Franz Kafka

Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a German-language writer of novels and short stories, regarded by critics as one of the most influential authors of the 20th century. Most of his works, such as "Die Verwandlung" ("The Metamorphosis"), Der Prozess (The Trial), and Das Schloss (The Castle), are filled with the themes and archetypes of alienation, physical and psychological brutality, parent–child conflict, characters on a terrifying quest, labyrinths of bureaucracy, and mystical transformations.

Kafka was born into a middle-class, German-speaking Jewish family in Prague, the capital of the Kingdom of Bohemia, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In his lifetime, most of the population of Prague spoke Czech, and the division between Czech- and German-speaking people was a tangible reality, as both groups were strengthening their national identity. The Jewish community often found itself in between the two sentiments, naturally raising questions about a place to which one belongs. Kafka himself was fluent in both languages, considering German his mother tongue.

Kafka trained as a lawyer and after completing his legal education, obtained employment with an insurance company. He began to write short stories in his spare time. For the rest of his life, he complained about the little time he had to devote to what he came to regard as his calling. He regretted having to devote so much attention to his Brotberuf ("day job", literally "bread job"). Kafka preferred to communicate by letter; he wrote hundreds of letters to family and close female friends, including his father, his fiancée Felice Bauer, and his youngest sister Ottla. He had a complicated and troubled relationship with his father that had a major effect on his writing. He also suffered conflict over being Jewish, feeling that it had little to do with him, although critics argue that it influenced his writing.

"In theory, there is a possibility of perfect happiness: To believe in the indestructible element within one, and not to strive towards it."  - Franz Kafka
 

Meryl Streep and Robert De Niro in The Deer Hunter (1978)

The Deer Hunter (1978)

The Deer Hunter (1978), Universal Studios

"The Deer Hunter," a war drama directed by Michael Cimino, is a remarkably moving film. With Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, Meryl Streep, and John Cazale, it's also brilliantly acted.

Notes:

A shot of a city skyline at night. On the side of a small brick building that houses a strip club reads, 

"Welcome to CLAIRTON, City of Prayer" 

Men are working in a steel mill in Clairton, Pennsylvania. Their shift ends in the morning. Steelworkers Michael (Robert De Niro), Nick (Christopher Walken), Stan (John Cazale), Steven (John Savage), and Axel (Chuck Aspegren) head out of the mill and say their goodbyes to coworkers. Once outside, Mike suggests that they all go deer hunting that night, and Steven protests, reminding them that he's getting married to his girlfriend Angela (Rutanya Alda) that night. They all pile into the car and head to their local bar, Welsh's Lounge, owned by their friend John (George Dzundza).

Angela is in her wedding dress, practicing "I do" into the mirror. She surveys her pregnant belly nervously, with tears in her eyes.

Mike and his friends walk into the bar, sit down, and begin making bets on the Steelers vs Eagles game that is playing on the television.

Linda (Meryl Streep) is in her kitchen, in her bridesmaid dress, preparing a tray of tea and food. She brings the tray up to her father, who is in an angry drunken stupor on the floor. She pulls him up from the floor and tries to get him into bed, during which he hits her in the face twice.

By this time, all the men are pretty drunk at the bar, and Mike and Nick are now playing a game of pool. They all sing along as Frankie Valli's "Cant Take My Eyes Off of You" plays on the jukebox. Steven's mother barges into the bar and drags him out, yelling at him about his choice of wife. Steven insists that he loves Angela, and she loves him. The men watch from the bar.

Mike and Nick share a tiny house together. They discuss hunting. Mike says,

"One shot. One shot is what it's all about, the deer has to be taken with one shot. I try to tell people that, they don't listen."

Nick replies, "I don't know, I guess I'm thinking about the deer. I like the trees, you know? I like the way the trees are in the mountains, all different... the way the trees are."

Axel and John arrive at Mike and Nick's, followed shortly after by Stan and three of the bridesmaids. Linda arrives by herself, and Nick (who is her boyfriend) asks her what's wrong when he sees she's visibly upset. She asks him if she can stay at his and Mike's place while they are gone, and he tells her yes. Mike is watching the conversation through the window, and he leaves the house as Linda walks inside.

Steven and Angela are married.

