Here's looking at you, kid
!Spoiler alert!
Just watched Casablanca for the first time. I'd already seen two Bogart movies (In a Lonely Place, The Maltese Falcon) and this one is another great film.
The dialogues are a true gem: witty and sharp. Every line carries weight, no empty talk. The way Ilsa looks so uncertain, the way Rick looks at her with so much tenderness and pain at the end. And his character growth? From 'I stick my neck out for nobody' to shooting Nazi Major just so the love of his life can run away with her husband? Perfect! The whole scene was shot in fog, giving it such a mystic, romantic, bittersweet touch.
The story behind it makes it even more exciting. The cast and crew treated it like just another studio assignment—the script was being written daily while shooting and they didn't even know how the movie ends until the final scene was shot. Bergman didn't know who she'd end up with (which in fact made her performance even more convincing), and Bogart hated his romantic lines and thought the whole thing was 'ridiculous', and the relationship between the two were a bit tense (due to Bogart's wife). But the audience and critics didn't agree: it won Best Picture and was a box office hit.
The filmmakers thought they were doing just another movie and it turned out to be a timeless masterpiece of cinema
What do u think?