The No. 1 Hollywood movie in my mind is undoubtedly "Casablanca", which is the highest height in the golden age of Hollywood. Anyway, I think it is more classic than "Gone with the Wind". The screenwriting, costumes, lighting, and art styles of "Casablanca" are no longer as simple as textbook classics, it is simply the textbook itself! It is impossible for all romance films and suspense films since it came out to bypass the framework established by this work. Even in "Lust Caution" more than 60 years later, we can still see the huge impact of this film.
Although "Casablanca" is a model in all aspects, it is not easy to learn. The whole story of the film takes place over 3 nights. Almost all of the main scenes take place in Rick's Café American, which is quite dramatic, but the audiovisual language is a model of film narrative. What is even more amazing is the two protagonists, two main supporting roles, and several small characters in the film. Each character shows more than one side, which makes the content of this 100-minute film very substantial.
A model of characterization
As the plane landed, German officer Strasser asked about the detection of Renault's case. Renault replied:
"Tonight he'll beat Rick's, Everybody comes to Rick's"
“I have already heard about this café, and also about Mr. Rick himself”
Who is Rick? So influential?
Woman: "Will you ask Rick if he'll have a drink with us?"
Carl: ”Madame, he never drinks with customers. Never”
Who is Rick? So horizontal, the president of Amsterdam's second largest bank has disappeared?
At this time we followed the waiter upstairs, a check was placed on the table, one hand signed OK, Rick, and then the camera moved to Bogart’s face, it turned out he was Rick! This appearance was really a different response. It paved the way for 3 times, and it drew the audience's appetites. Signing the check means that this is a very influential person, he is the master of the underground world of Casablanca.
But what kind of person is this? Why is he so powerful?
Next, he refused to enter the casino by a person with a German accent and tore off the Deutsche Bank cheque. However, he let the cunning-looking Ugarte into the casino and promised him to hide important documents. By now we have understood his Politically inclined.
He refused the request of Ferrari, who is also the "big brother of society," to buy a cafe, but he did not refuse his invitation to black musician Sam to change jobs, but let Sam choose himself; the French beauty Yvonne in the bar was so drunk for him, he Just let Sasha take her home coldly; when Rick talked with Renault, Emil asked him to sign the check and kept apologizing, but Rick didn’t care, indicating that he didn’t love money either... So far, Rick’s image has been clear. He does not love money, is meaningful to friends, does not racial discrimination, the most important thing is his attitude towards love, beautiful women love him, but he is cold to girls, why? This is an important suspense. We soon learned that his heart knot is:
"One woman hashurt you, and you take your revenge on the rest of the world"
This is not what he said, but the old lover Ilsa said. Interesting!
What has he experienced in the past? The film tells his past experience from several people, the first is Renault:
In 1935 you ran guns to Ethiopia.
In 1936, youfoughtinSpainon the Loyalistside.
Then the German officer Strasser:
"Richard Blaine, American. Age,thirty-seven.Cannotreturn to his country. "
Thereasonis alittlevague. We also know what you did in Paris, Mr. Blaine, and also we know why you left Paris.
Last is Laszlo
My friends in the underground tell me that you have quite a record.
You ran guns to Ethiopia. You fought against the fascists in Spain.
The three people said that his past goals were different. Renault wanted to expose his cynical and cold appearance, Strasser was implying that the Germans knew that he was an enemy of the empire, and Laszlo wanted to awaken his inner conscience.
Rick’s portrayal can be regarded as a pinnacle of film history. If a person says one thing and does one thing, he says that he doesn’t act but he is honest, this person is plump, and then he tells his past through the mouth of a supporting role, this The person is complete. Nowadays, many movie characters just do what they say, so why do they need lines? Where is the charm of the lines?
Rick's success even caused Ingrid Bergman's jealousy. Compared to Rick, Ilsa's image is much thinner. Bergman publicly said that although "Casablanca" is classic, it is Humphrey Bogart's movie, not hers. To some extent, Ilsa is indeed a supporting role. Of course, Ilsa's shaping is also good. There are a few scenes that are also very exciting, such as the scene where she went to Rick the next night.
