Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1942) Escape the Shadows

[L Rosenfield]

The use of shadows in Casablanca adds a wonderful side-narration to the film that really enhanced each scene for me. In the flashback scene, the silhouette of the name of the café that Rick and Ilsa frequented during their romance in Paris was projected onto the floor. The shadow read, “La Belle Aurore,” which is translated as, “the beautiful dawn.” The significance of this simply encourages the characters to be optimistic because each person in Casablanca seems to be wading in purgatory on Earth. There seems to be light coming from somewhere distant at all times. It is a somewhat cheery sentiment that those waiting should be patient and they will receive their atonement.

On the other hand, the lighting projects an ominous tone at times. For example, after all the lights have gone out, the searchlight hunts the streets. Clearly, those walking around at night would not want to be found by such a light. Who would choose to stay somewhere so restricting? Unless Casablanca is where you were born and raised, where your loved ones reside, then it doesn’t seem like the kind of place to visit for an extended period of time or for that matter, the rest of your life. It’s somewhere you pass through to get to where you need to be. Exit from Casablanca means living the rest of your life somewhere better, for most in the film, America.

Also, when Ilsa tries to make her “big confession,” her face is shadowed by her veil. She doesn’t say all that she needs to say. Later on, she pronounces her purpose without a veil to shadow her face and all is said that needs to be.

Not all leave though. In the scene where Rick retrieves the transit letters from his safe, the contours of his body and moment as he handles the door and contents inside of the safe link him to the safe directly. The two connected by the shadows, make him someone people can see as safe. Throughout the film, it is apparent that Rick is safe in Casablanca. Renault idolizes him, people respect him, and he has the securities to back up his lifestyle in limbo. His love is elsewhere and family is unspoken of. He has no dire need to leave, so he stays and assists those just passing by. He entertains them in his club and then sends them on their way.

[cwhite]

It's not just the shadows that stand as a metaphor to the movie. The shadows stand for safety, but so does Rick's cafe. Most of the movie takes place in the confines of one big room. Music is always playing and the people are trying to escape the reality of the war by hiding out in the cafe. Since the cafe is also supposed to represent the mood of America, the fact that the movie is set in Africa doesn't necessarily affect the audience. Foreign people of course are in the movie too, but Rick (Bogart) is American and sets the tone. The safety of the cafe is broken several times, the very beginning with the shootings, then Rick's girl Ilsa happens to show up with rocks his boat and definitely smashes any asylum he had in his own cafe. This fact turns the cafe more into a prison. Everyone is trapped inside the cafe, inside Casablanca. Victor and Ilsa are trying to escape the city, but the Third Reich won't let anyone out. Something that was once supposed to be an oasis during the war, even in a desert, quickly, because of the war, transformed into a prison. Rick left German-occupied France to be in unoccupied France; however, the restrictions turn out to be just as bad in Casablanca.

[Lsogn]

As LRosenfield observes, lighting plays an important role in the overall artistic and dramatic design of “Casablanca” by Director Michael Curtiz. Like shadows--existing somewhere between darkness and light--the characters of “Casablanca” are caught in a place that it is neither here nor there; they live, for the most part, disenfranchised and distant from their homelands. For example, the choice to cast grid-like shadows, suggesting a jail cell, on people being pursued by the police, is a compelling way to portray entrapment. It is a brief “eye blink” moment in the film, but when added to all the other scenes accentuates the loss of mobility and freedom the characters have endured and continue to face.

In addition to lighting decisions, the camera angles and how the characters are framed in each shot also add to the development of “Casablanca.” With Rick and Ilsa, for example, there are multiple close-ups of their faces ranging from complete silhouettes, to three-quarter angles and finally to shots where their faces gaze directly into the camera. Sometimes Rick and Ilsa are framed together and other times they are alone. In many of these full face scenes, there is no verbal dialogue. This doesn’t imply the scene lacks an exchange of communication because there is a powerful use of eye contact and expressiveness. Interestingly, the rest of either Ilsa or Rick’s face often remains unmoving and without emotion which adds to the compelling emphasis on their eyes.

With Ilsa, particularly, this wide-eyed gaze in an otherwise reserved face is disarming to both Rick and the viewers as well. Although Ilsa is several years younger than Rick, it appears to be more than a projection of youthful naiveté. Instead there is a sense of innocence. Maybe this is the back story on the famous line when Rick says, “Here’s looking at you kid.” When the truths of Ilsa’s life history--including the challenges she has had to overcome with her husband, Victor--we realize she is far from a “kid” and that satire and over statement are ways people distance themselves from danger in an effort to maintain an illusion--and comfort zone--of safety.