Casablanca (1942)

This was the first time I watched this film.  And as I carry on with this project, I find that it's more difficult for me to write about films to which I have no emotional attachment.  So despite this being hailed as one of the best films ever made, I don't actually have a great deal to say about it.  It was interesting to finally get around to watching this, and it is, of course a very good film, but I think I'll need to watch it again for it to move me.  On this initial viewing, I was merely trying to keep up with what was happening.  The majority of the films I've seen from this era have been musicals, so it was an adjustment for me to need to keep up with a more complicated plot where the characters don't frequently break in to song.  That is something I appreciate about older movies though - so often now movies seem to hold your hand and explain to you very slowly what is happening, rather than giving you enough credit to be able to figure it out yourself.  It's more satisfying when it's not painstakingly spelled out to you, and it allows you to interpret things in a way that is meaningful to you, rather than being beaten over the head with what the maker's intention was.  And isn't that what art should be?  And isn't film a form of art?

Final Thought:  You see so many images of Humphrey Bogart, but seeing him as a movie star is quite striking.  It was bordering on alien for me to see a moving, speaking version of him. And as for the film itself, the lines from it are pretty much cliche now, so it's interesting to see them in context.

Up Next:  The Cat From Outer Space (1978)