"Casablanca" and The Face of Ilsa Lund

Last night we saw "Casablanca" on a big screen at the Cinemark Theater in the North Hills.  I asked the young (twenty-ish)  lady taking our tickets if she had seen this movie.  "No" she said "but I heard it's good.  Have you seen it?"  Well, how do you answer that question and explain just why you want to watch this movie over and over and over again.  Last night was the third time that I had seen "Casablanca" on a big screen in a movie theater.

As we settled in to watch this one, an early scene with Ingrid Bergman, perhaps when she was asking Sam to play "some of the old songs", it was the face of Bergman that caught my eye, and I decided that this was how I was going to watch this umpteenth viewing of the film - by watching and concentrating on Ilsa's face.  I know, tough duty staring at Ingrid Bergman's face for two hours, but somebody has to do it.

Bergman's expression and the nuance she gave every scene were astonishing to me.  And when you know the story, of the secret that she had as she was falling in love with Rick in Paris, especially when she asked that he kiss her "as if it were the last time", and doing her two confrontations with Rick in his apartment above the Cafe, well, just watching her face and eyes added a whole new dimension to a movie that I had already seen dozens of times.

And do I even have to mention that goodbye scene at the airport?

I've said it before, and I'll continue to say it:  If there is such a thing as a perfect movie, "Casablanca" is it.

Here's looking at you, kid.