At the reception, a big crowd of people are dancing as a band plays Eastern European music. Steven, Nick, and Linda are dancing around in a circle, holding hands, and Mike is watching them from the bar area. It becomes apparent that he is mostly watching Linda; she notices and begins to glance back at him as well.

It's late in the evening and everyone at the reception has become fairly intoxicated. They take wedding party pictures.

The band begins to play "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You," and Nick pushes Mike into Linda and tells them to dance. After they dance, Mike leads Linda to the bar to buy her a beer.

Mike and Linda are at the bar alone, and Mike is very drunk, and hanging on Linda. Nick walks in and Linda runs to him and kisses him, and then runs back to the dance floor.

An Green Beret walks into the bar and sits down, and Mike and Nick immediately buy him a drink and try to talk to him because they will be leaving to fight in Vietnam soon. They ask the Beret what the war in Vietnam is like, but he refuses to speak to them and stares straight ahead.

Mike is drunk and gets angry that the man is ignoring them, but Nick and Steven hold him back from starting a fight. The Beret will only sip his drink and say "F*** it."

Steven and Angela are hoisted up onto people's shoulders and carried outside to their car. They are saying their goodbyes to the wedding party, and Steven is nervous about his wedding night and confides to Nick that he's never done it with Angela (Hence, Angela is pregnant with another man's baby). As Steven and Angela begin to drive off, Mike strips out of his clothes and runs down the street. Everyone runs after him, and Steven follows him in the car. Mike cuts down an alleyway, and the only one able to catch up with him is Nick. Mike finally lays down on an outdoor basketball court completely naked, and Nick flings a shirt over him. Nick sits down next to him, and Mike asks if he thinks they'll ever come back (from Vietnam). Nick asks Mike to promise him that no matter what happens, Mike won't leave him over there- that he'll bring his body back home.

The next morning, Mike, Nick, Stan, John, and Axel (the last four still in their wedding attire) drive through the mountains to go on their hunting trip.

They pull to the side of the road to eat and get their gear together. 

Stan asks Mike if he can borrow his extra pair of boots and Mike tells him no.

"No boots for you"

"Say what?"

Stan gets angry and asks why, and Mike replies that Stan is never prepared for hunting trips, that he never has anything he needs, and that he never learns. Stan says that he's always doing Mike the favor of fixing him up with women, and that Mike never does anything about it. Stan calls Mike a faggot, and the rest of the guys tell Stan to cut it out. Mike still refuses to give up his boots, and Nick finally cuts in and asks Mike what his problem is, and hands the boots to Stan. Mike says nothing and fires his rifle off.

Church choir music plays as Mike and Nick head out of the hunting cabin and up into the mountains to hunt. Mike spots a deer and shoots it.

The men return to Clairton that night, with the dead deer strapped to the front of the car. They barge into Welsh's bar, which is dark and closed, singing drunkenly. They turn the lights on and start drinking beer. John begins to play a serious, classical song on the piano, and the men quickly sober and listen intently as he plays.

John finishes playing and they all sit quietly in silence.

North Vietnamese airplanes drop bombs on a small village in Vietnam, setting it on fire. Mike is laying on the ground, bloody and unconscious, in full camouflage gear. A North Vietnamese soldier finds a group of villagers, mostly women and children, hiding in an underground bunker. He throws a grenade on top of them, and runs away as they are blown up.

As Mike awakens, he sees the same Vietnamese soldier gun down a little girl carrying a baby. Mike jumps up, sets the man on fire, and then shoots him.

Nick and Steve arrive in a helicopter with a platoon of soldiers, and run over to Mike. Suddenly, a bunch of bombs go off on the ground, and a line of North Vietnamese soldiers is advancing towards them.

Mike, Nick, Steve, and others are taken prisoner and held captive in a wire cage along a river. One by one, the prisoners are pulled out from above, and forced to play Russian roulette with each other, as the North Vietnamese soldiers gamble on the outcome. Steve begins to yell and panic, and Mike goes over to comfort him. They listen as the game finally comes to an end as one of the men puts the gun to his head, pulls the trigger, and the bullet fires into his head.

Eventually, Steve and Mike are forced to play against each other in the Russian roulette game. Steve is crying in fear and won't pick up the gun. Mike, with tears in his eyes, is telling Steve that he can do it, and that the soldiers are going to shoot him if he doesn't. Steve continues to cry, and Mike starts yelling at him to do it, and to prove that he has balls.

