The movie Casablanca (1942) takes place in the WWII torn town of Casablanca. The movie is based on the fleeing of refugees from war torn France trying to gain passage into America. The movies circles around the struggles of the war in Europe and of the struggle between lovers.
Casablanca was a war waypoint located in Northern Africa where refugees from the war against the Nazis fled to try and gain passage to the America’s. The only problem is that it is a rough place to live and most refugees that came to Casablanca never made it out.
The police in Casablanca were corrupt and often bribed refugees in order for them to get their letters of transit. Only the very rich or the very lucky were able to get out of Casablanca and make it to the Americas to live in peace. This is a very important idea in the movie because it sets the backdrop for all the action and drama that occurs throughout the rest of the movie.
The movie begins with the owner of a popular night club, Rick Blaine, obtaining two valuable letters of transit. These letters are so important because they cannot be questioned by the authorities and they grant passage to the Americas. When a Czech underground leader, Victor Lazlo, arrives in town with Rick’s old love flame the plot gets thick. Now Rick Blaine is torn between the decision not to help Lazlo escape the Germans and steal back his long time love Ilsa or to help Lazlo escape to the Americas and help lead a rebellion against the Nazi’s. This is an example of how the struggles of war and love become very intertwined in the movie.
Casablanca is a great piece of movie history because not only did it do a great deal to show how people were affected by the war, but also because it had a very twisted and unpredictable love triangle that was affected in many ways by the fight for freedom in the Americas and the fight against the Nazi’s in Casablanca and around the