Discursive Techniques, Figurative Props, and Medium Shots as an Introduction to the Powerful Rick Character in Casablanca Anonymous College

In the filmmaking process, the director undergoes a series of creative choices that work to advance the narrative, deepen characterizations, and illuminate the theme of the film. While there is a longstanding debate between film critics and film enthusiasts alike on the degree of influence a director has on his/her film, filmmaker Michael Curtiz makes a strong case against auteur theory in his most well-known and Oscar-winning film, Casablanca (1942). The traditional mode of storytelling and lack of formalistic filming techniques present a film that emphasizes the importance of each cast member, from the cinematographer to the costume designer. Casablanca chronicles the true journey of many Jewish Europeans looking to escape Hitler’s Nazi regime in the early 1940s for a safe life in the United States. The main exit point to America was Lisbon, however, to get to Lisbon travelers had to take a roundabout path through French occupied Casablanca, Morocco, where Europeans could purchase exit visas to Lisbon for a steep price. Curtiz, however, employs a more classical storytelling method in his film, relaying the complications of this journey, the more human qualities of those involved, and the diverse groups of people that passed...