The final scene of Casablanca
(1942) at the airfield is ripe for in depth film analysis. It is the exciting
and dramatic culmination of the recurring themes and events of the film. This
is not only achieved through the brilliant writing and intelligent dialogue but
also through the mise-en-scene, cinematography, editing and sound, which tell
a larger story, indicating things about the events and the characters that go
beyond any words they utter. This is why this particular scene has become
synonymous with the classic Hollywood period of the 1930’- 1960’s and why it
has often been cited as one of the most influential and iconic scenes in film
history.
At first glance it becomes immediately obvious that there’s
a fog in the final scene in the airfield that has a grey invading of the scene
and the actors, in order to generate a dramatic feeling of suspiciousness and
to shroud the upcoming events in an air of uncertainty. The dark night time
setting is representative of the fact that at the beginning of the film most of
the scenes and shots are brighter than when the film comes towards the end,
where they are darker. This is indicative of the fact that by the end of the
film the stakes have gotten higher and the drama has been ratcheted up as a
consequence. Heavy rain is also used as an evocative tool to foreshadow the
events of the scene, as viewers of films often tend to associate rain with
sadness, misery and un-fulfilment.
The scene begins when Captain Renault and Victor leave
momentarily. The camera then emphatically tracks in for a MCU of former lovers
Rick and Ilsa. The important thing about this shot is that it is side-on,
assuming neither person’s point of view. As a result of this the audience is
not inclined to sympathise with a particular person’s views in the upcoming
conversation and also, the shot portrays Rick and Ilsa as equally culpable in
the aiding of a fugitive, heightening the drama of the scene. A cut-away to
Captain Renault briefly interrupts the scene, before the camera reverts back to
a MCU of Rick and Ilsa side-on. However, unlike last time when the side-on
objective position of the camera was maintained, this time there is a sudden
transition to Rick’s subjective point of view. This is because Rick is
ultimately the main protagonist of the film and the events that are about to
unfold and the sacrifice that he makes, change him more than any of the other
characters. From observing Rick’s point of view there are suddenly a series of
shots that facilitate the alternating of points of view between Rick and Ilsa.
The emphasis of the point of view shifts is on the characters faces in order to
provoke an emotional response, as they get to witness the emotional impact of
the dialogue on each character. The quality of the shifts in points of views is
not surprising given how Hollywood cinema mastered shifts in points of view as
early as 1919. However, the clockwork shifts in points of view are surprising
considering that Hollywood’s optical point of view cutting was seldom
rigorously consistent at the time, making this scene unprecedented and
interesting. This is clear evidence of how the cinematography and editing in
this shot/reverse shot sequence were advanced for the time and the impact of
these advanced techniques is obvious when you watch the film.
At this point the shot with both characters on screen
transitions to a CU point of view shot of Ilsa. The combination of this CU shot
and the low key lighting (high contrast) of Ilsa’s face reveals a lot about the
character and the scene in general. The lighting and the tears in Ilsa’s eyes
convey her innocence and child-like quality, as she is having to say goodbye to
the man she loves (Rick). This very deliberate lighting of Ilsa’s face is also
utilised to portray her as the treasure that both Rick and Victor desire and
more importantly to portray her as Rick’s redemption, which will become
apparent later in the scene. Richard Dyer claims that light creates atmosphere
and draws attention to the key players or aspects of the action and art of
light captures the inner human being. The CU of Ilsa’s face facilitates the
narrative qualities of light that Richard Dyer describes in this moment. These
observations about Ilsa’s character and mentality are reaffirmed when after
Rick’s portion of dialogue, Ilsa drops her chin as if the inevitability of
having to say goodbye to her true love has become overbearing. Ilsa’s emotions
continue to overbear her in the next shot which features herself, Rick and Victor
all on screen. Blocking and editing are effectively combined to convey the
interpersonal dynamics between the three characters. While Ilsa is crying in
the background at the prospect of hurting one of the men she loves, Rick and
Victor are positioned as equals facing one another, emphasising the fact that
they are equal competitors for this woman’s affection and that there is a
mutual respect. Diegetic and nondiegetic sound are expertly combined here as
when Rick and Viktor are finished speaking, the engines of the plane (diegetic)
roar simultaneously with the shift to louder, quicker and more sinister
background music (nondiegetic). The diegetic sound is utilised to give the
audience the sense that its time for the plane to leave and to draw their
attention away from the love story and back into the action, whilst the
nondiegetic music is included to reflect the psychological state of the characters,
who are anxious as time is of the essence and they remain in danger. The
editing does an equally apt job of conveying these interpersonal dynamics, as
the next series of shots sees: Rick look
from the plane to Ilsa, Ilsa looks at Rick, Rick fixed on Ilsa before looking
at Victor, Ilsa turns to Viktor and confirms to Victor that she’s ready after
one final look at Rick. The shots are put together in this order to show how
tough it is for Ilsa to choose between the two men and to highlight how hard it
is for Rick to let her go, as well as Rick’s understanding that Ilsa is better
off with a noble man like Victor who Rick respects.
