Film Review: "Casablanca"

"Casablanca" is one of those films which remains a classic to this day. It's a tale of a lost love set in the time of World War II, as refugees from other nations come to Casablanca, Morocco to obtain visas to go to Lisbon, and then to the US. The story follows Rick (Humphrey Bogart) as the owner of a bar, when his lost love Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman) comes with the known leader of a resistance movement, Lazo. Rick is in possession of letters of transit, which will allow anyone to leave freely, which was obtained from some late German convoys. As to who killed those convoys, I think it says someone who died at the start, and the letters were obtained by some other guy who also got arrested, but not before giving the letters to Rick.

During the course of the story, we find out that Rick and Ilsa were in love long ago, in Paris, when she's thought her husband, Lazo, was dead. She was all set to go with him and leave, as he was also a resistance fighter and about to be arrested, but she found out at the last minute that Lazo was alive, and she's couldn't go with him. Rick held a grudge ever since, and initially was not willing to help Lazo escape because of his anger at her. Eventually, he gives in, even shooting the German officer in charge to help them escape to Lisbon.

It's a nice story, well done, and not overly drawn out. Short and sweet. Bogart and Bergman display classic Hollywood acting, not the kind we see nowadays; a stylized type of acting, to me. And this movie is filled with such famous quotes as, "Play it, Sam," "Here's looking at you, kid," and "Louis, I think this is the begginning of a beautiful friendship."

It's hard to truly judge this film, because it's such a classic. What I can say is that it's a solid, entertaining, and well-crafted and well-acted film that still stands as a picture of quality in this day and age.