In fact, the Nazis had already torn their face on the second night. At this time, Laszlo would take a lot of risks when he went out. There was a shot looking out. The German spies stood behind the pillars outside, but he still insisted on joining the resistance organization. Late night secret meeting. Before attending the meeting, Laszlo and Ilsa had a conversation about her and Rick's past in Paris. Both were just expressing emotions, and they didn’t finish. Laszlo walked away before the outcome of the argument, leaving Ilsa in the room. . If it is a bad director, I will give Ilsa a shot at this time, or tired, or helpless inner drama, but look at how other people's textbooks make it.
Ilsa closed the door and ran to the window to look out without a pause. This action has two meanings. It can be worried about Laszlo's safety, because the front camera has been padded and there is a spy watching from the outside, or it can be that Ilsa is about to perform a small action behind his back. Before Zhang Wang's action continued the emotional music of the previous paragraph, she was worried about Laszlo; Zhang Wang's action was silent, representing neutrality; when Ilsa put down the blinds, the music became a tense tune, then Ilsa went to put on her coat and went out. , She went to see Rick, the action and heart turned to small actions. While she was putting on her clothes, she picked up something and put it in her bag. The audience couldn’t see it clearly, but we knew from the latter scene that she was actually holding a pistol, so even if she went to see Rick, it’s not entirely right. Laszlo's betrayal. But if the pistol is exposed in this scene, it becomes a betrayal of Rick, which is obviously against the director's intention. There are still many small details that are full of scheming. The audience will definitely feel the emotional changes but they may not be able to see these small details. This is a brilliant director.
The success of Ilsa's image lies in the light, shadow and clothing, which are detailed in the art section.
Brilliant supporting role
There are no small characters in the film. All the characters promote the plot and character creation. What's more rare is that many small characters show more than one side.
We started with Renault. From the dialogue, we know that he is a veteran of World War I and defeated the Germans with the Americans. The ending with the American Rick's "the beginning of a beautiful friendship" is logical. He is a completely cynical person, but like Rick, he is not really heartless. He speaks bluntly to the Germans.
I blow with thewind, and the prevailing wind happens to be from Vichy
And if it shouldchange?
Surely the Reichdoesn't admit that possibility.
He is really a slick guy, but he did have a relationship with the Germans at the beginning. He publicly arrested Ugate and recommended Veuve Cliquot 26, a French wine, to the Germans. What's interesting is that such a gangster is not annoying. On the contrary, many people like this character. There are two main reasons. One reason is that the character changed in the end. He picked up a bottle of Vichy mineral water at the airport. The trademark is here. It was facing the audience, it was for the audience to see, and then Renault threw the water in the trash can and kicked it. He sublimated from the law.
Another reason is that this guy has contributed too many classic lines. Most of the classic lines of "Casablanca" are contributed by this guy, which is very humorous. Here are some random ones:
Captain Renault: Well, Rick is the kind of man that... well, if I were a woman, and I were not around, I should be in love with Rick. But what a fool I am talking to a beautiful woman about another man.
Rick: And remember, this gun is pointed right at your heart.
Captain Renault: That is my least vulnerable spot.
Captain Renault: Major Strasser has been shot. Round up the usual suspects.
The French woman Yvonne is similar to Renault. She was abandoned by Rick the first night and hooked up with a German officer on the second day. Such a beautiful woman would be easy to hook up with anyone, because the French officer and the German officer almost got into a fight. , Was stopped by Rick. Her image is ridiculous, she even went to hook up with Germans in order to leave Casablanca, but when everyone sang the Marseille, she sang with everyone with tears in their eyes. She is not unpatriotic. Who can criticize her in the general context? Bulgarian girls are not the same. She also contributed a classic dialogue:
Yvonne: Where were you last night?
Rick: That's solong ago, I don't remember.
Yvonne: Will I see you tonight?
