Rewatching Casablanca once again, I am both amazed by how each time it’s even better than I remembered and trying to decipher what exactly it is that makes this movie so perfect.
Here’s my take:
1. Insane amount of information per second packaged in a smooth, undulating style: ratio of words, wit, facial expressions, characters, revelations and movement feels about 50x higher than in modern movies, without hasty editing.
This is because this movie is properly written — even small characters have backstories, everybody’s arc is thoughtfully built and makes sense (writers had theater background), clearly every actor acted like they’re the main character which is directing rule no1.
Eyes, faces active without a break, tons of information shared in every closeup.
2. Related to this density, the movie is so full of layers and Easter eggs it made Casablanca the perfect movie to analyze for 80 years. From a ring to a toppled glass, from a street vendor’s prices to a half sentence uttered by a passerby, in this highly stylized movie everything feels as dense as in real life.
This is art: truthfulness in an imaginary scenario.
3. But the movie does not feel rushed, which reveals a great confidence from the director and tells you a lot about why many new movies rush around with editing so much — they don’t have enough content! The writing and the facial work are just not dense enough and so the director can only pick up pace in artificial ways.
Just write a deep and realistic enough script and direct the actors well and voila you have the density that keeps the viewers hooked! In Casablanca, you can’t look away for a second without missing something significant — literally! And so you don’t.
4. The reason it all feels so smooth is that the plot — despite all the small details — is very simple. Like in the famous song that’s sung multiple times throughout Casablanca: It’s still the same old story.
A good lesson for how you don’t have to write convoluted nonsense to keep the audience engaged. A simple tale with a lot of interesting details will do — that’s how real life feels too.
There is a reason why Robert McKee uses Casablanca as his core example of a good screenplay.
5. The movie is very beautiful. Even for contemporary standards, Casablanca is gorgeous. It made a great effort to cast the female lead as someone uniquely beautiful, but many of the smaller characters, locations, decorations, etc., all speak of great distinction too.
Everything about this movie could have been tacky and cheap — and it wasn’t. That’s a decision anyone can make, within any budget.
And so we love it and keep watching it — and laugh and cry and hum that little song….