Details (Casablanca)

The following are a few finer details about Curtiz’s Casablanca.

GENRE

Casablanca is one of the rare films in which a number of genre’s can be assigned. As the film is back dropped against world war two and it’s key characters each have prominent ties to the world war it is classed as a War Film. The main characters central conflict is their love which has soured consequently one of the major motifs of the film is whether or not the main couple will rekindle their romance subsequently making it Romantic Drama. There are those that will argue that the musical numbers and the reoccurring use of musical scenes at pivotal moments of expression make it a Musical drama. In truth Casablanca is a combination of all three.

ASSOCIATED WORKS

Because of it’s War film genre Casablanca is often associated to a number of War based thrillers, such the Alfred Hitchcock’s 39 steps, Carol Reed’s Night train to Munich and Jean Negulesco’s The Conspirators.

Arthur Edeson the cinematographer of Casablanca also served as the cinematographer on Jean Negulesco’s The Conspirators and on John Huston’s The Maltese Falcon, subsequently similarities can be seen with regards to aesthetic choices in all three films.

POP CULTURE {THE 70’S}

With regards to music, film, pop culture and social society the 1970’s was a goldmine.

The variety of music was greater than it had ever been before, ranging from Funk,Soul, Pop Hard Rock, Disco, Soft Rock, Rap and RnB. It was the golden era for vinyl’s. It herald the arrival of music legends like Led Zeppelin, David Bowie,Pink Floyd, The Jackson Five and Johnny Cash.

Music wasn’t the only media finding its footing, television was undergoing, experiment and introducing changes of it’s own. Many of the shows that came out pushed the bounds of acceptability and discussed subjects that were previously thought to be too sensitive to discuss in the open, subject matters such as impotence, bigotry and homosexuality.

Show’s like Hawaii Five – O, All in the Family, Kojak and M*A*S*H were set to become iconic reflections of the era and film only served to aid and ebbed this notion.

The likes of Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather, Stanley Kubrik’s A clockwork Orange and the first instalment of Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky were all cementing their place in history. Influencing the current culture as well as culture’s to come.

 

 

THE 70’S

The 70’s marked a definitive time not only in cinema but also in the world. The 1960’s had given birth to American counterculture which was in the 70’s thriving. The Vietnam war was ongoing, the concept of teenagers was on the rise, flower power was predominant and one could argue that life as we know it, the status quo of society, particularly American society was being defined.

President Nixon became the first president of the united states to resign. The first healthy test tube baby was born. Divorce was becoming a norm, talk shows were slowly being introduced and the world was changing.

The 1970’s was a defining period for the world over but its impact and influence is most prominent in building the backbone of American society.

History {1942}

To gain an understanding of the film’s (Casablanca) historical significance , you must first understand the state of the world in the year of the film’s debut.

In 1942 the second world war had been raging for three years, the Nazi forces had occupied Poland, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Denmark, Yugoslavia, Greece and Norway. Millions of Jews were living under German control, concentration camps had been erected and Anti- Semitic measures had been installed.  The German army had lead an unbroken chain of battlefield success, Europe lay under German domination.

In contrast Casablanca, the capital of Morocco was not under as much pressure. At the time (1940-1944) Morocco was under the control of France and the Vichy government was aligned with Nazi Germany, however King Mohamed V remained the head of state.

 

Casablanca’s Conception

As previously mentioned Casablanca began as stage play written by Murray Burnett and (his wife)  Joan Alison in 1940.  The inspiration for the film’s premise came from a vacation Murray took with his wife in the summer of 1938 to Vienna to help Jewish relatives smuggle money out of the country occupied by Nazis. At a later date the couple visited a nightclub overlooking the Mediterranean Sea where a pianist played jazz for a crowd of French, Nazis and refugees.

In 1940 en route to America by way of the UK the couple began to work on writing the play. Thus Casablanca was born.

MY CHOSEN FILM

The film I’ve chosen for my contextual analysis is Michael Curtiz’s 1942 masterpiece – Casablanca.  The film is based on Murray Burnett and Joan Alison’s (unproduced) stage played Everybody comes to Rick’s.

The reason I’ve chosen Casablanca for my contextual analysis is due to the premise being back dropped against world war two which in itself is a subject matter rich in terms of it’s influence as well as it’s effect on movies being produced at that period of time.  In addition to this the film in itself is full of cinematic feats including the use of music, lighting, mise-en-scene, cinematography and acting.

For these reasons I have chosen Casablanca.