Casablanca – Rick’s Cafe | Georgia Newman Film Studies

Auteur Signature film form

German expressionism – lighting and strong shadows
Purposeful camera movements – tracking shot into the cafe where it starts outside and goes inside
tracking shot in the cafe where you see everyone then focus in on and drops down on Sam, introducing him
Lighting – search light that passes the door – constant surveillance and danger
Functional and off screen lighting – helps give depth to the studio

Classical Hollywood film form

Production Context

Themes and Motifs

Rick – isolation metaphor? e.g he doesn’t have drinks with anyone
Theme of escape and leaving Casablanca is enforced through dialogue and transit papers
Motif – piano
reference to the letters of transit again – reinforces theme of escape and entrapment

Representation

multiple languages
Sam- only named black person in the film. He isn’t equal with Rick despite being his friend (but it was progressive at the time?)
Rick’s Cafe – place for everyone

Rick’s staff and girlfriends give information on what Rick is like (not all in this scene)
Rick’s cafe is like a sanctuary – high key lighting (?) and music
Desperate people e.g. selling jewellery
Money is shown as vitally important
Reinforcement of the message that Nazi’s are bad
We hear about Rick before we see him – anticipation, main character e.g. doesn’t care about status or drink with customers
Cheque – 2nd Dec 1941 – just before bombing of pearl harbour
Close up of the cheque – authorisation – he wrote OK Rick and he’s sighing off 1000 Franks – powerful
Rick’s playing chess – intelligent but he’s also playing alone which could symbolise inner conflict
Rick has status
What Rick say’s goes e.g. not letting someone in the cafe
‘You’re lucky the bar’s open to you’ – he has his principles
he is a cynic (said by someone else)- reinforces internal conflict
expositional dialogue
reference to the letters of transit again – reinforces theme of escape and entrapment
Plot being driven around the letters of transit