Steve fires the gun, but the bullet only grazes his head because he didn't hold the gun straight. The soldiers pull Steve away and put him in an underwater cage as punishment, where Steve struggles to hold his head above the water and rats.

Mike is released back to the cage underneath the platform with Nick. He tells Nick that it's just the two of them now.

Nick asks, "What about Stevie?" Mike replies, "Forget about him. He ain't gonna make it." Nick looks at Mike with disbelief and asks, "Who do you think you are? God?"

Mike tells Nick that they are going to have to play each other in Russian roulette, and that they are going to need more bullets. Nick asks, "What are you crazy? More bullets?" Mike explains that it's the only way, and that he is going to use the bullets to start shooting at the soldiers, and then Nick will grab the nearest gun and start shooting.

Mike and Nick sit at the table to play, and Nick is the first one up. At Mike's urging, he fires and it's blank.

Mike then tells the soldiers that he wants to play with three bullets. They agree, load the gun with three bullets, and Mike points it to his head and pulls the trigger. Empty. It's Nick's turn, and he refuses to do it a few times, before finally pulling the trigger. Empty. It's Mike's turn again, and he brings the gun up to his head.

He then pulls it away and shoots three of the soldiers. Nick and Mike both grab machine guns and kills the rest of the soldiers and then make their way out of the hut.

Mike pulls Steve out of the underwater cage, and leads him over to Nick. The three of them begin to float down the river, holding onto a large log.

They spot a US Army helicopter, and grab onto a rope bridge to wave it down. The helicopter spots them and lowers down to pick them up. Nick is pulled into the helicopter, but Steve and Mike are left dangling, and then Steve loses his grip and falls into the water below. Mike lets go and falls in after him. He swims over to Steve and pulls him to shore, where he discovers that Steve has a serious leg injury and cannot walk. He hoists Steve on his back and carries him until he finds a US Army tank. He lays Steve onto the tank, but he stays behind as the tank rolls away.

At the US Army Hospital in Saigon, Nick watches from a balcony as the bodies of dead US Soldiers are laid out on the ground and loaded into metal coffins. A doctor comes up to Nick and begins to ask him about his family to fill out a form. After answering a few questions, Nick just begins to sob uncontrollably.

Nick is discharged from the hospital, and back in his uniform, he is roaming down a street in the middle of Saigon's nightlife. At one point he thinks he sees Mike, but it turns out not to be him. He walks into a strip club, where a prostitute tries to get his business, but he turns her down and leaves the club.

Nick is walking down a dark street alone when he hears gunshots. He follows the sound to where a Frenchman named Julien is lounging in a car, outside of a building. Julien greets Nick and insists that he come inside to see the game. Once inside, Nick sees that a large group of men are yelling and cheering, as they gamble on games of Russian roulette. Mike is one of the spectators, but he and Nick don't notice each other. Nick pulls the gun from one of the men playing and shoots the gun at the man's head. Empty. He then shoots the gun at his own head, and it's empty. Nick is then thrown out of the building, and Mike runs after him. Nick jumps into the car with Julien and they drive off as Mike yells after Nick. Julien hands Nick a wad of money and tells him that he could make a lot of money playing Russian roulette, but Nick throws the money out of the car.

Mike is in a cab arriving back in Clairton, when he spots banners hanging along the road that say, "Welcome Home, Michael," and he sees that his friends are having a welcome home party for him at his house. Linda, Stan, Axel, and others are gathered inside with a cake, awaiting his return. Mike tells the cab driver not to stop and to keep on driving.

Mike checks into a motel, where he takes off his uniform, sits on the floor, and takes out a picture of Linda from his wallet. The next morning, Mike waits until everyone has left the house, and then goes in to say hello to Linda.

Linda is overjoyed to see him, and she welcomes him inside. She tells Mike that she was hoping somehow he would have Nick with him.

Mike simply says, "no," and then asks if she's heard anything about Nick. Linda says no, and that the last she heard, Nick was AWOL. She begins to cry, and Mike hugs her and tells her it will be alright. Linda says she has to go to work, and Mike says that he'll walk her there.

Mike goes to the steel mill to surprise Stan and Axel.