Rick: I never make plans that far ahead.
The Bulgarian couple represent most people who don't have the protagonist's aura. Although there are only a few shots, it is completely possible to infer what they did in Casablanca. They appeared in the first scene. They witnessed the French police killing free Frenchmen on the street; the first night they sold jewelry in Rick’s tavern to raise travel expenses; the next day they went to the police station during the day but their visa was denied; then they went to Lan The parrot bar asked Arabs for help but the money was not enough. The Arabs persuaded him to try Renault; the next night the Bulgarian girl wanted to conduct a physical transaction with Renault and asked Rick for advice. Rick generously helped them "win" to the cost of the journey. This is a very moving side story. Please take a closer look at what the Bulgarian girl said to Rick. Although this is her idea, this is actually what Ilsa wants to say to Rick:
If someone loved you very much, so that your happiness was the only thing that she wanted in the whole world, but she did a bad thing to make certain of it, could you forgive her?
Of course, this passage has a positive effect on the plot, and Rick answered with action, of course, to forgive Ilsa. Everything was done before Ilsa came to Rick.
The guys Carl, Sasha, and Abdu in Rick's bar are also people with stories, so I didn't analyze them one by one. Even Colonel Strasse in Germany is very plump. He appeared as a villain and was suppressed by a Marseillaise while singing "Die Wachtam Rhein" with a German officer in a bar. This song was popular in Germany during the Franco-Prussian War and World War I. It was a German patriotic song. The grievances between Germany and France have not been a day or two. Colonel Strasse also sighed.
Light and shadow
Color plays an important role in shaping the role of the movie, especially in some romance movies to reflect the relationship between the male and female protagonists. Since black and white films have no color, light and shadow assume part of the function of color. Although Rick is complicated, it is just a simple swing in general, and the lighting is relatively simple, half bright and half dark is finished. This technique is directly applied to a large number of classic films such as "The Godfather" and "Lust Caution". The difficulty of filming lies in the heroine Ilas. It is an indisputable fact that she steps on two boats. Maybe the audience will understand it as a "green tea." The success of the role of Ilas is of course due to Ingrid Bergman's performance and Charm, but the light and shadow are absolutely indispensable.
Almost all of Ilsa's lenses use soft light, which is the usual method of portrait photography that girls like now, and it is also the light I don't like. A large part of the so-called high-level sense of the movie comes from the level of the characters, and most of the photographs taken by the girls have only one theme, that is "beauty". The sense of drama and story is more from the incomprehensible props and studio sense. It’s a pity that portrait photography loses its supposedly prominent character and leads to one side of a thousand people. Portrait photographers may wish to learn how to light "Casablanca", even if it is to highlight the beauty of the soft light, it is not the same.
Ilsa's appearance is extraordinary. Sam gave her a soft light close-up when he played the famous "As time goes by", which is so good for Nima! The eyes are still shining with tears, no matter what she has done before, the audience has forgiven her at this moment! This is the charm of movie history superstars!
Rick and Ilsa's first important stand-alone matchup was on the first floor of the cafe. After the first night of chaos, Rick and Sam had a drink and recalled a fragment of their lives in Paris with Ilsa. Before the memory, Rick was sitting in the dark, but after the memory, it became darker. The environment in the movie represents the heart. The darker environment means that Rick's sadness deepens. At this time, Ilsa appeared at the door, and the light of the searchlight was hitting Ilsa. She is dressed in white like an angel. At this time, the audience already knew the past of the two, and the white clothes and Hikari strengthened Ilsa's innocence.
Ilsa walked up to Rick. Rick was facing away from the camera, Ilsa was facing the camera, Ilsa was in forward light, and Rick was in backlight. This is obviously a contradiction and an atmosphere created deliberately. The effect is that Ilsa seems to glow and illuminate Rick. The costume design here is also quite sophisticated. Ilsa wears a white dress and a headscarf. This is the image of the Virgin Mary. Even if it is not so on the line, women wear the headscarf to show respect and repentance. Now women still enter the Orthodox church. A headscarf must be worn, and men must take off their caps. The next conversation between the two of course was about Ilsa's leaving without saying goodbye in Paris. At this time, the role modeling and atmosphere creation were very sufficient. Before Ilsa could speak, the audience had forgiven her for her infidelity to Rick.
