goes By’, also became a
great hit.
To understand the reason why this film is deemed a classic, new audiences need to consider
the historical context of the film in a way that the audience in 1943 didn’t need to.
If you have seen the film before, these notes are designed to highlight some areas that you may
not have considered before or may wish to use as a basis for discussion. However, the first
section here aims to provide some broad explanation of the political context, so that users from
all areas of interest can use these points as a way into the text.
The film is set in Casablanca, Morocco in the early days of the Second World War. Morocco was
a French Colony up until 1956. The main agents of action represented in the film are the Vichy
government, the Nazis and the Resistance.
Vichy – this is the name of the regime
that took power in France between 1940
and 1944. A power sharing agreement was
reached between the Nazi and Vichy
parties, resulting in the partition of France.
The French government had to pay the
costs of the German troops in the country,
and allow the German army to arrest
whoever they wanted. This is famously
featured in Casablanca, when we see the
Nazi army march into Paris, forcing Sam
and Ilsa to leave. Many French saw the
arrangement between the Vichy
government and the Nazis as a betrayal.
The Vichy government were loyal to and
respectful of the Nazis. This surrender
incensed many French people,
encouraging them to join the Resistance.
© Film Education 2007. © 2007 Park Circus Limited. All rights reserved.
Casablanca © 1943 Turner Entertainment Co. A Time Warner Company.
All Rights Reserved.
3
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 The Resistance – this is the name given to French nationals and others fighting against the
oppression and suffering caused by the Nazi and Vichy regimes. They took enormous personal
risks, working behind enemy lines and helping the Allies, through gathering information and
carrying out various other missions. In the film we meet Victor Laszlo, a Czech national, who we
come to learn is an important figure in the Resistance movement, making Ilsa’s role in
supporting Laszlo all the more vital.
The Nazi Party – the Nazi party were a force in German politics between 1920 and 1945. Their
policies included the eradication of Jews, Gypsies, homosexuals and the mentally and
physically ill, as well as encouraging the domination of the Aryan ‘master race’. In Casablanca
we meet Strasser, who represents the Nazi presence in Casablanca; his actions are indicative
of the party ideology.
CASABLANCA – CONTEXT AND SETTING
During the Second World War, many people were displaced from their countries, either to fight
(such as American soldiers in England or German soldiers in Morocco), or fleeing persecution,
as Laszlo is.
In a geographical sense, the choice of Casablanca as a setting is essential to the way that the
narrative develops, as all the characters are, in a sense, visitors there. Casablanca’s connection
to France, but geographical distance, means that the representatives of Vichy France, the
Resistance, and the Nazi Party behave in ways that would not have been possible in, for
example, occupied France. Here these groups are forced to co-exist, resulting in moments of
tension and danger for our characters.
Rick’s character is able to maintain a key role in the middle of these complex relationships as
he appears, at this stage in the war, to be ‘neutral’, coming from a country which had not yet
joined the war on either side. However, his character undergoes a transformation during the
course of the film, as his initial position as self-interested club owner changes to reveal his
complicated relationship with Captain Renault, and allegiance to Ilsa and the wider Resistance
movement that she and Laszlo represent.
© Film Education 2007. © 2007 Park Circus Limited. All rights reserved.
Casablanca © 1943 Turner Entertainment Co. A Time Warner Company.
All Rights Reserved.
4
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 CHARACTER ANALYSIS
The main characters that we meet offer a range of contradictory positions. By considering them
individually we can see how they change and develop and how their characteristics can be
interpreted as standing for wider positions and representing the huge international tensions of
the time.
RICK BLAINE (HUMPHREY BOGART)
Blaine is initially presented to us as a man who is only out to
preserve himself and if this means providing the best table for
Strasser and his men, or ensuring that Renault is
accommodated then so be it. As the narrative progresses, his
character reveals a morality that would have been familiar to
film-goers at the time and to anyone who has seen The
Maltese Falcon (Huston, 1941). The attributes of Rick and
arguably of Bogart in a number of other films (for example To
Have and To Have Not (Hawks, 1944), and The African Queen
(Huston, 1951)) include an unconventional hero, someone
who is on the outside of authority groups such as the police.
In Casablanca reference is made to his profiteering from
trading arms during conflicts. However, on closer consideration his choices reveal a morality that
it seems he is trying to keep secret. In Casablanca we see Rick taking great personal risks and
working for a greater good. Considering the difference that celebrity makes to the possible role
played and direction of the narrative is also interesting. It is important to remember that Bogart
was a major star (as were other members of the cast). His star persona as suggested above was
an unconventional hero, and to see his name on the poster or in cinema trailers may have led
audiences to have certain expectations of his character. Can you think of contemporary stars that
seem to stand for particular attitudes or behaviours?
The character of Blaine has also been interpreted as standing for the US, as he too is reluctant to
get involved in the war and during this initial period is clearly seen to be serving his own interests.
ILSA LUND (INGRID BERGMAN)
Ilsa functions as an important link in the narrative. She
connects Laszlo and Blaine, providing them and us with an
opportunity to consider life under those conditions from a
very particular perspective. Ilsa meets Rick in Paris; her love
is thwarted by the circumstances in which she lives. The
narrative complications that make her important are
essentially based on her attempt to behave in a normal way,
and in this case this is through her pursuit of romantic
relationships. During Rick and Ilsa’s final scene, before the
Nazis march on Paris, they break their own rule and ask each
other about their pasts. It is then that we learn that she
© Film Education 2007. © 2007 Park Circus Limited. All rights reserved.
Casablanca © 1943 Turner Entertainment Co. A Time Warner Company.
All Rights Reserved.
5
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