Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1942) :"It seems love has triumphed over virtue." Not.

[C Arthur]

First there’s Rick the slightly stoic, unlikely hero of Casablanca. Then there’s Ilsa the beautiful love interest of the film. Rick and Ilsa were together at one point in the story; once upon a time in Paris. There were conflicts, commitments and war that got in the way of their relationship. It isn’t clear why at first but Ilsa leaves him waiting for her at a train station. This tragic back-story helps shape the plot in Casablanca.

As an audience, you know there is tension right when Ilsa walks in the door to Rick's Café. There is a feeling of unease, that is confirmed when Sam looks at her with with worry. When Ilsa questions Sam about Rick you then know that the two defiantly had history. They even have a song that means something to both of them, so automatically reminds them of their time in Paris with each other. So the movie seems to be set up as a love story when Rick and Ilsa cross paths again in Casablanca, but is it really a romantic movie? Should it be classified as one?

When I think of Romantic films, the endings either end tragically or happily, this is not the case in Casablanca. Rick Blaine has to choose between what is right, and what he wants. Rick is in love with Ilsa; so much so when she leaves him the first time he is left a broken man, and hardens as time goes by. Ilsa returns these feeling, but leaves him for loyalty to her husband. It’s always hard to say goodbye, so Ilsa just could not say goodbye a second time to Rick, whom she appears to love more than her husband. You can tell Rick wants nothing more than to be with Ilsa, but being with her was not right, and virtue, if anything seems to be extremely important to Rick. So when Captain Louis Renault said: “ It seems love has triumphed over virtue.” He was mistaken, which he found out not two seconds after he said it.

As the plane, Lazlo and Ilse are suppose to leave in, starts up, Ilsa protests in leaving, but is told by Rick that it had to be done, and at least that had the memories of their time together. The end may be sad, but it’s satisfying, because you know that Rick does the right thing. So the ending did not leave me thinking Romance, it was more virtuous, and somewhat patriotic. It proves that sometimes Virtue needs to triumph over love, because it is a matter of right and wrong. Some relationships are not meant to be, like that of Rick and Ilsa.

[mhollis]

Rick does what is right in one way by saving Victor but on the other hand was it necessary to send Ilsa with him? It’s not what Ilsa wanted or what Rick desired. During Rick’s entire life in the city of Casablanca he is a heartbroken man. He obviously gets there that way after being rejected by Ilsa and then continues to stay that way. Even when Ilsa’s presence attempts a chance of pulling him out of that rut he decides to stay. Is he really doing the right thing by staying though? Or is he just being an emotional cutter? Rick just enjoys being in pain, he is so used to grieving his relationship with Ilsa that he has become numb. His sarcastic comments throughout the movie demonstrate his compensation for his weakness caused by a broken heart. As someone who has been “killed” and now waits in purgatory, he has given up on his past life and feels nothing but helpless ambiguity for his own life, or what he has left of a life. From the moment Rick sees Ilsa in his café to when he sends her away with Victor, he wants to be with her. However, he is too broken to actually regain who he once was when in Paris so he gives up and lets Victor have Ilsa.

[klandis]

I disagree with mhollis in that I think it was necessary for Rick to send Ilsa away. I viewed Rick’s relinquishment of Ilsa as a triumph of virtue over love. Rick did love Ilsa and felt passionately about her, but in the end he made a rational decision for, as some call it, the greater good. He realized that Ilsa should remain with Victor and continue her role as a motivator and companion. In the scene with Ilsa and Victor before he attends the secret meeting, Victor mentions how he has tried to lose her throughout his trail of dangerous actions, but has been unsuccessful every time. Ilsa is obviously important to him and provides a tangible reason for his relentless fighting.

Sending Ilsa away also proves how much Rick loves her. Instead of keeping her in Casablanca where they would both remain trapped living mundane lives, he gives her the opportunity to travel to American with Victor and help with the politics of World War II. Rick did not want to restrict Ilsa in any way, and letting her escape Casablanca with Victor was the definition of a sacrifice for love.

If Rick had kept Ilsa for himself, wouldn’t he have proven himself as the most selfish character?

