Ms. Taylor Period 2
APLAC
12 February 2012
“Casablanca:”
Argument of Evaluation
Director Michael Curtiz forever changed
the concept of cinematography in his 1942 film, “Casablanca.” Set mainly in a
suave café in a North African Port called Casablanca during World War Two, this
movie combines romance, action, history, music, and tragedy to create the best classic
movie unmatched in cinematic history. Humphrey
Bogart plays Rick Blaine, the intensely cold, cynical and bitter, up-scale club
owner. His friend calls him “at heart a
sentimentalist,” which becomes increasingly apparent throughout the film. Ingrid Bergman plays the astonishingly
beautiful Ilsa Lund who is caught between her rich and powerful husband and her
old love affair with Rick. Rick and Ilsa
met and fell in love in Paris before Ilsa deserted him without a goodbye after
the Nazi invasion. Years later, they encounter
one another in Rick’s Café Americana. Despite their efforts to ignore and
despise each other, both feel the passion rekindle and irresistible memories of
Paris consume especially when the club pianist, Sam, plays “As Time Goes By.”
Casablanca fits all the standards for a
classic movie. A good classic movie stands the test of time, has dynamic
characters, a multilayer plot, a sense of envelopment of the viewer, a great
cast, and finally, memorable quotes. It is indisputable that “Casablanca” is timeless. A BBC Reporter noted that “As time goes by, the appeal of Casablanca
shows no sign of diminishing” (rottentomatoes.com).
This is due to the raw
emotion expounded by the first-rate cast that goes unmatched in all of
Hollywood’s history. It is key in a great classic movie that the viewer cares
for the characters. The tears of
cold-hearted Rick penetrate deep while Sam plays “As Time Goes By.” The course of the movie, you will inevitably
find yourself enveloped in what happens to Rick and Ilsa.
A good movie has dynamic characters. Rick Blaine, though he calls himself “just a
saloon keeper,” becomes one of the most influential people in all of the island
of Casablanca. He is a veteran who lost the love of his life and ironically, turned
to his social club to spend his life alone.
People respect him and long for his approval and friendship, but he
remains a closed box until Ilsa returns and the power of memory takes
over. Ilsa, on the other hand, is
forever guilt-ridden for disloyalty to her husband Victor Laszlo, but she hates
to see Rick’s heart break. Her torn
heart will forever remain Rick’s. Rotten Tomatoes calls the ending “satisfying
logical, if not entirely happy” (rottentomatoes.com).
Rick nobly gives Ilsa up so that she can
escape to America despite her undying love for Rick, tempting an emotional
grasp by the viewer. Some critics
withhold that Ilsa is too selfish and Rick too selfless to emotionally
appreciate, but thus is the complications of love combined with war. There could not possible be a perfectly happy
ending that was logical to the story and background. These critics hardly have a voice among the
millions of “Casablanca” fans (nytimes.com).
“As Time Goes By,” is the beginning musical
motif to the opening of every single Warner Brothers movie in history. Chiefly, this represents America’s undying
love for “Casablanca.” The movie has countless
quotes that represent Hollywood romanticism.
Perhaps the most memorable is, “Here’s to lookin’ at you, kid.” This quote remains a symbolic motif of Ilsa
and Rick’s relationship and epitomizes the change we see in his character.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and
Sciences certainly has the credibility to decide the worthiness of a
movie. “Casablanca” received eight Academy
Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Screenplay, along with
countless other Oscars and prestigious awards (imdb.com). “Casablanca” received
a whopping 97% percent rating, utterly unmatched for Rotten Tomatoes (rottentomatoes.com). It is even rated number two of the best movies of
all time (Wikipedia.org). Need I say more? This quintessential romance will renew your faith
in Hollywood and humanity as a whole.
Works
Cited
Crowther, Bosley. Casablanca. November 27,
1942.
http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9C06E1DF1039E33BBC4F51DFB7678389659EDE
(accessed February 12, 2012).
Database, Internet
Movie. Awards for Casablanca. 1942. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0034583/awards
(accessed February 12, 2012).
Tomatoes, Rotten. Casablanca
(1942). 1942. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1003707-casablanca/
(accessed February 12, 2012).
Wikipedia. AFI's
100 Years 100 Movies. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AFI's_100_Years...100_Movies
(accessed February 12, 2012).
This was an excellent review of the movie. The organization created a nice flow, and I understood what I would be reading about from the clear topic sentences of each paragraph. Also, you fully explained why this movie fit the qualifications of a classic movie in a clear and concise way.You did a good job establishing ethos by listing the awards the movies has won, and by quoting several lines from the movie. From the tone of the review I could tell you were very passionate about what you were writing. If I were to change one thing, I would add a little more to the summary so the reader could know more about the movie. Overall, I thought this was a great review and argument!
ReplyDeleteI think that overall, this is a really good review of Casablanca. The whole piece flows nicely and your transitions are smooth through out the entire piece. By giving a clear definition of what a classic movie is, the reader does not have to question what the next paragraphs are going to be about. Your review definitely has a strong appeal to pathos based on your syntax, tone, and diction. You also did a nice job of stating an appeal to ethos by giving specific examples of awards that were won by the movie. All in all, this is a really good movie review and argument of evaluation.
ReplyDeleteLaila, This was a great review of Casablanca. The entire piece was very well-written and to the point. I thought it added greatly to both the flow of the piece and the argument itself as you defined what was meant by a "classic movie" in the first paragraph/summary and then further extended the definition in the following paragraph. Also, by pulling in quotes from the movie and incorporating them into the argument it further gives the reader a sense of the movie and compels them to watch it. Also, I thought the argument was greatly deepened through your use of historical context in that the movie is remembered through the opening song of Warner Brothers movies. Pulling the movie into the context (I feel) intrigues the reader to watch the movie in order to further understand why it has made such a great impact on the world of movies. My only advice would be to restate your thesis towards the end of the argument for further emphasis. Overall I felt the argument was very compelling and made it clear that the movie is a classic!(By Emma Richard)
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