The second important scene is that Ilsa sneaks to see Rick when her husband is attending a secret meeting the next night. Of course, he still talks about two things, customs clearance documents and the relationship between the two people. In this scene, Ilsa and Rick reached a complete settlement, and this scene was filmed in an unprecedented black. Of course, Ilsa is still beautiful and soft, but there is already a shadow on her face. Look at the three-dimensional degree of these facial features, it is really too simple to create a little atmosphere with shadows. Asian actors are inherently disadvantaged. The cuteness of Ilsa is that she has never been unfaithful to love or faith, but she always sacrifices one, so she is caught in a dilemma. In this scene, the background light source is outdoors, and the light passes through the lattice windows and shutters to form a kind of prison fence effect. Although the two reconciled, they still have not got rid of the predicament. The dead knot has not been solved. The audience still does not know the ending will be how.
When Laszlo came, Rick stood on the second floor and talked to the two on the first floor. Note that in this shot, Rick is in the shadow even though he is condescending, while Laszlo and Professor Carl are in the light, and the light source is in the direction of Laszlo. We know that Ilsa is still in Rick's room at this time, and the shadow means that he is hiding something from Laszlo. Rick asked Carl to come up and turn off the lights, actually asking him to take Ilsa home. This was another contrast between light and shadow and plot.
The third important scene is the ending, and the problem must be solved in the end. Rick and Laszlo decided the fate of Ilsa. Ilsa and Laszlo went to the United States together, but Ilsa did not refute it, which means that this is also an acceptable decision for Ilsa. This decision meant that Ilsa sacrificed love for anti-fascist beliefs. Ilsa's sensibility scene here is profiled, and didn't give a big soft light to the front until when he was alone with Rick. The profile is the face of the martyred in the icon, representing Ilsa's sacrifice of love.
An important scene in the film is the searchlight. The searchlight represents a lot of intentions. In the movie, the searchlights are always swept around, but the small actions by Rick and others have never been found. The first half of the searchlight symbolizes the white terror of the Nazis. For example, in the scene where Rick was hiding the documents, he stood in front of the piano holding the documents, the searchlight scanned him, and he stuffed the documents into the piano, implying that this trick could be tricked. The Nazis, as expected, Renault searched his tavern but found nothing. The next night the scene of Rick and Ilsa kissing each other turned into a searchlight, where the searchlight became a symbol of hope. It represents both terror and hope. Similar clever applications of puns have appeared many times in the film. These clever applications have made the film a classic in film history.
Symbolic meaning of clothing
One of the reasons why I like to watch old movies is that the previous costumes were really elegant. People used to pay more attention to clothing than they do now, and men and women scrupulously search for individuality within the established social framework. Now it’s completely freeing oneself, how to come and come, like Hyakki Yexing, the meaning of clothing as a symbol is getting weaker and weaker, not even people in the circle can understand that the other party wants to express the meaning through clothing, and it is becoming less and less. sequence. Let's take a look at how "Casablanca" uses costumes to create characters.
The opening of the movie explains the background of the times. Some Europeans have gone to Casablanca to escape the clutches of the Nazis. Those who can go here are all decent people from the upper class in the past. How do decent people wear clothes? Almost all men wear white. White is cool but difficult to take care of, especially in summer. It seems that these are the masters who were served by servants before. I have a bitter memory of this. I just climbed Kilimanjaro and went to stay in the luxury hotel Beyond. At night, I wore a dirty arctic fox jacket and dusty hiking boots and went to dinner. Other European guests Wearing a white linen suit and shiny leather shoes is really embarrassing. Look at the people in Casablanca, they wear white when they die on the street, which is decent for Europeans.
