It's probably no stretch to say that Casablanca, arguably America's best-loved movie, has had more words written about it than any other motion picture. It contains a wide array of recognizable lines ("Here's looking at you, kid", "Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine", "Round up the usual suspects", "Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship", "We'll always have Paris", "The problems of three little people don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world").
The first time I saw Casablanca, I remember remarking how "modern" it seemed. While many movies that I have seen from the '30s and '40s appear horribly dated when viewed today, Casablanca stands up markedly well. The themes of valour, sacrifice, and heroism still ring true. The dialogue has lost none of its wit or cleverness. The atmosphere (enhanced by the sterling black-and-white cinematography), that of encroaching gloom, is as palpable as ever. And the characters are still as perfectly-acted and three-dimensional as they were more than fifty years ago.
It takes place about a year after the Germans invaded France. Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman) and her husband, Czech freedom fighter Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid), wander into Rick's Cafe in Casablanca. The two are on the run from the Nazis, and have come to the American-owned nightspot to lie low. But the German-controlled local government, headed by Captain Louis Renault (Claude Rains), is on the move, and Laszlo has to act quickly to get the letters of transit he came for, then escape. Little does Ilsa know that the cafe is run by Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart), the one true love of her life. When the two see each other, sparks fly, and memories of an enchanted time in Paris come flooding back.
After watching this film I had a much stronger grasp of film noir. Despite the rather serious nature of the film I found the lines to be inspirational. Indeed including typography within an image could have quite an interesting result, however it could also downgrade the quality of the imagery and could reflect and change the true meaning of the photo shoot. I found watching this film extremely useful and I do hope this will reflect in my final images.
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