Thursday, June 30, 2011

Love in Casablanca


When Rick met Ilsa at Casablanca, although Ilsa was still as beautiful as she was in Paris, she was not free any more. There's a guy standing beside her all the time, which is her husband, Victor. Rick couldn't move his eyes from Ilsa, but his mind was filled with anger and confusions. Later he found out that Ilsa didn't show up in the train station because her husband was found out alive and sick. Rick finally forgave Ilsa when he realized that she's still madly in love with him. At the end of the movie Rick could just put his name on the visa letter and fly to America with Ilsa, but he didn't. Instead he transfered the opportunity to Victor under the danger of sacrificing himself, only because he thought that was the best for Ilsa.

The presence of Victor to some extent generates dislikes since Rick and Ilsa looked so happy in Paris. However, Under the background of war, Victor was thrown into the Concentration camp and disappeared for a year. It was during his absence when his wife fell in love with Rick. Nobody can blame him if he chose to be bitter, but he didn't. He chose to believe Ilsa and didn't ask her any questions about Rick. This is his way to love Ilsa.

Most war movies are so tragic, however Casablanca is definitely not one of them. People are so small facing a war, but they still can manage their lives by making the right choices as what Rick and Victor did.

4 comments:

  1. Guang, thanks for getting us started, and it's interesting that some think of this story as tragic because Rick and Ilsa do not end up together. Yet they were only together because Ilsa thought Victor was dead, and in the end, I agree that Rick did the right thing, as did Victor. They were fighting for something greater than just personal self interest. I love the lines in the movie, "You asked me to think hard for the both of us, and I did, Ilsa." He thought hard to make the right choice, even though it was hard to do and he loved her very much. Sometimes what love means is self-sacrifice and it even makes the love stronger. Thanks for the post!

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  2. Guang, I think it was good to add the selflessness of Rick at the end of the story in your first paragraph. It takes a lot out of a person to make decisions like these, especially in times like this. Rick went from being a selfish antagonist to a hero due to his decisions in the end of the movie.

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  3. Your absolutely right this story isn't tragic. Rick did the right thing by letting Ilsa and Victor go to America. And even thought it's not a fairy tale ending it's still a story of self sacrifice for a greater cause.

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  4. I found self sacrifice a great attribute of human capabilities to point out in this film. We can see Rick struggling with the reappearance of Ilsa, and the fact that she is just as stuck as he is now. it takes him nearly until the last minute to let go of being with her and remaining out of the Nazi's way of holding Victor Laszlo or worse, killing him. I can picture my self in Rick's shoes who was confused and upset, but at the wrong time because if he didn't do something, he would make everyone suffer anyway.

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