[A. Dickinson]

I personally found Rick to be a virtuous man. I would have to disagree with mhollis’s position on him because although he might have had other reasons deep down as to why he let both Ilsa and Victor go, he still let them go. He still gave up something he desired and wanted for something great. Even if he didn’t care to do so he still did an act that would benefit others. Personally I like to think he put Ilsa on that plain because he guy who doesn’t like to half ass anything. He knew Victor could probably get by without her, but he still needed her for inspiration. Rick understood that if he kept Ilsa to himself it would be far too selfish. If he was going to be serious about taking sides in this war, then he had to go through with it all the way.

[NPhillips-Edwards]

Rick’s apathy and weariness of getting involved, both in love and in politics, at the film’s onset, mirrors the isolationist policy of the United States’ government during the early years of the Second World War. He is adverse to romantic involvement because of the tragedy of his previous relationship with Ilsa, just as, from 1938 through 1940, the United States was ambivalent to enter WWII because the turmoil and tragedy it experienced during the First World War. Rick’s bad experience with Ilsa over time caused him to become cynical over time, and to avoid getting involved in earthly affairs.

However, Rick’s initial neutrality enables him to aid Victor. His affirmation that he “sticks his neck out for no one”, makes it difficult for one to identify his loyalties, ipso facto absolving him of suspicion.

[sbirkinshaw]

Virtue was not the driving force behind Rick’s final decision. Rick is a man who had the power to do the right thing for many people in many situations throughout the film. If you spoke to Rick at the beginning of the film about Kantian ethics he would probably laugh. Rick did not do things for the sake of virtue. That is, he never did the “right thing” simply because it’s the “right thing to do.” He had a past life where he helped people in their political strifes (gun-running for freedom fighters and whatnot.) However, he abandoned those prior maxims long before he set foot in Casablanca. We see a metaphor of this in the beginning of the movie when Rick is sitting at a chess board playing by himself. Playing alone can only resort in one outcome, a stalemate. That is, unless you choose a winning side. Rick gets up from this game and never looks back as the movie proceeds. This is the metaphor of Rick turning his back on his past life fighting for the sake of good politics. From that point on we get from Rick a sense that he is a cold, heartless business man who is no longer motivated by an urge to help others. The prefect is so sure of this fact that he knowingly lets Rick keep the exit papers. Sure, the prefect tosses the bar in attempt to locate them. However, I would argue that he only did this to satisfy the Nazis. Of course, at the end Rick does in fact aid Ilsa and Lazlo to escape. But one must analyze the motivation behind this.

I draw attention to the point of the film when Rick helps the young couple leave Casablanca. The girl comes up to Rick, not to ask for help, but rather, she wants his opinion on the trustworthiness of the prefect, Renault. Renault has offered to give them exit papers if the girl performs some sort of sexual deed. Rick sees the girl and is moved by the fact that she would sacrifice so much to help the man she loves. Rick is surrounded by people who don’t deserve to stay in the limbo of Casablanca. He has the power to help many of them. But he does not. What has changed here?

At this point of the film we see redemption of Rick’s morals and a renewal of the maxims he lives by. Sure, he could have let the poor girl’s husband lose his bets. Rick would have made some money and it would have kept the prefect happy, which is important to Rick keeping his shindig opened. He finally chooses to do something because it’s the “right” thing to do. His inclinations were put aside and he, in that moment, was a more fulfilled and relevant human being. This redeeming value is what drove his later actions. He saw that a willingness to sacrifice was a sure sign of pure love. He observed that both Ilsa and Lazlo loved each other in this way (as seen in both of their willingness’ to stay behind in Casablanca for the sake of the other.) With Rick’s morals and maxims redeemed, he did the “right” thing and helped them escape.

So you see, virtue is not the true driving force behind Rick’s decisions. Without the catalyst of redemption, he would have remained a slave to his own inclination and either kept Ilsa for himself, or saw to it that both Ilsa and Lazlo rot in Casablanca out of spite. And this catalyst would not have been introduced if Rick had not been influenced by his witnessing of pure and true love. I disagree with the line, “It seems love has triumphed over virtue.” I would have said, “It seems love has instigated virtue.”

[Jtan]

Rick letting Isla go with Victor and opting to remain in Casablanca requires a much more complex explanation than "Rick did it for love." The film plays less with the themes of love and sacrifice. Rather, the film strongly emphasizes the theme of duty; duty to one's country, duty to one's ideals, and the duty of women to men.

