Sai and Shujath talk Cinema

Another one of those classics which you’ll always find on any compilation of greatest movies ever made. Like I had observed for It Happened One Night the fact that plot devices resembling Casablanca have been adapted into lots of movies (especially Indian) is a clear reason why this qualifies as a true classic.

The movie is set during the beginning of World War II in a place called Casablanca - where refugees from the Nazi regime get “exit visas” to flee to America via Lisbon. Amidst this background, the plot is about Humphrey Bogart who reluctantly has to help his lady love (Ingrid Bergman) escape with her husband (Paul Henreid). A major part of the movie focuses on Bogart’s ambiguous character, his interactions with various people around him and how his life changes again when Bergman arrives into his life once again. The best part according to me was the climax. Even though it might look predictable by today’s standards because of similar stuff one would have seen over time; you have to give credit to the filmmakers for coming up with it 65 years back.

This is only the second movie of Humphrey Bogart which I saw and his acting cum characterization is pretty much the same as it was in The Maltese Falcon. Ingrid Bergman is definitely the most beautiful actress among those who I’ve seen from the black and white era. Both of them have a great screen presence together. The screenplay is very engaging and the dialogue is great…which I must say I did not expect from a story like this.

Here is some trivia…the term “usual suspects” atually traces its origin back to this film. Also, Casablanca is the film with the maximum number of entries in the list of greatest movie quotes compiled by the American Film Institute. You can surely watch this and I bet you’ll never complain even once that it is dated.