COMMENT ⊗   VALID 00002 PAGES
C REC  PAGE   DESCRIPTION
C00001 00001
C00002 00002	\input basic \def\Cas {\:n Casablanca \:a}
C00015 ENDMK
C⊗;
\input basic \def\Cas {\:n Casablanca \:a}
\def\Cass {\:n Casablanca's \:a}
\hsize 6in \vsize 9in \parindent .4in \baselineskip .4in
\Cas earns for itself indisputable membership among the classics of 
motion picture history.  Although neither complex in plot nor deeply analytical
of the human condition, the film possesses a feature that transcends these 
barriers to secure popular approval: it satisfies the movie-goer's natural desires 
to identify with a film and its characters. \Cass adherence to the folk art
traditions of justice, sentimentality, violence, mild pornography and slapstick
humor forms the base of this viewer$/$film identification. Along with the folk art
tradition, however, come symbols and stereotypes that fail to maintain their 
pertinence as society gradually changes with time.  This shifting of relevancy may 
someday make \Cass classic status fade unwillingly into the cold realm of history.
On the other hand, current reaction to the film indicates that this shift might 
actually prove beneficial in a peculiar way: rather than being resented, the 
outdated stereotypes and symbols are simply viewed as \:n funny\:a .
\par 
Observance of the rules of justice, one of the strongest folk art traditions,
sets the foundation for \Cass plot structure.  Rick, the owner of a posh saloon
in Casablanca during the second world war, must choose between self-interest and 
justice: he can jeopordize his business and lose Ilse, his once true love; or he
can help the allied forces in their battle against Germany by helping Ilse and
her husband, Victor, get to the United States with valuable information. Before 
making this key decision, Rick commits several minor actions that foreshadow the
final outcome. In one episode, Rick helps a newly married, penniless couple obtain
exit visas to America by ``fixing'' the roulette table.  Another time Rick exhibits 
his just inner nature by directing the saloon's band to drown out the proud singing
of some German officials with an exuberant rendition of the French national anthem.
And in the end, of course, justice rules supreme---Victor and Ilse go to America,
and Rick joins the allied forces.
\par
Sentimentality plays just as an important role in \Cas as justice, the primary vent
for this sentimentality being the relationship between Rick and Ilse.  The story
of their cruelly fated love, formed and broken by war, reformed and rebroken for
the cause of peace, poignantly touches the heart yet also finds happy resolution.
As a less passionate backdrop to this love, the deeply caring relationship of Ilse
and Victor presents the additional conflict felt by Ilse of love stretched in two 
directions.  The film handles the distinction between these two relationships well:
while Rick and Ilse show their love physically, Ilse and Victor love primarily with 
facial expressions and a gentle, caring quality of speech.  Sentimentalty also 
radiates from the energetic compassion acted out during the French national anthem
scene.
\par
The three folk art traditions of violence, mild pornography, and slapstick humor are
related in that the first two are the primary constituents of the latter.  Violence 
exhibits itself in \Cas in two shooting scenes, in some well employed battle footage
of tanks and bomber planes, and in several scenes of police action.  One of these 
scenes, in which practically every man in a light suit and hat gets rounded up as
a suspect, illustrates the slightly comedic aspect of violence. Lightly pornographic
humor also shows up throughout the film, particularly in association with the French 
police comissioner's practice of giving moneyless young women exit visas in exchange
for certain services rendered.  Rick and Ilse implicitly contribute a bit of 
additional sexual excitement: a strategic camera cut leaves them alone in a room 
for an intederminable amount of time and returns to find them making long overdue
confessions to each other.
\par
Each of these five traditional elements of film satisfies a relatively unchanging
need of the human psyche, and if dependent upon only these elements, \Cass 
popularity would probably endure forever. As was earlier stated, however, 
additional elements accompany these folk art traditions, elements that are not so
independent of their time period.  For example, the symbols used in film are subject
to obsolescence as film techniques (and film critics) become more sophicticated.
While a few of \Cass symbols may never lose their value, such as the relentless 
fly-swatter of Rick's fellow saloon owner or the bottle of Vichy water thrown into
the waste basket, some have already become too simplistic or melodramatic for the       
tastes of the modern viewer: the demise of Rick and Ilse's Paris relationship is 
foreshadowed by Ilse's accidental toppling of a wine glass (and post-shadowed when
Rick subsequently topples \:n his \:a glass after the flashback); the ink of Ilse's
``Dear John'' note to Rick dissolves in the rain to signify their dissolved love 
affair.  While these symbols were probably innovative in their own time, over-use
has dilluted and perhaps poisoned their artistic value.
\par 
Another era dependent element of film is its set of stereotypes.  As society 
changes, the conceptions held by humanity of ``types'' of people change, and old 
stereotypes decrease both in relevancy and in range of identification. (While it may
be argued that \:n all \:a stereotypes are irrelevant, they are and will be for some
time one of film's necessary evils).  Some of the more or less pertinent stereotypes
in \Cas are: Victor, the tall hero type (dressed in white when first introduced);
Sam, the happy saloon piano player (black, no personal ambition); Rick, the 
externally rough$/$internally compassionate type (always drinking); and Ilse, the
\:n woman \:a(``$[$Rick$]$, you have to think for both of us''). It is fairly 
evident here which 
of these stereotypes are \:n less \:a pertinent to modern society, and the film 
makes one of them particularly clear: sexism runs rampant in \Cas .  In addition to
Ilse's portrayal, there is the scene in which a slightly tipsy woman is treated like
property by a bartender, and the scenes concerning the French commisioner's 
exploitation of women.
\par
\Cas , and all films in general, are subject to the obsolescence of their symbols 
and stereotypes. It would seem reasonable to assume that resentment of or 
dissatisfaction with this out-datedness would seriously impair the popularity of an
older film.  And yet there is another possibility, which seems in many cases to be
more valid: if a film has enough of the traditional folk art elements to give it 
intrinsic lasting value, then its obsolete elements will not be fumed over but 
instead laughed at! The mere consideration of the portrayal of women in \Cas , for
example, is hilarious to the mind that has been brought up during the recent stages
of the women's rights movement.  This altered type of appreciation of a film,
substituting humor where once was pathos (or at least seriousnesss), may have some
derogatory effect on the film's original value. But with a classic like \Cas , this 
detractive effect will be negligible in comparison with the intrinsic traditional 
value the film retains.
\par
\vfill
\eject
\output{\page}    
\topbaseline .5in
\font o←cmr12
\:o  \vskip 4in \ctrline{CASABLANCA:}
\vskip  0in \ctrline{The Traditional and Transitory Value of a Classic}
\vskip 1in  \ctrline{Peter Richert}
\vskip  0in   \ctrline{Modern Times}
\vskip  0in   \ctrline{January 14, 1982}
\vfil \end