Casablanca: A Detailed Analysis of Heroism, Love, and Sacrifice

This essay provides an in-depth analysis of the film Casablanca, focusing on the theme of heroism as embodied by the protagonist Rick Blaine. Set during World War II, the film explores Rick's internal conflict as he grapples with his love for Ilsa Lund and her need to escape Casablanca with her husband, Victor Laszlo, a key figure in the resistance against the Third Reich. The essay discusses the sacrifices made by Rick, his moral compass, and the historical context of fascism that shapes the characters' decisions. It also touches upon the film's iconic music, particularly "As Time Goes By," and its role in enhancing the romantic and political dimensions of the story. Ultimately, the essay argues that Casablanca is a timeless emblem of heroism, where personal passion is sacrificed for the greater good and love transcends personal desires.

Running head: FILM HISTORY
FILM HISTORY
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1FILM HISTORY
Introduction
The movie Casablanca is an American romantic drama that was based on the stage
play, “Everybody Comes to Rick’s” during the Second World War The movie was directed
by Michael Curtiz in the year 1942 and earned $3.7 million in the box office. The movie
focussed on an American expatriate who chose to help the woman he loves and her husband
in order to escape from the Vichy- controlled city of Casablanca (Ronfard, 2017). Moreover,
Casablanca has been considered one of the best known romantic films and moreover this is a
kind of movie that makes people rethink and meditate about the world around them. The
thesis statement for the movie is that the move Casablanca is an emblem of heroism, where
the protagonist of the story sacrificed his passion for his love and also for the sake of all
humanity.
Discussion
In the movie Casablanca, the main protagonist of the story is Rick Blaine whose role
was played by Humphrey Bogart. Rick was on the Nazi’s blacklist as he was considered as
anti-fascist and had a history of fighting in the Spanish Civil War against the Franco. In
Casablanca, Rick had his own café cum night club, where he was living his life peacefully
keeping himself out from any political things, but his former lover returned to his life and set
his life into turmoil, where he sacrificed his passion for the sake of his love (Isenberg, 2017).
The other two major characters are Ilsa Lund and Victor Laszlo. The female protagonist is
Ilsa Lund played by Ingrid Bergman, who fell in love with Rick, without knowing each
other’s history. She had been married to Lazlo before meeting Rick, but mysteriously ditched
Rick and went back to her husband Laszlo. In Casablanca Rick and Ilsa met, where Ilsa
requested Rick to help them out so that they could escape to America. The other influential

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character in the movie is Victor Laszlo played by Paul Henried. Laszlo was married to Ilsa,
who was portrayed as an enemy of the Third Reich and was arrested by them. However he
escaped and fled to Casablanca fro where with the help of Rick he and Ilsa got an escaped
visa to America.
In the Casablanca movie, I am satisfied with the ending of the movie as how Rick had
to make the hardest decision in life for the sake of his love. At the end of the movie, Rick
sacrificed his passion and love and helped his former lover and her husband to escape to
America. As the movie is all about love and romance, the ending of the film is beautifully
portrayed, as it showed love makes people do any of the impossible things on earth
(Rosenbaum, 2017). One of the dialogues of Rick Blaine that showed his sacrifice for the
sake of love, “I’m saying it because it's true. Inside of us, we both know you belong with
Victor. You're part of his work, the thing that keeps him going. If that plane leaves the
ground and you're not with him, you'll regret it. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow
but soon and for the rest of your life” (Bioglio & Pensa, 2017).
There is biasness in the film, when Rick tells his lover that for them Paris is there, but
back of his mind Ricks knows well that Ilsa and Rick will never reunite again
(Knickerbocker, 2014). In order to send Ilsa with her husband Laszlo, he confronts Isla that
she should go with him, and for Rick and Ilsa they have Paris.
The most likeable character in the movie Casablanca is Rick Blaine, who in spite of
dealing with many influential people he always tried to not to be socialized with any people
and customers. He portrayed as an important person who sacrificed everything, even sold his
café for the sake of his love, so that he could help his former love and her husband to escape
to America (Merchan, 2016). He is symbolized in the movie as the man of man, who tends to
help his former lover at the hour of need, even though she betrayed him when Rick needed

3FILM HISTORY
her by his side. Whereas, the least affable character is Ugarte, played by Peter Lorre and
has been a member of criminal underground in Casablanca. His main aim is to make profit by
selling letters of transit to refugees and for that he could even murder people.
Casablanca is considered as a great film of all the time because of the famous
characters played by Humphrey as Rick and Ingrid as Ilsa. Apart from this the dialogues in
the movie are marvellous, that is every line is considered as gem and beautifully illustrated
the overall meaning of the film. However, the music by Max Steiner set the perfect mood for
drama (Wegele, 2014). In the song where, Laszlo was seen leading the patrons in “La
Marseillaise” considered as Hollywood’s best moments. Being one of the famous movies, it
should definitely receive an Oscar and in the year 1943, the movie received the Oscar
awards.
The role of Sam played by Dooley Wilson is a famous character in the movie who
tends to be one of the oldest friends of Rick, who is acquainted with Rick’s past history. Sam
seemed to be acting as an older brother to Rick who tends to be there every time for Rick.
Even when Rick sold his café to Ferrari, he makes Ferrari promise that he should give 25% of
the profit to Sam (Psathas, 2014). In the movie Sam represented as a “New Negro” who
helped in bringing Rick and Ilsa back together by playing their old song, “As Time Goes By.”
One of the best things in Casablanca is the music and was composed by one of the
greatest Hollywood composers Max Steiner. He tends to draw the leitmotif by changing the
melody and by altering the rhythms of the music. The song, “As Time Goes By” was
originally sung by Herman Hupfield, but Max altered the variation in the song, to make it
appealing to the audience (Marcantonio, 2015). Apart from this the nondiegetic concept of
music in Casablanca that provided an evocative score in the movie that tends to connect with
the romantic and political aspects in the film. The songs enriched the overall story by

4FILM HISTORY
connecting it with the political and romantic context within the film and the songs “As time
Goes By” also emphasis on the reunion of Rick and Ilsa.
The film Casablanca is related to our history course as it demonstrated the concept of
fascism and the impact of it on the society. During the World War II, the Nazis in Casablanca
tried to organize the country by imposing their rules and regulations, so that they could get
the control of the economy as well as their economy system. In Casablanca it has been shown
that the Nazi positioned a spotlight at the top of the roof in order to let people know that they
were under the surveillance of Nazi (Rosenbaum, 2017). Apart from this, fascism has also
been seen in the movie that is related to the history course. It shows that the fascists
incarcerated many people and continue to do the same from every corner of the city. Some
characters also have shown fighting against those wars in order to escape from the fascist
regime.
Fascism in the movie Casablanca illuminated tension of war, where people tend to
escape to America from the Nazis regime in the desire for peace (Isenberg, 2017). It has
shown in the movie that in order to escape from the Nazi, Ilsa and her husband Laszlo seek
help from Rick so that they could escape to America in the desire of peace.
Conclusion
From the above conclusion it could be concluded that Casablanca has been considered
one of the famous evergreen movie of love, drama and romance. The movie portrayed the
scene during the World War II, where the Fascist tends to take control of Casablanca. Apart
from the characters, the music in the movie also played significant role by connecting the
romance and politics together.

5FILM HISTORY
References
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Espionage, and the Battle for North Africa in World War II". Strategic Visions, 17(1).
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Wegele, P. (2014). Max Steiner: Composing, Casablanca, and the Golden Age of Film
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