Casablanca

Few films have been called "legendary" as much as Casablanca. Who cares that it's lemonade full of pathos, that Humphrey Bogart's harshness may be teetering on the brink of bearable, that the year of its creation may make it seem naive... What I have always seen in Casablanca, what I see and hope to see in the next few years, is above all a strong story that dares to put ordinary friendship on the same level as love (or is it even higher?), which won me over, plain and simple. (26/08/2014)

A film that reeks of sentimentality just like its title. Casablanca, the gateway to paradise and a better tomorrow, away from the horrors of war and the deadly Nazi tentacles. Casablanca, Bogart and Bergman, whose paths had previously diverged, but fateful attraction and the events around them tighten the noose again. Casablanca, a happy ending as inevitable as Adolf Hitler's fate after the Normandy landings. Casablanca, I am under its spell, I admire the performance of the mesmerizing Bogart and the beauty of Ingrid Bergman, I devour every line of dialogue and the notion of a film classic comes to me literally from every shot and cut. The film ends and I rate it with four stars, not because I see in it a cult classic, a dazzling idea or a creative revolution, but simply because I found so very pleasant to watch, that the sentimentality did not tarnish the final quality and that Casablanca is..... well, in short, a very special place:-) 80% (25/08/2013)

The naive political background and lack of chemistry between the central duo bothered me. Although I really like Bergman, she isn’t convincing at all here and it is probably impossible to believe that Rick and Elsa were ever bonded by fateful, undying love. In my opinion Bogart always belonged, belongs and will belong to Bacall or Grahame. This is a quality picture, but one of the more standard Bogart movies. (21/01/2005)

So now I've got this cult masterpiece under my belt as well. Nice. Really. A very well done romantic film that seemed to catch a lot of tears from romantic souls in the middle of the last century :-) Well, it didn't get mine because it didn’t end up the way I wanted it to. I did think that Ingrid Bergman overacted here and there and I had to chuckle at it, which probably spoiled the overall impression a bit. But why not? For film geeks, this should be required reading. (17/03/2009)

I like to remember some movies, and "Casablanca" is one of them. It's an eternal story of a love that couldn't be fulfilled. On the other hand, this is a great conversational drama with absolutely perfectly polished characters that are so stylized that they simply have to enchant you. Bogart, Bergman, Rains, Lorre, and Veidt, these are names that create tremendous quality in one film. Simply something that a movie fan should see. (09/09/2014)