Auteur Signature Film Form

• motivated camera movement e.g. when a subject walks past, the camera follows them
• tracking camera – down into the city (even though it’s actually edited)
• tracking shot of some people watching the plane
• Being shown the Bulgarian couple twice before being introduced to them due to motivated camera movement

Classical Hollywood Film Form

• characters have psychological motivations – they want to leave Casablanca
• montage of refugees and people being arrested
• document footage of refugees
• shown some characters before we are introduced to them
• 180 rule – when coming off of the plane

Production Context

• Hal Wallis
• All shot on WB set/studios because of money
• Budget film making – studio and model of a plane and the background is a painting (city and air crafts

Themes and Motifs

• Theme of deceit
• motif – round up usual suspects
• motif – plane – escape

Representation

• no children
• multiple languages being spoken

Political Context

• world war 2
• refugees
• man was shot in front of Petain – visual criticism of vichy government. Mid-shot of Petain going down to a murdered French resistance sympathiser, French national anthem.
• Close up of the sign – freedom equality brotherhood after the man is murdered
• Unoccupied France
• Vichy government
• Montage, V/O, documentary footage, animated map
• Glove and V/O saying people in Europe are trapped and trying to leave
• Refugee crisis

More

• ‘the scum of Europe’ has come to Casablanca, set up to be undermined later
• Structure – second shot of the Bulgarian refugees when they see the plane (maybe we’ll be on a plane), theme of escape
• Montage of people being rounded up and the cutting rate reinforces the message (link to how Curtiz had fled Europe and he might be trying to show his opinion?)
• Contrast of powerful/rich people and people in chaos being rounded up/vulnerable
• Emblem of free french resistance on papers
• Different genres – comedy (trumpet), war, documentary like, spy thriller