Casablanca is an American drama comedy that was release on November 26, 1942. It was released by Warner Bros. and it is in black and white. The film is directed by Michael Curtiz and stars Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid. The crew did not expect Casablanca to do well and thought it was going to be “just another Hollywood” film. It went on to win three Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Writing. It has gone onto become an iconic film over the years due to the characters, line and theme. It is also on a plethora of “Best Films of All Time” lists.
The story of Casablanca follows Rick Blaine a man running a high end bar in Casablanca in December of 1941. His “cafe” attracts a ton of different clientele including refugees, French, Italian and German officials and criminals as well. One day he is given a “letters of transit” that was obtained by murder and asked to hide it. These would allow refugees to travel freely throughout Europe. A few days later, a perturbed Blaine sees his former lover, Ilsa Lund, come into the bar. She is accompanied by her husband Victor Lazlo, who is a Czech Resistance leader. The three become entangled in a story that involves the German government looking for a runaway prisoner and more importantly Blaine may be falling back in love with Lund in this time of war.
I like to combine artistic choices and camera angles and choices since I think they’re closely related in terms of using them in film. I loved the use of moving the camera as an artistic choice. A man is running away from the police, so the camera follows him. Someone is walking across the room after a conversation, the camera also follows them. I like it when moving camera works instead of just having one anchored at one point. I also like the tight shots of the people when they were talking. It brings an intimacy you don’t get in a lot of films. The close-ups, especially of Lund, lets us invest emotionally and get connected with the film.
The cinematography in Casablanca was really neat. The setting of Casablanca is a vibrant, living one. And it ties in with the cinematography well. Even with it being black and white, you could tell this is a lively place. It looked like a living place. The tavern was full of action, romance and mystery throughout each scene. The ending of the film is great as well. The use of fog as Lund and Lazlo walk away into the fog for the final time was awesome. As well as the overall look of the airport and planes in general.  Blaine’s bar, “Rick’s Café American,” is also a great setting since it houses a majority of the scenes in the film. Patrons, both good and bad, funnel in and out, as this bustling bar is only not going when it’s closed late at night.
