Page 328 - DENG501_LITERARY_CRITICISM_AND_THEORIES

Literary Criticism and Theories

Notes Immediately before this last scene Rick’s confrontation with Ilsa (1:16.16 onwards) draws out their
true feelings. She begs for visas and pulls a gun when he refuses, still exhibiting bitterness about
Paris (‘As long as I have those letters I’ll never be lonely’). But then she crumbles, restates her love
and submits to his will (‘I don’t know what’s right any longer. You have to think for the two of us.
For all of us.’) when it is clear his feelings for her remain strong. This is one of many emotional
moments for Bergman’s character, during which there are several shots of her face in various
degrees of close-up. In Casablanca Bergman was in her artistic and visual prime, exuding qualities
variously described as a kittenish sexuality and a country girl wholesomeness. Audiences had
been waiting for a suitable follow up to her much admired Hollywood debut in Intermezzo three
years earlier. David Shipman says she is ‘superbly right and completely magical’ as Ilsa, and that
‘she and Bogart were memorable together and the film was a solid gold hit’, which set her up to
become one of the biggest Hollywood stars of the 1940s (in entry for Bergman in The Great Movie
Stars Vol 1). Both leading actors would be forever associated with these roles. Bogart had finally
achieved star rating via High Sierra and The Maltese Falcon the previous year, after twelve years in
minor parts and poor movies. He cleverly portrays Rick as a complicated man torn between an
idealistic past and a bitter present; his success in Casablanca (including an Oscar nomination) enabled
him to broaden from hard-boiled gangsters to romantic leads, notably his films with Lauren Bacall.
The confrontation scene leads to an ingenious closing plot sequence packed into the final 12
minutes in which Rick contrives a situation in which Ilsa and Laszlo escape together, while he gets
away with murder and keeps Renault on side. Film critic Roger Ebert asserts that this sequence
‘combines suspense, romance and comedy as they have rarely been brought together on screen’.
Although Casablanca has dark themes of repression, danger and lost love, the mood is not allowed
to become too serious because of the dry humour embedded in the sardonic dialogue exchanges,
particularly those involving Rick and Renault. To further lighten the tone there are also some
specifically comedic moments: a pickpocket lifts a wallet, then bumps into Carl, who recognises
him and immediately checks his own pockets (58.48); the bartender kisses Rick on both cheeks
(1:7.20) after he has rigged the roulette wheel for the Bulgarian couple; an elderly couple trying
out their sparse English on Carl have trouble telling the time (1:1.45) (He: ‘What watch?’; She: ‘Ten
watch’; He: ‘Such much?’; Carl: ‘You’ll get along beautifully in America’); and Renault accepting
his casino winnings immediately after he has closed Rick’s ostensibly because he is ‘shocked to
find that gambling has been going on’.
It is known that there were two scripts for the last day of shooting. With hindsight it is clear that
the version that was not used, which kept Rick and Ilsa together, would have diminished the
overall impact of the film, because it would have tarnished Rick with self-interest. The ending
actually filmed allows Rick a dignified exit, and a resolution of the inner turmoil between his
feelings for Ilsa and his hatred of the Nazis. It also enables the audience to feel good about his self-
sacrifice (‘I’m no good at being noble, but it doesn’t take much to see that the problems of three
little people don’t amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world’) and of his continued participation
in the French Resistance alongside Renault.
The richness of the supporting characters is also important: the corrupt owner of the rival club, the
weasily black marketeer, the heartless Gestapo commandant, and others, create a moral backdrop
for the crisis facing the lead characters and the decisions they take. Best of all is Claude Rains as
Renault, who manages a perfect balance between corrupt self-interest (‘I blow with the wind’ – a
cynical reference to the Vichy government) and personal charm. In some ways he is the chief
villain, but Rains makes him a sympathetic, amusing and believable character.
Within the Rick/ Laszlo/ Ilsa emotional triangle Rick can be seen as the flawed hero outcast from
his own land, contrasted with Laszlo’s official/ uncontaminated hero. From this perspective the
film provides a reassuring message that the American outlaw figure, and by extension the American
nation as a whole, can be true to their instincts even in a world war, a conflict they were originally
loathe to join. (In the Western the outlaw hero usually needs a semi-corrupt law official to help
him escape; Renault fills that role here.) As Gabbard observes ‘Casablanca offers the viewer benign
regression to a moment when right and wrong were clear cut and going off to war could be a
deeply romantic gesture.’

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