The three of them then show up at Welsh's Lounge, where Mike is welcomed back by everyone inside. John pulls them into the back for a drink, where Mike finds out that Steve has already returned home, and they all thought he knew. John tells him that Steve has disappeared and Angela won't tell anyone where he's gone. Mike immediately leaves the bar and goes to Steve's Mother's house to ask Angela about Steve. She's lying in bed and won't speak, but she writes down on a piece of paper a phone number.

Mike goes to a payphone to dial the number, but he hangs up without dialing it. He then goes home and packs up his stuff. He tells Linda as she's arriving home that he has to get out of there. She asks him to stay and go to bed with her, so that they can comfort each other. Mike tells her he can't, and leaves. She runs outside after him, and goes to his motel room with him.

Mike is watching Linda bowl with Axel, John, and Stan at a bowling alley. Mike stays apart from everything, watching from fairly far away. Axel gets himself stuck underneath the rack of pins, and everyone runs to pull him out, including Mike. As Linda and Mike help Axel limp off of the lanes, Axel asks the guys about going on another hunting trip.

Mike, Stan, Axel, and John are roaming through the mountains with rifles, hunting deer. Mike is tracking a large buck, and eventually comes face to face with it. The buck stares at him and Mike has a clear shot, but he misses. The buck continues to stand there after the gun shot, and then slowly ambles away. Mike sits down and yells out over a canyon, "okay!"

Stan and Axel are sitting in the cabin and Stan is looking over his revolver. Axel asks Stan why he brought a gun like that on a hunting trip, and Stan says, "just in case."

Axel then makes a joke about Stan's girlfriend cheating on him, and Stan points the gun at him and yells at him to take it back. Mike walks into the cabin as Stan is waving the gun at Axel, and Mike grabs the gun away from Stan and pushes him to the ground. Stan yells, "What? did you think it was loaded?" Mike checks the revolver's chamber and it is loaded. Angrily, Mike takes all of the bullets out of the chamber besides one, and points the gun at Stan's head, yelling at him, "You want to play games? I'll play your game." He pulls the trigger. Empty. Mike stalks out of the cabin and throws the revolver into the woods.

Back in Clairton, Mike drives to his house without dropping any of the guys off, and gets out of the car without saying a word to anyone. He gets his stuff out of the trunk and goes inside. Axel, Stan, and John slowly get out of the car, grab their stuff, and begin walking home.

Mike arrives at the supermarket to visit Linda at work, and he finds her in the back stockroom crying. He asks what's wrong, and she says she doesn't know. She tells him to just leave her alone.

When Linda leaves work for the night, Mike is waiting for her with his car. She gets inside and they start to drive home. She asks, "Did you ever think life would turn out like this?" He replies, "No."

That night, Mike leaves the house and walks to the payphone to call the number Angela gave him.

Steve is at a Veteran's Hospital in a motorized wheelchair, both his legs amputated. A nurse tells him that he has a phone call. Steve answers the phone and it's Mike. He's happy to hear from him, and asks how things are going. Mike says fine, and then asks when Steve is coming home. Steve explains not for awhile, and Mike doesn't understand what he's talking about. Steve says he has to go and hangs up. Mike hangs up the phone as well, and Steve sits in his chair, crying.

Mike goes to the hospital to visit Steve. Steve tells him that he doesn't want to go home, and Mike says that he knows, and that it's fine. Steve then shows him a drawer full of $100 bills. He tells Mike that he keeps receiving money from Saigon, and he doesn't know why. Mike says that it must be from Nick, and Steve asks, "Nick is still alive? Where is he getting this kind of money?" Mike says, "Cards? I don't know," but he knows that Nick is getting the money from playing Russian roulette. Mike wheels Steve away and tells him that he's taking him home.

Mike flies back to Saigon to find Nick. He finds Julien and asks him if he knows where Nick is. Julien is reluctant to tell him anything, and Mike hands him stacks of money and says that he wants to play against Nick in Russian roulette. Julien agrees to take him to Nick, and they end up at a door where another man extorts $1500 out of Mike before letting them inside the room.

Inside, a game of Russian roulette is in progress, with a large group of men watching and gambling.

Mike searches for Nick, but doesn't see him. Mike watches as one of the men playing puts the gun to his head, shoots it, and dies.

