Movie Details
| Title: | Casablanca | |
| Director: | Michael Curtiz | |
| Year: | 1942 | |
| Genre: | Drama | |
| Times Seen: | 1 | |
| Last Seen: | 06.12.09 |
Other Movies Seen By This Director (3)
- We're No Angels
- White Christmas
- Yankee Doodle Dandy
| Date Viewed | Venue | Note |
| 06.12.09 | Blockbuster | So yeah... I've never seen Casablanca. Even though The Maltese Falcon and The Treasure of the Sierra Nevada are two of my favorite movies. Somehow... this one has escaped me. Or... that's not exactly right. It's just one of those movies that I know will be so perfect for me that I've intentionally been slow to see. There aren't that many classic movies left that I know in advance I'll love. So... let's just say I'm pacing myself. In any event, I decided this was the night to watch this movie. And it Blu-Ray no less. And man... it was as great as I expected. Though, to be fair, I had slightly less of a visceral experience to this than I did with The Maltese Falcon or The Treasure of the Sierra Nevada. Plus - and this is just my take after one viewing - it seemed like the Bergman part could have been played by any number of early-40's actresses. She was more or less a potted plant in my mind. But who knows... that could change upon future viewings. And hey... as long as I'm on the topic of second-guessing classic films... does anyone else think this movie would have been much stronger without the Paris flashback? The story they filled in was just about the same as the story I'd imagined in my head before they showed it to me. I think a little bit of mystery about the characters' history together would have been just as (or perhaps more?) effective. But all of these things are nits. I really enjoyed this movie, and was convicted (though not surprised) by how much of this movie's plot I knew from popular culture. From the various catch phrases to the fog-filled finale I knew from Muppets Go To the Movies (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BCswxH6VNI), watching this movie for the first time was almost like watching a movie I hadn't seen since I was a kid but had vague recollections of. Bogart was perhaps at his most Bogarty in this movie, and watching his performance reminded me of looking at Mount Rushmore. You know that it hasn't always existed, but it's hard to imagine a world where it didn't. That sounds corny I know, but... dunno... that's what I was thinking while the movie was running. And man... I thought for sure Lorre would have been in this movie more that he was. Taken from us much too soon, he was. The biggest takeaway for me from this movie was Bogart's two scenes with the Bulgarian woman. The first is completely heartbreaking, both for his reaction and for what she's willing to do for her husband. The second is slightly redeeming, but I was struck with a sense that the couple had larger problems - problems that Bogart recognized - than it might seem on first glance. I really loved those two sequences. So yeah... no surprise here. This movie is great. And man... the Blu-Ray makes it look like the film was shot yesterday. I can't wait until we start getting classic noirs on Blu-Ray... Double Indemnity anyone? |