Gosh, that's such a good movie... I watched Casablanca yesterday for about the third time and realised some things.
I don't empathise well with romance. Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart... star cross'd lovers, blah, blah, blah... yeah, they're in love, it's tragic, all that stuff. It just doesn't ring true with me for some reason. Maybe this is why I'm such a klutz romantically? Sometimes I feel that I don't show my emotions enough; I'm not open enough. Maybe this is normal? Beats me.
Second, I do empathise with patriotism. There's a scene in the movie where the vile Nazis are singing their national anthem at the one end of the club, which is making the people in the club (which is in unoccupied France), very uncomfortable, almost demoralised, I'd think. Victor Laszlo comes down from meeting with Rick upstairs, and orders the band to start playing Le Marseillaise. The band leader gets a nod from Rick, and they start to play, starting a duel of anthems. Everyone in the club stands at attention and sings their loudest, drowning out the Nazis who give up singing and sit down while the French finish with shouts of "Vive La France!".
Even typing out what happens in the scene makes me a little misty-eyed... I was almost in tears yesterday when I watched it. It's a very moving scene, to say the least. I saw an interview with the screenwriter, and he said that he was in tears while he wrote that scene. The theme of "We shall overcome" seems to affect me more than love. Am I screwed up, or what? Hell, I get a lump in my throat when I watch the huge battles in Lord of the Rings where I know who's going to win, but it makes me all sappy-like just to see that they are willing to put their lives on the line to protect freedom and good.
Yeah, well that's my line for the day. Later dudes.
Gord