Mike spots Nick come through a door at the end of a hallway, and he rushes forward to talk to him. Nick is unresponsive and doesn't recognize Mike. He tries to push past Mike to get to the game, but Mike restrains him saying, "I traveled 12,000 miles to come get you. Nick, I love you, you're my friend. What are you doing?" Nick says nothing and spits in his face. Mike lets him go, and Nick walks away to play the game. Mike hurries into the backroom to negotiate with the men in charge of the game, telling them that he wants to play Nick, and he gives them all his money. They agree, and Mike walks out and sits down at the table across from Nick.

The gun is handed to Nick first, and he lifts the gun to his head. Mike begs him to stop, but Nick pulls the trigger.

Empty. The gun goes to Mike next, and Mike lifts the gun to his head, and asks Nick, "Is this what you want?" Nick doesn't respond, and stares at Mike with no emotion. Mike stares back at him and says, "I love you, Nick" and he pulls the trigger. Empty.

The gun goes back to Nick, and Mike notices the track marks up and down Nick's arm as he restrains him from lifting the gun. Mike pleads with Nick again to come home, and some type of recognition seems to register on Nick's face. Trying to jog Nick's memory, Mike says, "Remember the trees, Nick? All the different trees in the mountains? Remember that?" Nick smiles and remembering the conversation says, "One shot?" Mike says, "Yeah, one shot, remember?" Nick smiles again and repeats, "One shot." He pulls his arm away from Mike, puts the gun to his head, and pulls the trigger. The bullet goes into Nick's head, and Mike lunges forward to grab him as he falls.

In Clairton, Mike, Stan, Axel, and John carry Nick's casket down the steps of the church, with Linda walking behind it, and Steve being carried down in his wheelchair. They load the casket into the back of the hearse.

After the funeral, Mike, Linda, Steven, Angela, Stan, Axel, and John gather at Welsh's Lounge for breakfast. All of them are stricken with grief and no one is really talking when John starts humming "God Bless America," and they all start singing it.

After the song, Mike raises his glass, and says "To Nick," and they all raise their glasses and repeat "To Nick."

"The Deer Hunter" won Best Picture, Best Director (Michael Cimino), Best Supporting Actor (Christopher Walken), Best Sound, and Best Editing at the 1979 Academy Awards, and was also nominated for Best Actor (Robert De Niro), Best Supporting Actress (Meryl Streep), Best Screenplay, and Best Cinematography.

The Deer Hunter (1978)

Director: Michael Cimino

Screenplay: Deric Washburn, 

Michae Cimino

Producers: Barry Spikings, 

Michael Deeley

Cinematography: 

Vilmos Zsigmond

CAST:

Robert De Niro- Michael

John Cazale- Stan

John Savage- Steven

Christopher Walken- Nick

Meryl Streep- Linda

George Dzundza- John

Rutanya Alda- Angela 
Chuck Aspegren- Axel
Pierre Segui- Julien

Diane Keaton and Woody Allen in Annie Hall (1977)

Casablanca (1942)

Casablanca (1942), Warner Brothers

"Casablanca," a romantic drama set in Africa during World War II, is one of the most famous films of all time. The love story between Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman's characters is legendary- "Here's lookin' at you, kid." And it lives up to its hype- it really is romantic.

The story is captivating, the script is great, and Humphrey Bogart is compulsively watchable. He and Ingrid Bergman work well together, bringing emotional depth and complexity to the film. 

Notes:

Narrator- 

"With the coming of the second world war, many eyes in imprisoned Europe turned hopefully, or desperately, toward the freedom of the Americas. Lisbon became the great embarkation point, but not everybody could get to Lisbon directly, so a torturous round-about refugee trail sprang up- Paris to Marseille, across the Mediterranean to Oran, then by train, auto, or foot, across the rim of Africa to Casablanca, in french Morocco. Here, the fortunate ones might obtain exit visas and scurry to Lisbon. And from Lisbon, to the New World. But the others (the less fortunate ones), wait in Casablanca."

Inside Rick's Cafe Americain, a nightclub in Casablanca, there are quiet deals being made at various tables. The place is filled with desperate Europeans trying to get out of Casablanca and on a boat or a plane to Lisbon.

