Casablanca

I enjoy remembering certain films, and Casablanca is one of them. The eternal story of a love that could not be fulfilled. On the other hand, this is a fantastic conversational drama with absolutely impeccably crafted characters, so stylized that they simply must captivate you. Bogart, Bergman, Rains, Lorre, and Veidt - those are the names that create tremendous quality in one film. Simply something that every film fan should see. (09/09/2014)

The naive political background and lack of chemistry between the central duo bothered me. Although I really like Bergman, she isn’t convincing at all here and it is probably impossible to believe that Rick and Elsa were ever bonded by fateful, undying love. In my opinion Bogart always belonged, belongs and will belong to Bacall or Grahame. This is a quality picture, but one of the more standard Bogart movies. (01/21/2005)

The film features the Swede Ingrid Bergman, Englishmen Claude Rains and Sydney Greenstreet, Germans Conrad Veidt, Peter Lorre and Hans Heinrich von Twardowski, Italian Paul Henreid (playing a Czechoslovakian with a Hungarian name), Madeleine Lebeau and Marcel Dalio from France... and many others under the direction of Hungarian director Manó Kertész Kaminer. What could be a more Hollywood classic? It’s a paper-rustling romance that, due to fate, became something much more. Perhaps it is because of the paradox of the way in which the exiles mixed themselves into the story of exile. (02/04/2009)

I understand completely the reason for the phenomenal success of Casablanca during its premiere. Ingrid Bergman was a beautiful and respected star and Humphrey Bogart, who broke through just two years earlier, became desirable as a representative of tough charismatic men at the time of Casablanca's release due to the war. Casablanca combined exoticism, love, adventure, and wartime commitment, i.e., all ingredients appreciated by the audience of that time. It was part of the genre of popular melodrama, and the premiere was cleverly timed for February 1943, shortly after Churchill's and Roosevelt's Allied conference, when the city was in general awareness due to media interest. I no longer know what enchantment Casablanca holds today and I am simply immune to it. I see in it only an average period melodrama, where Hollywood screenwriters demonstrate their usual ignorance towards reality. The love triangle does not work because the relationship chemistry between Bergman alias Ilse Lund and both lovers is negligible, and one could say that it is the complete opposite of the couple Bogart and Lauren Bacall in The Big Sleep, where the relationship chemistry worked perfectly. The only thing that can be appreciated with the benefit of hindsight is the relationship between Bogart's cynical bar owner Rick Blaine and the crafty police chief, played by Claude Rains. Their sparkling dialogues full of hidden meanings are a lively and decorative element of the film. Perhaps worth mentioning is also the rogue played by Peter Lorre. Everything else deserves to gather dust. Overall impression: 40%. (07/19/2017)

As time goes by... Once upon a time the most beautiful femme fatale and the most charismatic cynic collided and events occurred that changed not only the world around them, but also the world within them. And when it was revealed how fatefully small the whole world can be, the consequences were no less serious. I ​​want to experience my own Casablanca and I want to become part of such a timeless duo. Even though I will never be Humphrey Bogart and I will never be able to show such fundamental courage and humanity. So feel free to curse clichés however you like. Because they all have their origin, and it's right here. In the city of Casablanca, where refugees from all corners of the world are fleeing during World War II... (06/03/2005)