The rise of our spiritual awakening movies with movies every year. The internet, cinemas and DVDs help us to be »up to date« with the new movie trends and give us some conversation material while drinking coffee with friends. But to be honest, we only talk about the latest movies and how cool the special effects look like. With the rebirth of the 3D cinematic experience we are even more able to feel part of the movie.
Classical movies are all but forgotten in this twister of new Hollywood blockbusters. Casablanca is one of the classical movies you have heard about from your grandparents, at least I have. I always thought a classical movie cannot be interesting or even entertaining. Now I am happy to say that I was wrong. The movie already enchanted me at the beginning. The intro music gave me goose bumps and the introductive narrative, which explains the setting of the movie, the final years before the start of the Second World War. Of course it is not Morgan Freemans dramatic voice that raises the quality of the introductory part.
However the introduction pulls you right into the movie. You forget that the movie is filmed in black and white; the first shot of the streets of Casablanca appear very colorful with the intense music. With enough imagination, you do not need 3D technology to get the feeling “that you are standing on the crowded streets”, the power of this movie is that it pulls you into the scene, a trait very few of our modern movies are able to use.
The plot of the movie is very simple. We get to know Rick, portrayed by Humphrey Bogart, a saloon owner and a highly respected person, even from the side of the authorities. During his stay in Paris, Rick falls in love with Illsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman), but is left heartbroken, when she does not show up at the train station, when they are scheduled to leave for Marseille. Illsa later comes to Casablanca with an interesting companion, Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid). Laszlo is a notorious underground activist who works against the Third Reich and who has also been able to escape from one of their concentration camps. The recently arrived pair wants to find a way to flee Casablanca to Lisbon and later to America. The plot thickens with the arrival of Major Heinrich Strasser, who is detirmined to keep Laszlo in Casablanca.
The story of the movie will make you laugh at sometimes, but it will also push you on the edge of shedding tears. The love triangle, between Rick Illsa and Laszlo, is first hard to understand, not until the end of the movie when it is resolved.
The musical score in this movie is also very enjoyable. It is very interesting to listen to »classical 1950′ music« which really brings color and emotion to all the scenes in the movie.