The club's namesake and owner, Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart), is sitting at a table alone when he is approached by an acquaintance named Ugarte (Peter Lorre). Ugarte tells Rick that he's the only one of his friends that he trusts because Rick despises him. He asks Rick to hold onto some important letters of transit for him, and Rick agrees, slipping them into his jacket pocket.

"You hate me so I know you're a good guy"

Rick stands up to slip the letters underneath something on top of the piano. He is standing and listening to the live musician, Sam (Dooley Wilson), sing and play piano, when he is approached by Signor Ferrari (Sydney Greenstreet), the owner of The Blue Parrot. Ferrari says that he wants to buy Rick's club, and Rick tells him that it's not for sale. Ferrari asks what he wants for Sam then, and Rick replies, "I don't buy or sell human beings." Ferrari says, "Too bad, that's Casablanca's leading commodity. With the refugees alone you can make a fortune, if you'd work with me through the black market." Rick declines the offer and ends the conversation, walking to the bar. Yvonne, a woman that Rick spent a night with, has been waiting for him, and asks if they will be seeing each other later that evening. Rick says that he never makes plans, which angers the woman, and Rick escorts her out when she tries to order another drink, telling her that she's had enough. He sees her into a cab, and tells his bartender to make sure she gets home safe.

Captain Louis Renault (Claude Rains), the chief of police in Casablanca, and a friend of Rick's, is sitting outside the club and hails him over.

"Chatty, chat, chat"

They chat for a bit and then go inside. Louis confides to Rick that they will be making an arrest in his club shortly. He tells Rick that the man is a murderer, and if he's thinking about warning the man, not to bother. Rick assures him, "I stick my neck out for nobody," and Louis replies with a smile, "A wise foreign policy." 

Once they are in Rick's office, Louis tells him that a man named Victor Laszlo, an escapee from a concentration camp and a leader of the French Resistance, will be trying to obtain an exit visa in Rick's cafe, and that he must not be allowed to get one. 

Ugarte, the accused murderer, is arrested in the club and taken away.

Major Heinrich Strasser (Conrad Veidt) of the Third Reich implores Rick to sit down at his table and then interrogates him on his political leanings and opinions of Victor Laszlo. Rick answers his questions with his usual vague and neutral stance, and then excuses himself from the table.

Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid) and his female companion, Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman), arrive at the club and are seated at a table. Both Captain Louis and Major Strasser visit their table and ask Victor to meet them at Louis' office the next day.

Victor meets with a man named Berger at the bar, and asks him if he knows where he can find Ugarte, a man who is supposed to help him. Berger tells Victor that Ugarte has just been arrested for murder.

Meanwhile, Ilsa says hello to Sam, and he to her. They know each other, and both agree it's been awhile. She tells him to play some of the old music, and as he begins to play, she asks if he's seen Rick. Sam lies and says that he hasn't seen Rick all night, and that he's probably gone to The Blue Parrot. Ilsa smiles and tells him that he used to be a much better liar, to which Sam pleads, "Leave him alone Miss Ilsa. You're bad luck to him."

"You suck at lying, Sam"

Ilsa asks him to play "As Time Goes By," for old times' sake. Sam begins to play and sing, as Ilsa sits and listens. Rick walks in and heads straight over to Sam and says impatiently, "I thought I told you never to play..." and then he sees Ilsa sitting there.

Rick and Ilsa exchange a long look, but before they can say anything, Louis and Victor join Ilsa at the table, and Rick sits down as well. They chat and then Victor suggests they call it a night, and he and Ilsa get into a cab and leave.

Later that night, after the club is closed, Rick is sitting at the bar and drinking by himself. Sam walks in and asks if he's going to bed. Rick says no, and Sam pleads with him to leave and they'll take a drive together.

"Rick, please don't get stupid wasted over this girl again"

Rick says no, that he's waiting for a girl; he says that he knows that she'll come back. Sam says that he's not leaving, so he sits down at the piano and begins to play. Rick says forlornly,

"Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world, she walks into mine."

Rick tells Sam to stop what he's playing and says, "you know what I want to hear." Sam insists that he doesn't, and Rick replies, "you played it for her, now play it for me. If she can stand it, I can stand it. Play it!" Sam begins playing "As Time Goes By," and Rick is tortured by memories.

"Love is the worst"

Flashback to Paris, when Rick and Ilsa were seeing each other. They sit on a sofa, drinking champagne, and Rick tells her, "Here's looking at you, kid" and they clink glasses.