There is a transition to a wide MS of the three characters, with
the camera positioned in such a way as to show how the previous shots have
altered the relationship between the three characters. Victor and Ilsa are side
by side in order to impress upon the audience that Ilsa has embraced her fate,
while Rick is alone for the first time and the audience is viewing things from
his point of view. After Ilsa says her last goodbye to Rick it cuts to a CU
shot of Ilsa’s lit face. Ilsa’s face is intentionally lit this way to highlight
how she’s Rick’s redemption, which brings the main motif of the film to a head.
The film opens with Rick at a low point of and a standstill in his life, after
the love of his life (Ilsa) abandoned him. By letting Ilsa leave Casablanca,
Rick finally gains closure and is able to move on with his life as all people
do. Diegetic sound has been used throughout the film to establish the motif
that life always goes on, with the song As
Time Goes By being played several times in the film and being utilised as
something that has always characterised the relationship between Rick and Ilsa.
This is why there is such a noticeable contrast between Ilsa’s lit face and the
dark night time backdrop of the scene, as sacrificing her represents Rick’s
chance to get on with his life in this dark wartime world and to possibly
return to the Allied war effort, which Victor alludes to in the scene when he
says “Welcome back to the fight”. Victor is basically welcoming Rick back to a world,
which the sacrifice of the beautiful Ilsa has allowed him to return to. The
fact that the lighting of Ilsa’s face is used to show that she’s Rick’s redemption
is reaffirmed when in the scene Rick tells Ilsa “Here’s looking at you kid”,
which he says repeatedly throughout the film. This line essentially means best
of luck to you in the future and is used to show how Rick is reluctantly sacrificing
Ilsa, which would confirm John Ellis’ theory that the use of repeated words in
drama is a common way of representing absence and the impossibility of
fulfilment of desire.
The scene next shifts to a high shot of Rick from Victor’s
perspective. Looking at Rick from Victor’s perspective hammers home the fact
that Rick has lost Ilsa and Victor has won her, whilst reinforcing this notion
that Rick must now exit this momentary standstill and move on with his life.
Rick’s point of view is then re-established and a LS is utilised to emphasise
the fact that Ilsa is leaving Rick’s life forever. This LS and the nondiegetic music
playing complement each other well and effectively combine to elicit emotion
among the audience for Rick’s sacrifice. The music is slowed down and becomes
louder to really emphasise this momentous sacrifice that Rick is making, as Victor
and Ilsa head off into the distance of this LS. The film now shifts to a shot
of the couple (Victor and Ilsa) walking towards the camera. As the pair gets
closer to the camera, Victor is removed from the shot and there is a shift to a
CU shot of Ilsa’s tearful face. This shot effectively highlights how Ilsa’s
previous façade of resilience is crumbling the further she walks away from her
true love. The transition to a CU shot of Rick alone is indicative of how
cinematography and editing are both deployed to provoke much sympathy from the
audience for both Rick and Ilsa, as the emotional repercussions of Rick’s noble
sacrifice become more evident the further Ilsa distances herself from him.
There is now a sudden cut to Captain Renault just at the
point in which Major Strasser is arriving. This is another example of intelligent
editing because among all the emotional drama of Rick and Ilsa’s tearful goodbye,
the audience almost forgets about the danger the Nazis pose to Victor and Ilsa.
This sudden transition hits the audience almost unexpectedly and re-introduces some
tension into the scene. After Rick shoots Strasser and Captain Renault
unexpectedly elects not to turn Rick in, the film cuts to Rick and Captain
Renault’s point of view as they watch the plane leave. A CU shot of Rick’s eyes
at the moment where he looks skyward does an impactful job of representing Rick’s
utter devastation at the sight of losing his true love. This is a particularly
evocative CU shot when placed in the context of the film, as this is the second
time that Rick’s true love Ilsa has left his life. The editor has wisely elected
to have this CU shot proceed a shot of the plane disappearing into the fog,
representing the fact that Ilsa has left Rick’s life for good and he will never
find her again. Rick and Captain Renault now walk alongside one another
exchanging witty remarks. There is a high angle shot of the two men as they
depart the airfield and what has now become a crime scene. The last shot of the
film is a LS of Rick and Captain Renault walking into the fog. The fog is representative
of Rick’s uncertain future in this wartime world and Rick’s part in this film
ends on a rather ambiguous note, with the audience unsure of whether Rick is
unable to overcome his heartbreak and move on with his life as time goes by.
