Here’s Lookin’ at You, Kid

I saw Casablanca when I was ten. At that time I didn’t know much about Nazis, and probably nothing about Vichy France. I perhaps knew even less about this crazy little thing called “love,” other than that boys and girls grew up and they kissed and they got married and sometimes they got divorced. So although I didn’t know it at the time, I didn’t understand the movie at all—but I did know there was something wonderful about it, and watched it over and over, not knowing why.

I figured it out eventually.

Set in WWII French Morocco, Casablanca tells the story of an American expatriate, his former lover in Paris, and her rebel-rousing husband trying to get to the U.S. to continue his work against the Nazis. But the real story is that of Rick (Humphrey Bogart) and Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman), two star-crossed lovers if ever there was a pair. They fell for each other in Paris when she thought her husband was dead, and she had to leave the American when the Czech turned up alive. They meet again a couple of years later, the whole story comes out, and ends with them splitting up yet again, knowing it’s the right thing to do, even if it kills ‘em. But a summary can’t effectively describe one of Hollywood’s most gut-wrenching romances.

I’ve often heard Casablanca referred to as a “chick flick” by people who haven’t seen it. I’m appalled by this, for although it’s certainly universal to both sexes, I contend that this is hands-down a guy’s movie. Focusing on the hard-drinking, cynical Rick, who probably didn’t deserve to lose the only good thing that ever happened to him, Casablanca seems to leap straight from the subconscious of any guy who’s ever had his heart trampled by a stiletto heel. But it’s not like it’s her fault—Rick’s a victim circumstance, is all. Even after Ilsa admits she still loves him after all this time, there just ain’t no room for sunshine and rainbows in Casablanca.

And although I can’t be certain it was intentional, one of the subtle themes seems to be that the only thing in life that’ll always be there for you is bourbon. Ilsa approaches Rick, drinking himself to death, saying, “Not tonight, Rick.” His response: “Especially tonight.”

Apparently all we can do is joke around, do the right thing, and drink up, boys.