Who is creative responsible for Casablanca success

Who is creative responsible for Casablanca success


There were a lot of people responsible for the success of the film casablanca , from the studio to the actors and to the director and the producers. With the number of people working on this film , its was gurateed  for success. Casablanca was a very collective film where many people had a hand in making this film. This is different to other films where it seems to be purely the directors vision . The director this film still had a large part of this film but it wasn't his vision.

The studio behind the film casablanca was Warner bros. At the time warner bros were releasing about 10 films a year and casablanca just happen to be the one that stuck and made the most money for the studio at of the films they made that year. The film cost 1.039 million and a bulk of that money came from warner bros. Warner Bros produced the film so they had a very large part in making Casablanca successful.Hal wallis was a producer of the film so he had a large part I funding this film and he was the one that pitched the idea to adapt this film.

There were many writers for hi film which adds to the idea of this film being very collaborative. theses writers all wrote different themes of the the film for example Julius and Philip Epstein who wrote the comedy of the film which means their rolls were very important because this film can get really dramatic at times so the when the comedic moments happen it comes as a really nice surprise. Howard E. Koch writ the over all story of the film . Casey Robinson  wrote the love story of the film which is really important because the love story is what drew peoples  to this film. Some of the story was improved and changed on the day of filming.Michael Curtiz was the director of the film. A director back then doesn't mean the same thing it means now. Now a days films are almost all the directors vision and back then its was just a person that had a job to complete. He had directed over 143 films and he was seen as an expert of movement.

There were a lot of people that went into the background production of the film like the lighting and ........

casablanca final scene

Casablanca has one of the most memorble final scenes of film history. This scene is the climax and caps off   the story in a way that is very hopeful but also very uncertain for the future . Rick wants to help Ilsa and Laszlo escape the country.  Rick threaten Captain Louis Renault by pointing a gun at him so he can assist  the couple to escape at the airport. Major Heinrich Strassert soon comes in with a bang to stop them from leaving. He's about to call for assistance and then Rick points the gun at him. The shot of Rick pointing the gun highlight classic film noir with a man in a trench coat, a hat and pointing a gun. Rick shoots and kills Strassert before he can calls anyone and Laszlo and Ilsa are able to leave and Rick and the captain fine a new friendship between the two and they walk off into the murky fog highlighting how uncertain their furture will be and  the future of the war. This scene has a lot of little details that add to the quality of the film. For example every charter in this seen wears a hat which may show how they are trying to disguise  their true selfs. When Rick talks to Ilsa the camera zooms from the captain which highlights how serious the situation in and the drama of the scene. Rick says to Ilsa that I aint noble but I know that 3 people don't amount to a hill of bean in this crazy world. This line is so ionic, Rick is saying that during this world war us 3 people and our little problems are not important in the grand scheme of things. I think that Rick finally standing up for what he care about and belives in represents america deciding to join the war and stand up ageist the Germans which is what this film was all about , standing up for whats right. 

Colonel Kurtz

How Colonel Kurtz is presented

Colonel Kurtz is a strange character. He's played by Marlon Brando and is the main main antagonist of apocalypse now. It take well over half of the film util we fist see this character. When we first hear about him its almost like we can see him though Willard's eyes. We first see a file of him and we can see that he was a good solider and all of a sudden he had just gone mad. Through out the whole film there is an internal monologue by Willard and most of it i about his opinion of Kurtz and what he thinks of him. he seems to relate to him in some way even without him knowing the full story and when reading his file. I believe that we only see Kurtz though Willard's eyes so that the audience can will see him as the villain of the film. When playing this character Marlon Brando took his roll very seriously and it was like he had became this character behind the camera . This is known as method acting.

When we see Kurt  it's like he's some sort of ruler over this tribe of a mixture of american soldiers, journalists, a Vietnam tribe and even some Vietnamese soldiers. Kurtz is seen as some sort of god for these people but for the audience ad Willard it just looks like him and all these people have just gone mad. Before we see him the tribe mentions to him and talks about him like he's more than human. When we first see Kurtz he's in the shadow which is done to make him come across as more intimidating and maybe even inhuman. Half his face is in the shadow which may represent his change from a soldier to what he is now. He doesn't  talk that much but when he does its at a very quiet and calm tone which contrasts how he's been presented before but his quiet tone is still intimidating. Throughout the half an hour of time he's actually in the film he is only seen in dark areas  with maybe one light on him which could represent him being lost in the darkness with only a little spec of the man  he used to be existing.  

Kurz then goes on to torcher Willard probably trying make him one of his follows Which doesn't work with willard. He barely talks . this can show that he's not letting him and his other follows into his head.

opening scene for Rick

 

 

Introduction to Rick Blaine

Rick is the main character to Casablanca. this is the reason their is so much build up before we see him. In the opening scene the police are checking peoples papers and in a passing shot you see ricks café. The name of his café is Ricks American café . this is done because Americans watching this at the time will notice it straight away. In the next scene Captain Louis Renault meets with some Nazi general and they both mention Rick 3 times saying how its where everyone goes to his café  so the audience know his café is the hotspot. We finally see the café up close in a shot that lasts at least 5 seconds. Now the audience get a good look at this restaurant and know that its going to be important. to the story.

Though out the whole entire film there is this shot like that represents how every one is being watched during this war. You see this spot light shining on a few people as the walk into the cafe which may highlight how this cafe is a refuge for people during the war. We enter the cafe and we see that it is a place where a lot of illegal activity is happening for example gambling, distributing visa etc. we slowly go though the whole cafe seeing the range of different people in there. A lot f the people in there are people that used to be upper class and have very little money since the war started so some of them are just trying to get a bit of money. some people are trying to get avisa so they can escape the country. the camera keeps slowly panning with more references to Rick with people asking id the they can have a drink with him and the waiter saying that rick only drinks alone.

We finally are introduced to him in a very unique way.  We see him writing a check in a close up shot. Then you see a lower shot of ricks arm and you can see that he's playing a game of chess by himself which really shows how he doesn't want to be around anyone so much that he'll rather play a game that require 2 players by himself. Hes also got a cigarette and a drink which was how people were introduced in those days , it shows that he's meant to be a masculine character. The camera then slowly pans up to see his face and we finally see what he looks like. We see that hes wearing a white suit which shows his class and how much money he's making because White clothing in those days were commonly worn by Richer people. This contrasts to the other people who in the cafe. They present themselves as higher class but since the war began they have almost nothing but Rick the business man is the one with the money and the higher status.