Yesterday I
watched Casablanca. Only two words are sufficient to epitomize this movie - ABSOLUTE
CLASSIC!! Initially I was a bit hesitant to watch this black & white movie
made some ages ago in 1942, but trust me, the attempt paid off. Today I watched
it third time and can still repeat some of the scenes.
Some of the
dialogues of this movie send a shiver down the spine. My personal favorite was “Here’s
looking at you, kid”. Oh, what a child-like charm, what an innocence, what
a depth of love is embodied in these 5 words, it’s just inexplicable. In this
abstruse line, Richard (Humphrey Bogart) raises a toast to seeing Ilsa (Ingrid
Bergman), the same way we raise a toast to our friends (eg - Here’s to Rick).
Obviously, “to” is missing in this sentence but according to me it has made it
more poignant and indelible.
Bogart was
simply amazing in the movie. He just outclassed all the roles of a pined lover,
at least for me. Love demands patience, but his yearning was restive. At the
climax of the movie, when Ilsa asks Richard “What about us?”, his reply “We’ll
always have Paris” simply strikes the very core of heart. It felt as if he
had lent words to mountain of pain he held back. The frustration with which he
voiced “Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world, she walks
into mine” is master class. The fear of a ray of optimism after one starts
finding solace in dark is rooted deep within his inebriated voice. Sometimes,
separation is a manifestation of love, and he has depicted the feeling with a great panache.
Ingrid
Bergman, undoubtedly, is the most beautiful Hollywood actress I have ever come
across. I am really smitten by the smoldering eyes of that svelte beauty. I
watched her in Notorious and Spellbound, but to me Casablanca
stands tall among all her performances. I was just swooned when she asks Sam “Play
it once, Sam. For old times' sake. Play it, Sam. Play ‘As Time Goes By.’” Her
killing smile can give any tinsel town leading lady a run for her money. Her
face showed a full gamut of emotions. Right from a cherubic, impish Ilsa who
rediscovers a new world with Rick after the (supposed) death of her husband, to
a terrified damsel in distress entangled in the cob-webs of love and cause and
ensnared in the thousand strings of predicament.
I just
learnt that this movie was colorized but the project came a cropper as people
preferred the former version more. This is what happens when you attempt a
redefine an already established cult classic, you are going to fall headlong
right into the ditch.
Grab a copy
of this masterpiece and prefer watching it alone cherishing each and every
beautifully crafted scenes and solid dialogues. Enjoy the journey and just get
lost in the majestic grace and vastness of Casablanca.