Reference no: EM133260041

Question: For this week's assignment I chose to watch the film Casablanca. One of the reasons I chose to watch this film was due to a section in this week's reading called Casablanca. As said in the book "Casablanca is one of the most recognizable American films ever made." The film was actually based on a play by Joan Alison and Murray Burnett and was called Everybody Comes to Rick's.

An adaptive choice made by the filmmaker/ playwright that best reflects this decade in American film history has to be the fact that the story took place during World War II. It seems a lot of films from this time told the story in which a war took place. This choice helps current audiences understand how much World War II affected everyone and everything including the film industry.

One of the insights that Casablanca gives on style and composition of American cinema was the noir look of the film. As mentioned in the reading "Casablanca not only looks like a noir film; it plays like one as well."

In my opinion I do believe Casablanca succeeded in conveying the narrative it's out to cover. The reading states that "Romance and adventure aside, Casablanca tells the story of a man coming to grips with his responsibilities to the war effort and the sacrifices he needs to make for it." This is exemplified in the end of the film where Rick chooses to sacrifice love in order to do the right thing and decide to get Ilsa and her husband the flight to America as he stays behind in Casablanca.

Casablanca is such a famous and popular film that it has influenced many films of today. From the quotes "Here's looking at you, ,kid" "this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship" as well as "We'll always have Paris" to the mention of the film in many current films. The influence Casablanca has had on other films has been immense.