As time goes by......

You must remember this....
A kiss is just a kiss, a sigh is just a sigh....
The fundamental things apply...
As time goes by....

These are the words to the famous song we all recognize Casablanca by ... you've probably heard the tune but didn't know what it was...

WARNING: This post is verrrrry long... go get a glass of Coke or something before you settle own to read this ;)

Anyways, if you haven't seen the film yet, but plan to, you may not want to read further - mega spoiler alert...

At first, I thought what more I could write about a movie that is arguably the most reviewed & discussed... But then I decided to write anyway - from the POV of a newly initiated Classics fan...

My first reaction to Casablanca's intense screenplay was - wait a sec, I don't watch war movies - what am I doing here... And then, after shutting up the little voice in my head, I got through the initial layers of the film and got into the groove of things...

And to my surprise, the story isn't dated - I thought it might be, considering it was shot in 1942 when wars were all around... Perhaps it is a sign of the times that war struggles and the fight for freedom are as current today as they were back in 1942.

Back to the film, set in French Morocco - as exotic a locale as one might get, the film is full of rich texture and colorful characters (it is a B&W movie - so, pun not intended)... The initial voice over sets the mood - about the arduous refugee trail from Paris to Marseilles to Oran to Casablanca, which is basically in Africa, but is unoccupied France...

Casablanca is one of those films, where, no matter how many times you watch it, you don't remember the exact dialogues - because a) the dialogue is so quick & witty - both humorous & sarcastic at the same time and b) they were delivered so wonderfully by the actors that you paid more attention to the minutae of expressions during the dialogue more than the actual words...

That being said, this film has singularly given us the most number of memorable one liners - be it - "here's looking at you kid" or "We'll always have Paris" or "Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship"...

The Epstein twins did a wonderful job with the screenplay & dialogue I think - for instance:

Yvonne: Where were you last night?
Rick: It was so long ago I don't remember...
Yvonne: Will I see you tonight?
Rick: I don't make plans that far ahead...

More of the snappy quotes can be found here... go on and read some of them - I'll wait :)

Bogart is the man... seriously! He definitely puts the S in smoldering....What a wonderful supporting cast - Peter Lorre, Sydney Greenstreet, Claude Rains, Paul Henreid - wonderful, wonderful stuff ... they carry the movie beautifully on their more-than-able shoulders...

And the lady - Ingrid Bergman...as Ilsa Lund, she has perfectly portrayed the part of a woman torn between deep passion and fierce loyalty - towards to different men of course :) ... As Victor Laszlo's (Paul Henreid) wife, she is, as Bogey puts it in the end, 'part of his work, the thing that keeps him going' - him being one the cornerstones of the underground movement to free France from the Third Reich - she is the kind of inspiration that builds a life and makes you want to make the world a better place - and in this case, literally, make the free world a better place... and even as the cynical Rick puts it, 'she is not just another woman'...

Our main man, Mr.Bogart - from the cynical, saloon-owner (as he calls himself) to the no-nonsense businessman to the rank sentimentalist - this movie has demanded his full range of acting skills... I mean, the look that passes over his face when he sees Ilsa after all those years - you see a hint of softness only to be replaced in a flash by such burning hatred - and all this after seeing him stone-cold in the first 20 mins ... this is the stuff legends are made of...

Before I get into the love story that is an undercurrent to this film, I must stop and say a few words about the cafe that stages all this - Rick's Cafe Americain (that is not a typo - that's the way it is spelled)...

Those of you who know me, know how I dislike drinking & smoking - yet, instead of being appalled at the amount of booze and tobacco in this film, I felt it contributed as much to the setting & atmosphere as much as any of the characters ... Rick's - the place to be! From the opening bars of Dooley Wilson's 'It had to be you' - a song I greatly love, it being featured in several rom-com's in different cover versions of course - but to hear the man sing it in the original, live bar - it brought such a nice feeling of familiarity & warmth, I cannot say enough ... I would have gladly paid to sit in a quiet corner (of course there is no such thing as 'quiet' at Rick's) in Rick's - either with Sasha or Karl, just to observe...

This is not the typical story where they spend half a reel telling you how the leading pair fell in love - just 3-4 scenes where the intense bond between Bergman & Bogart are portrayed - they definitely look like they belong together...the easy rapport, the palpable chemistry...wonderfully done... Sam, the performer at Rick's is the only one privy to the details of the Rick-Ilsa relationship history and he stands by his boss with indubitable loyalty...

Today's movies can learn a thing or two about plot twists from this movie - I mean, who would've expected that Rick would fo a 180 and put Ilsa on the plane with Laszlo - didn't everything he said and did upto that point indicate that he planned to turn Laszlo in, get away to Lisbon with Ilsa to take the clipper to America? And Capt. Renault, who thought he wouldn't turn Rick in for shooting Maj. Strasser? "Round up the usual suspects" he says!

Here's the thing about all the main characters in the film - they all have questionable morals and pasts but you love them anyway... Here's what I mean:

Rick Blaine: Wanted fugitive, ran guns to Ethiopia, owner of Rick's
Ilsa Lund: ditched Blaine at the train station, wife of the several-times-reported-dead Laszlo, deeply in love with Rick
Capt. Renault: Clearly a womanizer, a 'poor' corrupt govt. official, also an exit visa provider - for a steep price
Ferrari: Exit-visa blackmarket monopolizer, owner of the Blue Parrot
Ugarte: Exit-visa blackmarketer, more reasonably priced than Renault
Karl: Maitre'd and participant in the underground movement

Now onto the "love" story - I'd heard the million$ line "Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world, she walks into mine" before - but now I know exactly why he said that :-) - the lady is a trophy - no wonder the until now unshakeable Rick crumbled to pieces, no wonder his stoic facade fell away in the face of his one true love...

The look on Ilsa's face when she walked into Rick's & recognized Sam, the look of hesitant recognition on Sam's face... that said it all... what depth there was to Rick's & Illsa's past...

Ilsa's love for Rick is clear in every scene she has with him, at the same time, her scenes with the straight-as-an-arrow-decent Laszlo show us her faith, respect & adoration for him - it is not easy to portray such conflict and Ms.Bergman has done this effortlessly...

To have the love of a man like Rick - that is the stuff dreams are made of (yes, I am clearly in love with Rick's character) and like I said before, to have the love of a woman like Ilsa... well gentlemen, that would make your life...

My take away from the film was - sometimes the right thing to do will break hearts, almost always, doing the right thing will cause pain but has to be done anyway...

The ending of the movie is much much debated and I can understand why - if you ask me, happily ever after is not all its cracked up to be (no, I am not bitter) - Rick did the right thing - for all of them - by putting her on the plane and letting Laszlo go... he literally changed the world... Now how many movie characters can boast of that (superheroes apart, that is)... So what if he was as crushed he was, in letting her go, as he was in the train station when he read her goodbye note in Paris? [Richard, I cannot go with you or ever see you again. You must not ask why. Just believe that I love you. Go, my darling, and God bless you. Ilsa. ]

I could go on and on - having watched the movie thrice in 3 days, scenes & dialogues now randomly pop into my pretty little head (ok , not pretty or little) and I end up spending a few minutes chuckling quietly ... This movie is now officially at the top of my faves list...

Till the next post... 'here's looking at you kid'... ta!