Casablanca

The film Casablanca is often said to be one of the best movies of all time, even though it started out as a film with nothing special expected of it; it was simply one of the hundreds of movies that was produced each year. The film contains themes that are universal and still used in many films today, one of which is love and emotional struggles. These two themes are seen over again in movies throughout the history of filmmaking and it is always an easy way to draw audiences to see movies. All the characters go through an emotional change during the film. Renault begins as police inspector who is working with the Nazi's and has Ugarte killed, but by the end, he is a completely changed character who helps Rick get Laszlo and Ilsa out of Casablanca. When we first meet Rick, a memorable line that he says is that he "sticks his neck out for nobody"; Rick isn't a hero but he isn't a bad guy, and it takes a while to figure out who he is. Even Ilsa, who seems to be the classic woman stuck in a love triangle becomes more than what she is when we meet her, we see that her and Rick have a complicated past and the complications that she has with Rick and Laszlo are more than any romantic comedy of today has. People are always drawn to a love theme, and grow attached to who they think should be together and they will watch the movie over and over again to relive the love and the struggles that each character goes through. It's clear that Ilsa loves both Rick and Laszlo, but at the end of the movie, Rick really shows his love for Ilsa by letting her go with Laszlo in order to keep her safe in America. Even though this film was set out to be nothing out of the ordinary, a failed movie even, it surprised everyone by winning 3 Academy awards, and coming out with iconic characters, lines, and theme song, and even if they've never seen it, everyone knows about Casablanca.