Casablanca

Casablanca is a love story set during World War II, in the unoccupied French area of Morocco called Casablanca. This town is filled with refugees who are waiting for exit visas to the United States, and German military whose job is to keep people from leaving. Rick is the owner of Rick's cafe, a popular meeting spot in Casblanca. He is a jaded, mysterious and unopinionated man who is always looking out for himself over anyone else. We meet many people in Rick's, anyone from high profile military men to common criminals always looking to make a buck off of someone else. Then we meet Victor Laszlo and Isla, who come into Rick's seeing exit visas so they can finally be safe. Victor is a leader of the French resistance, and is wanted by the Nazis, and Ilsa is his seemingly loving and devoted wife. They meet Rick, but Rick already knows Ilsa. And while Victor is trying to get them out of Casablanca, Ilsa is rekindling her romance that she has with Rick back in Paris which Victor was trapped in a German concentration camp and thought to be dead. We find out that Ilsa broke Rick's heart, and that she is the cause of his cold and distant demeanor. The rest of the film centers on Victor trying to get a hold of stolen (but missing) exit visas for himself and Ilsa and evading the Nazis, while Ilsa tries to choose between her love for Victor and the love that she still has for Rick.

I have seen this movie before, and it is one of my all time favorites. Yes, some of the love scenes and reactions that Ilsa has are corny and overexxagerated but that's what distinguishes this movie as a romantic and emotionally riveting classic. I identified with the characters, and their feelings of love and loss and trying to leave the complacency that is Casablanca. It highlights the real nature of war, and how it destroys lives and relationships, but also how it brings people like Ilsa and Rick together, even if it is only for a few days. It is a classic love story, and a film that I don't think that I could ever get tired of watching.