The Suicide List: Casablanca
Filed under: Classics, Drama, DVD Reviews
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In the wake of one-too-many remakes, some of us here at Cinematical are feeling a little hurt, a little wounded, a little afraid. We're feeling like a little drastic, overly-protective cinephiliac action may soon be required. So we've put together a list of films, the remaking of which will activate a mass Cinematical suicide pact - or, at the very least, a mass Cinematical drinking-like-Hemingway-for-a-day-or-two pact. Well, okay, probably not even that - but we would get a little miffed. Read on for a defense.
What's fun about revisiting a film like Casablanca, is that (if you haven't seen it in a long while) you get to see it again as if new, but with that hint of familiarity that makes meeting up with an old friend so satisfying and yet so plagued with curiosity: what have they been up to?
Well, Ingrid Bergman is busy flapping her eyelashes over those smoky eyes of hers. She may be known for her "pure" persona—that of the Hollywood golden girl, but some of best performances came out of playing tragic figures, for instance, Casablanca's Lady of Hard Knocks, Ilsa. Considering Berman's mother died when she was 3, her father at 12, and her aunt (to whom she was passed off) a mere three months later, the poor girl didn't need any method acting: tragedy was built in.
Sufficed to say, any film featuring Humphrey Bogart and Bergman is a great film, and Casablanca is a truly great film. Released in 1942, at the height of the war and the beginning of America's involvement in it, Casablanca is about subtle manipulation, of men and mind. Image takes second stage to the quick, double-entendre dialogue, so much so that (at least for me) there are few memorable visuals, but entire chapters of memorized lines that, from the film's inception, became absorbed directly into the collective conscious. Watching the film again is like reading a historical narrative of the English language. Besides the obvious "of all the gin joints..." or "here's looking at you, kid,"—which nearly everyone knows, but many don't know where they know it from—there's a myriad more: "What is your nationality?" "I'm a drunkard." Or how about "round up the usual suspects." Along with the mass of quotable material, there's the unusual clip of the film and it's subtle wit and ambiguous humanity which we're hardly used to in today's black and white, good and evil world.
So I'll say it again: If you haven't seen Casablanca in a long while, as I hadn't, it's worth picking up and suffering through the tears. Because what remains is an essential glimpse of what Philip Roth would call "The Human Stain."
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
6-16-2005 @ 4:19PM
Doug said...
They remade PSYCHO with disasterous results. They're remaking THE WILD BUNCH. They're remaking THE BIRDS. I read DONE DEAL and there's a remake sold about every other week now. It's corporate consensus managed, risk-averse behavior. This is the tip of the iceberg. It is the huge financial risks involved that drive these safe choices. These days, a couple of high profile flops in a row and a studio dynasty can come tumbling down. So, even though I think many of these executives have landfill for brains, I am the tiniest bit sympathetic. If anyone sells a script in Hollwood, you soon realize during the contract writing phase that you've just sold all your rights away. The studio owns it. They can do whatever they want with it. Should they remake CASABLANCA? Of course not, the very idea is repugnant to any cinephile. But they legally can. So, hate to say it but, if there's a profit to be made, they probably will.
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6-16-2005 @ 4:19PM
karina said...
As you said, the remake of Psycho was a disaster. I agree with you that Hollywood (and, like, everybody else) is going to follow the bottom line. But *are* remakes a safe bet? Ocean's 11 made a lot of money. But what else? I guess "You've Got Mail" was a hit ... but I actually don't think a remake is a particularly safe way to make money - it's not nearly as safe as a franchise, right?
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6-16-2005 @ 4:19PM
Hmm said...
But the few remakes that ARE successful is all they focus on. It's a very different mindset. They'd rather pump 50 mill into a remake than even make a sequel to a successful independent film. They have these enormous, top-heavy studio development departments they have to keep fed. Personally, I don't think development is even necessary. I think studios should jump from script directly into production because that would lead to more interesting and less consensus managed filmmaking. But it'll be a cold day in hell before studios take more risks. Not when the financial stakes are so high. Not with this much money involved. I don't think all executives are bad, by the way. I think the Weinsteins are wonderfully courageous and genuinely interested in making art every time out. But they, and a handful of other daring executives, are the exception. I didn't really answer your question that well because it requires more research, but you get my drift.
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6-16-2005 @ 4:19PM
Doug said...
Sorry, K. I was posting as "Hmm."
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6-16-2005 @ 4:19PM
Chris said...
A franchise might be safe, but you can't remake a franchise. There will never be a remake of the Matrix or Indiana Jones, or Star Wars. But, remakes? They can make a new version of certain films every twenty years and start all over again.
If the heartless bastards in Hollywood ever dared to remake Casablanca then we should march and burn them to the ground. Any actor that even though about reprising the role of Rick should be hit with a shovel.
The thing about Casablanca is that it was a great film then and it is still a great film now. The thing that baffles me is the number of people that have never seen the film. If you don't know "Rick, please help me! Rick!". Then I'm not sure I want to know you. If you misquote "Play it again. You played it for her you can play it for me, now play it!" by cutting it down to "Play it again, Sam" you should have your movie quoting privileges revoked.
Favorite line, "Are my eyes brown?".
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