Ricks Cafe Scene Analysis - CASABLANCA

Rick’s Café opening scene analysis

The establishing shot is used at the start to show the outside of Rick’s Café. The lighting in this shot is dark and there and many shadows. This dark lighting helps bring attention to the sign that says ‘Rick’s Café americain’ as the sign is very bright. The brightness of the sign creates the idea that Rick’s Café is an escape place and also shows hope. This hope could be the hope of getting a visa as we know that Rick sorts out Visa’s for people. The sign is also the first introduction of Rick as it tell us his name and indicates that he is inside. We also see double doors in this shot which could be representative of barriers. Moreover, there is a search light that runs across this establishing shot which is used to show that the people in Casablanca are always under surveillance. Then there is a close up of the sign to bring out attention and focus to it even more. After this close up shot, the camera uses a tilt movement to show us the doors to the café and then begins to move into the café.

The camera prolongs the entrance to Rick’s Café in order to build intrigue and when it finally begins to go inside, it moves slowly - this also prolonges the introduction of Rick. As we follow the camera around the Café, we listen in on some conversations. During these conversations we hear the work ‘wait’/’waiting’ a lot which implies the conversations are about escaping as the people are waiting to go. This type of camera movement is very impressive as at the time, this was very hard to do. While the camera walks us through the inside of Ricks Café, we get a good look at the different elements of the mise-en-scene.

Inside the Café it is bright and there are many lights, mostly chandeliers. This instantly reflects wealth and gives us the idea that this café isn’t a place for people with ni money. Despite all the lights, there are also quite a few shadows which create mystery. Also inside, we see that there is a lot of gambling involved which demonstrates wealth and also demonstrates that people are trying to get even more money. Most of the people inside the Café are smoking and drinking so we know that it is unlikely that there will be any children inside. Additionally, there is a pattern of melancholy as most people seem to look nervous, upset and stressed. Sam seems to be the happiest along with the rest of the staff; perhaps this is because they are the only ones making actual money.

Rick’s introduction is very delayed. This makes us want to meet him even more as it makes him mysterious. When we are finally introduced to Rick he becomes the most interesting character of the film. We first see him playing chess on his own, this reveals a number of things about him. Chess is a complicated and logical game which means he must be smart and possible manipulative. By playing chess he is also foreshadowing the end of the film as by the end, he is moving people around - he puts Victor and Ilsa on a plane. The facts that he is playing on his own implies that perhaps no one deserves to play with him because he is superior to every one else in the Café. We also know that he sees himself as more superior to others as earlier a woman asks the waiter to get Rick so she can drink with him but the waiter responds by informing her that Rick does not drink with customers. Also before seeing his face, we see that he is smoking and drinking - this, in a way, shows that he isn’t so special as everyone else is also drinking and smoking. We know all of this before we even see Rick’s face which shows just how great of an effect the mise-en-scene has. The first shot of Rick is a medium-close up shot of his face. At this point, Rick hasn’t even done anything or spoken yet but he is already the most interesting character in the film.