Casablanca (1942)

I took another look at Casablanca (1942), a movie I analysed a couple of years ago. As a teenager I watched it several times, so I know it well. The witty exchanges, interesting plot and Ingrid Bergman’s modest outfits (and flat shoes!) were a welcome change after the 21st century movies I have been analysing lately. Their coarse and moronic dialogue, insignificant plots and scantily clad women have been getting to me. In my opinion Casablanca’s main drawback is the absence of interactions between women. There are four named female characters but they never speak to each other and three of them only have bit parts. Unlike Humphrey Bogart, who has a few male friends, Bergman (Ilsa) is without any female companions. This is also the case for Madeleine Lebeau, who plays Yvonne, the woman Bogart manhandles and treats carelessly at the beginning. A few or even a couple of relationships between women would have made for a richer film. The poster clearly shows that the distribution of roles is uneven: six men and only one woman—the beauty admired by all. Still, I cannot help wondering what Ilsa and Yvonne’s exchanges would have looked like, had they been given the opportunity to speak to each other. 

​© 2019 Alline Cormier