"So happy, la, la, la"

There are flashbacks of the two of them dancing and of one night, when Ilsa asks Rick what he is thinking about, he says, "I was wondering why I'm so lucky- why I should find you waiting for me to come along."

Their happiness is rudely interrupted by the impending German occupation of Paris.

"Let's drink some champagne before the Nazis get here"

At La Belle Aurore, a Parisian cafe, Rick and Ilsa discuss the looming Nazi threat. Ilsa laments, "The whole world is crumbling and we pick this time to fall in love!" There is a price on Rick's head, and Ilsa tells him that he must leave Paris. Rick reminds her that they both need to leave Paris, to which Ilsa gives him a hesitant, "yes, of course," but you can tell that she doesn't mean it. Rick announces that they will both catch a train to Marseille the next day, and Ilsa says that she will meet him at the train station. He suggests they get married in Marseille, and she begins to cry. He asks her what's wrong, and she says, "I love you so much. And I hate this war so much. Oh, kiss me as if it were the last time."

"No, really, this is the last time"

The next day at the train station, Rick is waiting for Ilsa to show, and of course, she doesn't. Sam appears beside Rick to report that Ilsa checked out of her hotel and left him a note.

"This is ominous"

He hands the letter to Rick and it reads:

"Richard, I cannot go with you or ever see you again. You must not ask why. Just believe that I love you. Go, my darling, and God bless you. Ilsa."

The last call for the train to Marseilles is heard, and Sam urges a stunned Rick forward and onto the train.

Back to present time, and Rick and Sam are still at the club, and Rick is still drinking. The door opens, and Ilsa suddenly walks in. She hurries over to the table where Rick is sitting, and sits down next to him.

"Is this seat taken?"

Rick asks her, "Why did you have to come to Casablanca? There are other places." She says, "I wouldn't have come if I'd known you were here." She wants to explain herself, and she starts to tell him the story of when she first arrived in Paris. Rick interrupts her and wants to know who she left him for- Laszlo or someone else? This angers her, and she gets up and leaves. Rick lays his head down and cries.

Laszlo and Ilsa show up at Renault's office the next day, where Major Strasser is waiting for them.

"This should be fun."

The Major offers to let Laszlo obtain an exit visa for Lisbon if he gives Strasser the names of the underground resistance leaders. Laszlo refuses and asks if he can leave, and Strasser assents because he can't arrest him on French occupied land.

Rick spots Isla at an open-air market, and apologizes for his drunken state the night before. He asks her to finish her story about what happened in Paris, but she refuses.

"I'm sober now, please continue your story"

He wonders if she left him because she didn't want to be on the run from the police. He points out that he's settled now, and whenever she wants to leave Victor... (hint, hint). And then she drops a crazy truth bomb and tells him that Victor is her husband, and that he was her husband while she was seeing Rick.

Victor and Ilsa are talking to Signor Ferrari about obtaining visas and Ferrari says that he cannot help them. He says that he can only obtain a visa for Ilsa. Laszlo tells her to take it and he'll meet her in America when he can, but she refuses to leave him. Ferrari then tells them that the letters of transit that Ugarte had on him are most likely with Rick.

"Rick is your only hope, good luck with that"

Laszlo and Ilsa arrive at Rick's club, where Rick greets them and shows them to a table. He tells Ilsa that he'll have Sam play "As Time Goes By," her favorite song. Poor Sam, he really hates that song at this point.

"Seriously? As Time Goes By? Do you guys even know any other songs?"

Laszlo asks if he can speak with Rick in his office. He tries to offer Rick money for the transit papers, but Rick says that it doesn't matter how much he offers, he won't take it. Laszlo asks why, and Rick tells him he should ask his wife.

Laszlo returns downstairs and rouses the crowd by singing a French Resistance ballad. Strasser demands that Renault shut down the club immediately, and Renault shouts at everyone to get out. Laszlo and Ilsa return to their apartment, where Victor tells her what happened with Rick. He asks her if she was alone in Paris while he was in the concentration camp, and she lies and says yes. Victor leaves to go to an underground meeting and Ilsa leaves to see Rick.