In the evening, people are all at Rick's café. The people who come are not waiting, but what are they doing? The noble lady is selling diamonds; the second largest banker in Amsterdam wants to have a drink with the tavern owner, and they don’t look good; the bartender Carl speaks several languages and was a professor before; the German came to the boss with a check from Deutsche Bank but did not accept it. ...Decent people do all kinds of illegal transactions in this place. This is the collapse of the old world and the sweeping of the floor. Of course, this is the fault of the war and the fault of the Nazis.
Rick appeared in a white green fruit collar double-breasted 4 button 1 dress jacket, with classic black dress pants. First of all, the Qingguo collar is different from the ordinary gun collar and flat collar worn by other guests, showing Rick's special identity. The others are all in white. He is white on top and black on the bottom. This is a classic match of etiquette but also shaped the image of Rick wandering among the various forces.
Ugate is the first important supporting role to appear. Humphrey Bogart 173, Ugate is actually a bit shorter than him! Such a small man actually wears a white double-breasted gun collar, which is the attire of a domineering president. As soon as he appeared on the stage, he was slick. With such a suit, he was particularly bluffing. At first glance, he did not look like a good person. But in fact, he is an important member of the resistance organization, and he has determined to die, so he handed in important documents in advance. Keep it to Rick. Almost all characters have contrasts, which is one of the secrets of the film's successful character creation.
Ilsa wore white when she appeared on stage, which of course shows her innocence and purity. I don't understand other clothes, and I really don't understand women's clothing, but I can still see a little bit of the way in the Paris scenes. Almost everyone in the film looks like a uniform, but in the Paris scene, everyone wears it casually. Ilsa also wears a small beret, which is very cute. In a scene in Paris, Ilsa wore a silk dress and kissed Rick. The silk reflected light, which made Ilsa more radiant with the soft light.
Laszlo wears a white double-breasted pistol collar. He really should wear this, the only domineering president. The other resistance group members wear flat collars, and the power relationship between the elder brother and the younger brother is clear at a glance.
Clothing can also shape the relationship between characters. Ilsa and Rick met at the stall the next day during the day. Ilsa's white jacket is equipped with a black and white striped shirt, and Rick wears a black and white tie that is not so distinctive, to see how people wear couple outfits! The clothing shows that Ilsa has always loved Rick. The tie is an extraordinary decoration, and the tie is the only place that reflects the personality in the days when the style of the suit cannot be worn indiscriminately. On the other hand, the tie was also chosen by aristocratic women in the Middle Ages for the husband. It was convenient for the husband to go out to fight and claim the corpse. It was a status symbol. This made the matching of Rick's tie and Ilsa costume a symbolic meaning. The black and white of the Ilsa striped shirt clearly means that her heart is determined, but Rick's stripes imply that he has not made up his mind yet, and is very unique and well-designed.
Military uniform is also an interesting element. Renault wears a black uniform when he greets Colonel Strasser, and the colonel wears a blue uniform of the Luftwaffe. This is very abnormal, because both of them are autumn and winter uniforms, which do not match the seasons and climate of Casablanca. At night in the bar, both of them wore white. This actually reflected Rick's inner sway. Both groups of people wore white. Who would you help? From the next day, the colonel and Renault both wore dark uniforms again, which meant that Renault fell to the Nazi side, and the Nazis were exposed. At the last moment, the colonel put on a military coat, a symbol of fully armed.
The costume design of the small characters is also very elegant. The Bulgarian girl who wanted to leave Casablanca with her husband and Renault came to ask Rick's opinion. She wore white before but black at this time. The meaning is self-evident.
