Casablanca

Tonight, I saw Casablanca for the first time. Or, rather, I saw the actual movie for the first time. I had heard the lines quoted, seen Bunnies do the movie (angryalien.com), watched Dr. House dissuade a younger woman using Humphrey Bogart's famous lines, and experienced the Simpsons's imagined alternate ending, but tonight, tonight I actually heard Humphrey Bogart say those words to Ingrid Bergman, and that was something else. Michael Curtiz certainly knew what he was about.

Classic movies aren't for everyone. I find that the more I watch them, the more they become a part of me and the more I then appreciate them. I think that's the case for all dated works. They are confusing or not exactly relevant or something has happened in the passage of time that distances them from us. We do not see them or love them or understand them as easily as their intended audiences did. We cannot, since it has been over 60 years. A lot changes in 60 years. But a movie like Casablanca is eternal. We can watch it now and still be moved by it, still understand the subtle nuances. We may have to watch it a dozen times to notice details that may have been obvious when first seen in the theatre, or read about those details which are historically relevant but not known to us anymore today. Still, that we are willing to watch it again and again is the difference.