Opening:

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*
• Different genres – comedy (trumpet), war, documentary like, spy thriller*

 

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*
• 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*

 

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*
• 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*

 

Rick’s Cafe:

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

• establishing shot of the location
• 180 rule – tracking shot into the cafe (?)

 

Production Context

• Songs are old songs (cheaper) apart from As Time Goes By
• Functional lighting – adds depth (cheaper?)

 

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

 

More

• 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

 

Sam:

Auteur Signature film form

• spotlight on Sam
• Genre shifts – musical, wartime, romance/comedy
• German expressionism – strong shadows (e.g. big shadows of objects on the walls)
• motivated lighting – lights off when Rick puts the transit papers under the piano, highlights Sam

 

Classical Hollywood film form

• 180 rule
• cinematic space – tracking shot gives sense that we’re in a room
• action reaction shots between Ferrari and Rick
• Protagonist with a clear moral code and Ferrari represents unmoral code (good and bad guys)
• protagonist has clear external (Ilsa) and internal motive
• Linear narrative (one flashback to explain protagonist motivation)

 

Production Context

• knock on wood is an old song that they used because it was cheaper – it was already owned by WB. However, it still relates to the context, the people in the cinema and in the film have trouble. The song is saying don’t worry about your problems and be happy as well as being about luck, it’s an optimistic song that could link with Casablanca being a propaganda film.
• Hollywood was allowed to use nitrate still (silver nitrate) while nitrate was a resource needed for bombs because the government recognised film can be used for sustaining morale (escapism) and propaganda

 

Themes and Motifs

• motif – the piano
• letters of transit
• search light
• refugee/refugee crisis – ‘I don’t buy or sell human beings’
• luck

 

Representation

• the way that women and men are represented – Rick is cold-hearted to women
• no youth/children
• gender – mostly men (in the scene) – women represented as sex objects, men are the motivators (entertainer, cafe owner etc) and the women are just there
• Cast is from all around the world (many languages)
• Sam is the only black actor (named) in the film – represented as bellow Rick despite being friends. He works for Rick, he is an entertainer and doesn’t need more money or have enough time to spend the money that he already has. At the time it was a positive representation for the time, but not now.

 

Political Context

• knock on wood – troubles in Europe
• Dec 2 1941 (seen on cheque in previous scene) – just before Pearl Harbour
• America – isolating themselves from military involvement but financially supported England and gave them materials because they lost so many soldiers in the first world war
• Rick won’t sell/trade human beings

 

More

• Rick waits until the lights go out to put the transit papers under the piano
• Rick has principles – won’t sell the cafe (?) or human beings

 

Arrest:

Auteur Signature film form

• German expressionism – manipulation of shadow – Rick’s shadow is seen opening the safe – secretiveness
• tracking shot
• witty dialogue
• genre shift – war time, spy drama, comedy

 

Classical Hollywood film form

• illusion of space is manipulated despite not being a 4 walled room (pan, tracking shot, tilt and set design)
• sound completely cuts when Rick shuts the door
• control of space, editing, camera movement, sound editing is all around driving the narrative forward …
• depth of field is shallow – people in focus at the back, drinks in the front are not but comes into focus as they walk towards the drinks
• high contrast lighting
• command of space – wall or no wall
• 180 rule
• action reaction shots of Rick and Renault

 

Themes and Motifs

• corruption/gambling – Rick lets Renault win at roulette – foreshadowing of later

 

Political Context

• Rick ‘I stick my neck out for no one (/nobody?)’ – american isolation – Renault says ‘A wise foreign policy’ in return
• people trying to escape Casablanca

 

More

• we hear about Victor before we meet him just like we did with Rick

 

 

Ilsa:

Auteur Signature Film Form

• Change in genres – romance, war film
• manipulated shadows – shadow leaves on the walls

Classical Hollywood Film Form

• long duration shot (close up) of Ilsa (25 seconds)
• Action reaction shots – talking to each other
• functional lighting
• Soft focus and high key lighting (maybe Auteur signature)
• Shift from diegetic song (Sam playing it) to non-diegetic orchestral version (ominous – Sam,Rick, Ilsa)

Production Context

• functional lighting
• ‘As Time Goes By’ was the only song made for the film

Themes and Motifs

• motif – piano
• motif – ‘As Time Goes By’
• motif (?) – blue – Ilsa wore blue
• When Rick meets Laslow the theme repeates
• Theme (ATGB) repeats but nicer – Rick and Ilsa
• Theme repeats but not nice – war

Representation

• Ilsa treats Sam badly, she orders to play the song and sing it
• Ilsa spoken about in a certain way – ‘spoke about you in a way that made me extremely jealous’

Political Context

• ‘I put that dress away, when the German’s march out I’ll wear it again’ – Ilsa. When the film comes out the world was at war.

