Day 137 in MIT Sloan Fellows Class 2023, Choice point 7 "CASABLANCA"
Story
Casablanca is a 1942 American romantic drama film directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, and Paul Henreid. Set during World War II, the story revolves around the complex relationships between the characters and the political atmosphere in Casablanca, Morocco.
Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) is an American expatriate who owns a popular nightclub and gambling den called "Rick's Café Américain" in Casablanca. Rick is a cynical, mysterious figure who maintains a neutral stance towards the political conflicts surrounding him. However, his life takes a turn when his former lover, Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman), arrives in Casablanca with her husband, Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid), a Czech resistance leader.
Ilsa and Rick had a passionate love affair in Paris, but Ilsa abandoned Rick without explanation on the day the Nazis invaded the city. The two lovers are unexpectedly reunited in Casablanca, and their old feelings for each other resurface. Ilsa and Victor are in Casablanca to obtain exit visas to escape to America, where Victor can continue his work against the Nazis. They need Rick's help to obtain the visas, but the situation becomes complicated due to Rick's unresolved feelings for Ilsa.
As the story unfolds, Rick must confront his past and make difficult choices that will determine the fate of the people he cares for, including Ilsa and Victor. The film is renowned for its memorable lines, emotional performances, and its exploration of themes such as love, sacrifice, and the struggle between personal desires and the greater good.
Casablanca has become a classic of American cinema, and its iconic final scene at the airport, along with the famous line, "Here's looking at you, kid," has left a lasting impact on popular culture.
Rick's growth
Decisions and responsibility
The nature of choice and responsibility: The movie drives home Joan Didion's point that the things worth having in life come at a cost. They require us to put ourselves out there and risk something of ourselves. They require us to weigh our immediate personal interests and comforts against our deeper, more intangible values and commitments.
Rick couldn't ignore the reality that to maintain his "isolationist" policy—to stay on the sidelines and not help Victor to safety—would be to help the side of the Nazis. The film helps us see that choosing not to get involved in some situations can be a choice with profound consequences, whether we like it or not. Self-respect, as Didion tells us comes from being honest with ourselves about the agency we have and the likely consequences of our decisions. Reflect one's emotions and be authentic against this, you can make a decision without regret.
Power of love
Our love and respect for other human beings—for their safety, their health, their basic freedom—can, if we allow it, be a powerful guidepost in life’s key choice points. The film suggests that without a capacity and openness for human attachment, we have no foundation for a political and moral consciousness. When Rick isolated and shielded himself from personal attachments at the start of the movie, his political, moral consciousness was also suppressed.
As we followed Rick's journey through this story, however, we saw that what brought him back into the political fight was his willingness to open himself back up to love, to see his life and fate as connected to that of others. He was moved by the love the Bulgarian woman had for her husband, by the love he saw Victor had for Ilsa, and by the love Rick himself felt for Ilsa and the love he knew Ilsa felt for both him and Victor. In short, the process of opening himself back up to human attachments and personal connections seemed to be a necessary foundation for his moral, political reawakening.
