When was the last time you saw some of your older movie classics that pushed your daily living aside for a couple of hours. Were you able to reflect on the great dialogue you heard before but still causes your heart to flutter. You know what lines and scenes are coming next but your anticipation moves you as though it were the first time. Like a song you have heard so many times, it will still touch you every time you hear the song or see the movie scene. It is fascinating how we have become attached to movie quotes from soo many years ago. What are your favorites?
My fascination with the movie Casablanca still resonates with me when I get a chance to see it again. Even after 30 viewings over the years, I still need to stop what I am doing and see it again. It does help to be a big Bogart fan and witness his great range of acting abilities and to learn the quotes by heart.
Has a lost love ever come back into your life?. As Rick sits drinking with a quizzical look on his face trying to figure out how his lost love, Ilsa Lund, comes back into his life without notice. As he pounds the table with anger and alcohol he asks ” of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine.” Then another drink, a smoke and a song puts him in a flashback stupor of falling in love in Paris only to have the love of his life vanish with a goodbye note on a rainy train station platform —– a classic scene.
What are the odds of a lost love showing up in your life. I think that is what Rick was saying to himself about ever seeing Ilsa again. He was able to suppress his lost love and ban a certain song from being played in his new life in Casablanca. He knew he could no longer suppress it when she walked back into his cafe unaware of the situation.
As the story evolves, Rick realizes he has to let go and do the right thing. His strained friendship with Captain Renault is suddenly glued together as Captain Renault says to his officers after Rick shot Major Strasser, “round up the usual suspects”. Captain Renault was deceived earlier but he realized that Rick was a true patriot. So ” round up the usual suspects” was his way of telling Rick that your on my side. As the smoke clears, Rick and Captain Renault walk off together as Rick declares,”Louie, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship” as they realize their bond of friendship is much stronger as they need to get away together for some time.
There is more than one movie that has moved most of us to tears, laughter, sadness, joy and emotional well-being. The great dialogue and memorable quotes are somehow missing in todays movies. There is too much special effects and violence that makes you numb. Passive entertainment does not move me. There are those few that guide us to a better understanding of life, love and happiness.
Bruce J Fraser, Associated Content from Yahoo