Rick and Victor both delineate and exemplify the duty to ideals and country. Victor is a steadfast character who will risk limb and life time and time again to keep "the cause going." Conversely, Rick is the idealist that got lost is self-pity but ultimately returns to playing his part in the cause. Rick tells Ilsa, "The problems of three little people don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world." This statement to Ilsa establishes the film's propaganda function of leaving isolationism, putting our personal issues aside, and committing ourselves to something that really matters.

Ilsa represents the duty women have to men. Ilsa's character encompasses the patriarchal expectation of women to sacrifice their own desires, pleasures, and happiness and live to support their husband and children. It was her duty to Victor in Paris that lead her from leaving her truly happy life with Rick. We also never once hear Ilsa say that she loves Victor but we repeatedly hear her declare her love for Rick. If Rick and Ilsa had ended up together, it would have contradicted the status quo for a woman's role.

[sgimenez]

I'd like to agree with NPhillips-Edwards in regards to the quote establishing Rick as a lone ranger of sorts. Throughout the entire movie, he helps himself along, much to the dismay of Renault, Ilsa, and even a few times, Victor Lazlo. It is in this sense not so much the love story many people agree this film is based on, but rather the need for one's survival in this limbo (purgatory, as one such person suggested) and the fact that Rick selflessly told Victor of his affair with Ilsa and letting her leave with Lazlo himself triumphs all over motions in the movie.
It is a time of war in the film, therefore allegiance and loyalty are necessary in staying in Casablanca, otherwise known as 'Unoccupied France'. It is with this being said that Rick sends Ilsa off with Victor, and never looking back on it. It wasn't because Rick 'loves' Ilsa and that he did this in that said act. He is true to his word. Ilsa does have some effect to Rick, and after Victor proving himself to Rick for his courage, independent thought, and loyalty to ending WWII, but altogether, it is with all these events happening right after one another that Rick releases the letters of transit, and happily granting the flight to the 'happy' couple.
While some may think this was an act of love (and while this may have been selflessly done by Rick), Rick is loyal to the struggle and understands his place in Casablanca, which is why he sends Victor and Ilsa away together. He now has Renault instead to start 'a beautiful friendship.'

[ltauber]

Despite themes of darkness, and dogmatic examples of good and evil, there is an ineffable presence of romance. A thread of romance weaves throughout the entire plot in ways that are untraditional and subtle.
The character development of Rick is very complex, and at times dark, but in my opinion prevailingly romantic. His character displays elements of romance in the sense that he transforms from being introverted and unaffected, to involved and passionate. Flash backs to his days in Paris reveal a carefree romantic side of him that is often times concealed in Casablanca. Although Rick is often cynical and disconnected, we see that he is transformative and capable of love and passion.

The passion obtained by all of those who are trying to escape the purgatory of casablanca and venture off to the final dream like destination of america is also whimsically romantic. The element of romance also highlights the dichotomy between right and wrong. As the character Captain Renault develops, it is made clear that efforts are being put towards the anti-nazi coalition. Although the characters are cynical, they are fighting for their freedom, in a time when independence was insecure.

Romance is not always glamorous, in fact, a major conflict in the film surrounds a failed romance between Rick and Ilsa. The sticky romance between Rick and Ilsa expands rapidly due to feelings of jealousy, betrayal, and neutrality. This film is embedded with moral teachings, elements of self sacrifice, and the turmoil associated with romance. The inconvenience of mixing business with pleasure, the unfortunate fact that one cannot occur without the other.

One element I found interesting was the relationship between travel and romantic relationships. It seems as though the virtues and flaws of characters are dependent on where they are located in the film. Ilsa proclaims her love for Rick in both Casablaca and in Paris, yet it is hard to decipher her true intentions because she has probable cause to be using Rick. She wants an exit visa, and Rick is in charge of her release, so therefore as a viewer, I found myself questioning her intentions. This relationship also sheds light on Ricks difficulties regarding neutrality, and his obligations of involvement in relation to world war two. Although recognized as a love story, I think Casablanca is predominantly a story about freedom and decision making. The film wades through clouds of uncertainty, but ultimately characters end up making active decisions. This could be representative of the role of america during world war two, our desire for freedom, and romantic attitude towards life and society.