 

Flashback:

Auteur Signature film form

• motivated lighting – search light
• genre shifts – romance, war time drama, documentary footage
• motivated camera – zooms in on Rick and Ilsa when they’re on the sofa
• German expressionism – shadow of a window on the floor
• Ilsa appears at the centre of the door with light on her while wearing white, possibly like a ghost of the past coming back to haunt Rick but it’s also very angelic
• Camera tracks
• expressionist ? lighting
• Rick’s cafe – outside – search light
• rembrant lighting (top)  – lighting forehead/cheeks – Ilsa
• Side lighting – Rick

 

Classical Hollywood Film Form

• mainly linear narrative, but a flashback that is used to explore/show the protagonists motivation/feeling/past which is normal for a classical Hollywood film
• Montage edit (flashback) – whirlwind romance, cliche way to show things (Russia 1920’s before sound????)
• Close up of the note in the rain – visual metaphor – washed away
• Rain – reflects mode/tone ?
• Driving – fake background, shot right at them
• Good and bad guys
• Primary and secondary narrative
• low key lighting from side of Rick before flashback –  conflicted

 

 

Production context

• filmed on W.B. set – Burbanks studio
• ATGB – only song that was new for the film #
• reusing of documentary footage

 

Themes and Motifs

• motif – search light – surveillance
• motif – piano – it’s also in the flashback
• motif – ATGB – it plays in the background and then war time orchestral music plays and it plays again after the flashback – sparks the flashback
• romance
• war
• refugees
• ATGB to the national anthem (beginning of flashback) – they’re in France and France is free

 

Representation

• Sam is ordered around and calls Rick ‘boss’
• ‘where were you ten year ago’ reveal the age gap between Rick and Ilsa
• Ilsa wears a different outfit in every scene – glamorised

 

Political Context

• America were not in the war yet (propaganda, isolation was a bad idea) – ‘I bet they’re asleep all over America’ and ‘I bet they’re asleep in New York’ and ‘What time is it in New York?’
• war time – German’s are going to March in
• ‘I hate this war so much’ – Ilsa
• Paris taken over/occupied when the film is out. Most countries in Europe under command of fascist government

 

More

• repetition of the glass getting knocked over (Ilsa in the flashback and Rick after the flashback)
• Ilsa says ‘that’s too far ahead to plan’ in the flashback, like earlier when Rick said something similar in his cafe, suggesting he got the phrase from her

 

 

Ending:

Auteur Signature Film Form

• camera tracking in on Rick and Ilsa
• Camera tracking round to Rick and Laslow – Ilsa between the two men
• Genre – war spy drama, romantic, western (guns, Rick shots)

 

Classical Hollywood Film Form

• music rousing
• Close up on ‘Vichy water’

 

Production Context

• Not airport or aircraft – model/set – the fog hides the boundaries of the studio

 

Themes and Motifs

• non-diegetic ATGB theme

 

Representation

• Rick does the thinking for both himself and Ilsa, Ilsa is passive
• ‘someday you’ll understand that’ – patronising
• calls Ilsa ‘kid’
• two men making peace with each other, Ilsa off at the side tearful

 

Classical Hollywood 

• cinematic time and space, 180 rule, narrative logic, editing, camera etc all focused on driving the narrative forward because it’s a form of escapism (e.g. Great Depression)
• Linear narrative except for a flashback that reveals the protagonists motivations
• Protagonists have interior and exterior motivations as well as a clear moral code
• Primary and secondary narrative
• Studio’s owned everything, and had people like directors and actors on a contract. The paramount decree stopped this, so the studio system started to fall apart and adapt into new Hollywood with new film school students like Spielberg