When Rick retires for the night up to his room, Ilsa is waiting for him. She tells him that she needs the transit papers at any cost. She begs and tries to reason with him, but he won't give her the papers. He turns away for a moment, and when he turns back, she's holding a gun on him with tears in her eyes. She demands that he give her the papers, and he walks over to stand right in front of her and says, "Go ahead and shoot, you'd be doing me a favor."

"Shoot me, I'm dead without you anyways." Ahhh, Casablanca is all kinds of romantic!

She lowers the gun, walks away, and begins to cry. He goes to her and turns her around.

"What is your deal?"

She says, "The day you left Paris, if you knew what I went through. If you knew how much I loved you, how much I still love you." They kiss.

"I still love you and I'm sorry I pulled a gun on you"

Ilsa tells Rick the whole story about what happened in Paris. She explains that before she met him, she had received word that Victor had been shot and killed in the concentration camp. She fell in love with Rick, but the day before they were supposed to leave Paris together, she received word that Victor was still alive but sick, and needed her.

Rick says that the story still hasn't finished and what now. She tells him she doesn't have the strength to leave him again, and to just give the papers to Victor so that he can continue his work in America. Rick points out that Victor is not going to want to leave her. Ilsa says that she doesn't know what to do, and tells Rick to decide for all of them.

"I'm tired, you decide."

Victor's underground meeting is crashed by the police, and he and Carl go back to Rick's club to hide out and bandage up a wound Victor has received. Rick calls Carl up to his room, and asks him to see Ilsa safely home. He then goes down to talk to Victor. Victor tells Rick that he knows he's in love with his wife. He asks Rick to use the transit papers to get Ilsa out of Casablanca if Rick's still refusing to give them to him.

The police burst into the club and arrest Victor. Rick shows up at the police station to talk with Renault, telling him that he doesn't have enough on Victor to keep him, and that he might as well release him now. Renault warns Rick not to think about helping Victor escape, and Rick tells him that he's using the transit papers to leave Casablanca that night with Ilsa, so he needn't worry. Rick then tells Renault that he wants to ensure Ilsa can make it out of the country without being detained for the information she has on Victor. He tells Renault to release Victor so that Rick can give him the transit papers, and then when Victor tries to leave Casablanca, Renault will be able to arrest him for a real charge and send him back to the concentration camp- thus erasing any need to detain Ilsa.

Victor and Ilsa arrive at the club, and Rick hands them the transit papers. Renault steps out of hiding and tells Victor that he is under arrest. Rick, revealing where his true loyalties lie, pulls a gun on Renault and tells him to make the call to ready the plane.

"This is called flip-flopping, Renault"

Renault says into the phone to ready the plane, but he has secretly calls Major Strasser.

At the airport, Ilsa demands to know what Rick is doing, and insists that she's not leaving him. And in the film's most iconic scene, Rick tells her that she has to go. Here are the highlights:

"You're getting on that plane... If that plane leaves the ground and you're not with him, you'll regret it. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon, and for the rest of your life. We'll always have Paris... The problems of three little people don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world... Here's lookin' at you, kid."

"Get on the plane."

"Nooooooo"

"Yes."

"Fine."

"Quitter."

Victor and Ilsa get on the plane and Strasser shows up and picks up the phone to call for back-up. Rick tells him to put down the phone but Strasser refuses, and Rick shoots him. When a group of German soldiers arrive, Renault tells them to round up the usual suspects, and does not tell them that Rick shot Strasser. The film ends with the plane taking off and Renault and Rick making plans to leave Casablanca.

"Let's get out of here, Casablanca sucks the big one"

"Casablanca" won Best Picture, Best Director (Michael Curtiz), and Best Screenplay (Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein, and Howard Koch) at the 1944 Academy Awards, and was also nominated for Best Actor (Humphrey Bogart), Best Supporting Actor (Claude Rains), Best Cinematography (Arthur Edeson), Best Editing (Owen Marks), and Best Music (Max Steiner).

Casablanca (1942)

Director: Michael Curtiz

Screenplay: Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein, and

Howard Koch

Based on the play by:

Murray Burnett and Joan Alison

CAST:

Humphrey Bogart- Rick Blaine

Ingrid Bergman- Ilsa Lund

Claude Rains- Captain Louis Renault

Paul Henreid- Victor Laszlo

Dooley Wilson- Sam