Finally, talk about Rick's trench coat. This style of trench coat is a British trench coat, which is a military uniform. Rick puts on a trench coat is to put on a military uniform, which means he is ready to fight with the Nazis to the end. From the current point of view, the trench coat is a classic element of film noir, which strengthens Rick's image of a tough guy as a lonely hero, but from a historical perspective, it is characters that shape clothing, not clothing that shapes roles. It is precisely because these classic characters of Rick wear trench coats. Only then did the windbreaker become a classic tough guy prop. It is worth noting that this trench coat is not Burberry, but Aquascutum. The working relationship has been dealing with the Yagershidan brand for a long time. It is really a pity to see such a classic brand to make that group of people make it like this.
music
The music of "Casablanca" is a classic in movie history. There is a song with the same name that is quite popular, but it has nothing to do with the movie. The theme song of Rick and Ilsa is "As time goes by". This song represents their beautiful time in Paris and also represents the memorable pre-war time in Europe. This song also guides the audience into Rick's memories, a very wonderful transition.
The theme music of the Resistance is "Marseillaise". The German theme music is a pitch shift of the German national anthem "Germany is Above All". Colonel Strasser is accompanied by this music every time he appears, and he starts to speak after the music. Of course, this technique now seems to be outdated, but it is still used in some Hollywood movies, and it has been tried and tested.
The power of dispatch
There are many scenes in the film with more than two people appearing. The position and height of the characters reflect the power relationship between the characters. In order to create this point, the director can be said to have worked hard. Ingrid Bergman’s role in the film is a little woman who is engulfed by the times, a feeling of being a bird, but the actual height of Bergman is 175, with huge bones. At that time, Hollywoods gave her the nickname of the Nordic Cow. Two centimeters taller than Bogart. In order to play with her, Bogart must wear padded shoes in all the scenes that she is filming standing up to be higher than Ingrid Bergman, so as to make the "Nordic cow" feel like a bird.
In all the scenes where Ilsa, Rick and Laszlo appear, Ilsa stands between two people, representing her swing. What's interesting is that this combination is always broken by external forces. Rick was separated by Renault when the three met for the first time. The scene with four people at the end of the film is even more classic. It was originally two men planning the next move. This was a decision about Ilsa's fate. At this time, Ilsa stood in the corner behind the two men, very disturbed. Renault appeared suddenly, and Ilsa quickly walked over to stand between the two men, first looking at Laszlo very uneasy, then at Rick, where Laszlo was a head taller than Rick, implying the final winner. Renault stepped forward and showed off directly to Laszlo, placing Rick on the right side of the screen. This barrier was broken again by Rick's pistol. After that, the four characters were divided into two groups, Rick and Renault were one group, and Laszlo and Ilsa were one group, implying the direction of the ending.
The same frame of Renault, Colonel Strasse and Laszlo is also very interesting. Among the three, Renault is the shortest and Laszlo is the tallest. It represents that the resistance organization is the noblest and must win, and the Vichy government is the most unbearable. Rick and the Arab boss also used a similar scheduling technique in a scene of bargaining with Sam.
The victory of political propaganda
The political background in the film is quite complicated. At that time, Casablanca had three independent forces wrestling with each other. The director only took a few minutes to make it clear that this was the director's ability. A European was shot dead in front of the portrait of President Vichy’s French President Petain. The police found a flyer of Free France from him, and then "Freedom, Equality, and Fraternity" on the arch of the police station. Under the arch, a large number of "suspects" were killed. The police escorted to the police station. This montage has two meanings. One is that President Petain’s Vichy France violates France’s "freedom, equality, and fraternity". It also means that free France is the real France. This is unparalleled political propaganda.
Although this is a movie full of North African style, all the sets were shot in Los Angeles and Arizona. This is a film shot in 1942. When it was released, the United States had officially entered the North African battlefield. Various chances were also one of the reasons why "Casablanca" became a classic. The attitude of the protagonist, Rick, is the attitude of the United States. Although the United States is pro-British and French, it has not made the determination to participate in the war. In the end, Rick's decision is also the United States' decision to participate in the war.
All the actors in the film except Humphrey Bogart are European actors, and they are all refugees who fled to the United States because of anti-Nazis. German military officers are played by Jews who fled from Germany, so the Marseilles are actors. Our true feelings have achieved a very bursting screen effect.
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