Casablanca is a romance film for the ages. The iconic movie sees two former lovers, masterfully portrayed by old Hollywood legends Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart, reunite against the backdrop of World War 2.
In the film, Rick is a nightclub owner in Casablanca who crosses paths with his old flame, Isla, now wedded to a dashing resistance leader on the run from the Germans. As per one of the most famous lines in cinema: “Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine.”
Ilsa entreats Rick for help fleeing the country, forcing him into an agonising decision between love and sacrifice. Notably, the film came out in 1942, three years before the end of the war when victory wasn’t guaranteed.
Casablanca won Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay. And since its release more than 80 years ago, the film has been continued to be revered as one of the greatest of all time.
The movie holds an astounding 99% Rotten Tomatoes rating. As the website’s critics consensus put it: “An undisputed masterpiece and perhaps Hollywood’s quintessential statement on love and romance, Casablanca has only improved with age, boasting career-defining performances from Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman.”
“Casablanca is one of the most romantic films that Hollywood has ever produced,” wrote film critic Wendy Ide for The Times UK.
“Michael Curtiz’s film is a classic for a reason — it’s crafted with the precision, detail and beauty of a Fabergé egg; the dialogue is hauntingly memorable and, in Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, it has one of the most magnetic screen pairings in history.”
Noting the “magic” of the lead couple, The Guardian’s 80th anniversary retrospective of the film said: “There’s true magic in Bogart and Bergman’s scenes together, forged not only by their astonishing chemistry and charisma, but the grace notes in the dialogue, the soft caress of the lighting, and a score that builds evocatively around a song, As Time Goes By, which gets threaded into the film even when Sam (Dooley Wilson), the pianist, isn’t around to play it again.”
During World War II, French-occupied Morocco was part of an escape route for refugees fleeing Nazis.
As film critic Serena Donadoni pointed out in The Village Voice: “Casablanca was filmed in the safety of the Warner Bros. lot, but the cast of immigrants and exiles who had fled the Third Reich conveyed their visceral fear.
“While the future was uncertain, the resolute characters of this exquisite wartime drama found peace through love and resistance.”
For Cinephilia Beyond, Sven Mikulec considered why Casablanca is still held in such high regard: “The main reason why Casablanca still holds a place in film theory books, popular culture and oral tradition lies in its powerful storyline that easily gets through to people, featuring characters easy to relate to, dealing with a theme that has for centuries been the artists’ inspiration for creating the best of stories: love and sacrifices we make for a greater cause.
“Set in the backdrop of the Second World War, evoking the notions of honor, loyalty, friendship and duty, Casablanca is a classic which represents the very best the old Hollywood had to offer, and it’s no surprise the film managed to stay afloat and still be celebrated three quarters of a century since the premiere.”
Casablanca has scored a 95% rating with Rotten Tomatoes viewers. A user named Margaret said: “Best movie ever made. I never miss the chance to see it on the Big Screen. Perfect cast. Perfect storyline. SUPERB ACTING. Some of the greatest lines in the history of the movies. Just perfection.”
On Letterboxd, the average user review of the movie is 4.3 out of 5 stars. The top review on the website, liked over 10,400 times, reads: “I hate it when people say stuff like: ‘You should watch this because it’s a masterpiece!’ Those people are annoying idiots. Also: You should watch this because it’s a masterpiece!”
Another joked: “the two main men in this movie look exactly the same. she didn’t really have to choose, could’ve just picked either one and used her imagination a bit”
On IMDB, where it’s rated 8.5 out of 10, the top review dubbed it “One of the greatest” saying: “As innovative as Citizen Kane was, I’m gonna put this one ahead of it. But in one way this film beats all others – the dialogue. Yes, the cinematography is great, the acting is second to none, but how many eternal lines of dialogue came from this?”
Here’s looking at you, kid.