Casablanca - A critical analysis

We have watched Casablanca as an example of Classical Hollywood Cinema.

The lighting is formalist in the sense that it is Chiaroscuro lighting, with emphasis on the contrast between light and shadow. There is an emphasis on shadows in that film, possibly due to the fact that a lot of the film is set at night, and so they had to create shadow to give that feel. However, Ingmar Bergman (Ilsa)'s face is nearly always evenly lit, putting emphasis on her looks, due to the fact that she is meant to be very beautiful. To a lesser extent, this is also done to the other people, however her face is always the most brightly lit.
The recurring motif of stripes also appears in lighting, with a lot of things like blinds creating stripes of light and shadow.

The sound is inherently formalist due to the fact that the film has a musical soundtrack playing in the background. The music is mostly modeled around two songs: 'La Marseille' and 'As Time Goes By', both of which are played in Rick's Café at some point. The music does suit the mood of the events in the film.
Dialogue is very straightforward, with little or no editing done to it.

The mise-en-scene is pretty realist, with items that are generally what would be at the location. The only really formalist aspect is the inclusion of the recurring motif of stripes, in costumes, chairs, and other things. Other props and costumes are typical of films at the time, and seem to be particularly inspired by film noir detective films.

The camerawork isn't very obviously formalist, but there are hints of formalism in there. One example is that Ingmar Bergman is usually only filmed from a certain angle, particularly with close ups of her face, which are nearly always shot in a 3/4-view from her left side.
Other than that, the camerawork is usually quite still, tending to cut to another camera instead of zooming or panning.
The two main kinds of shots used are long shots for scenes with multiple characters, and close ups of characters' faces if they are saying something important. The latter is used extensively throughout the film.

The editing is continuity editing, typical of Classical Hollywood Cinema, and many other films even today. The main features are:
1) Eyeline match, where a character is looking at something (usually off-screen) and then the camera cuts to a point-of-view style shot of whatever the character is looking at. An example of this is the aeroplane in the beginning of the film, where a crowd looks up at something out of shot, then there is a cut to what they were looking at.
2) Cross-cutting, where two simultaneous chains of events/scenes are intercut, switching from one to the other to build tension. An example of this is the ending, where the events at the airport are mixed with the major in his car.
3) Match-on-action, where if the camera angle changes, the new angle starts from exactly the same point that the previous one left off. This happens a lot in dialogue scenes, where the shot changes from a wider shot to a close up.
4) Directional continuity, where the angle changes, but the new angle is within 180 degrees, so it looks as though the subject is still moving in the same direction. This can be seen near the beginning where the man who gives the letters to Rick is arrested, and the angle changes as he is being taken outside.
All of these devices are used to create a sense of the editing being 'invisible', and it makes the audience focus more on the events as there is nothing to really distract them.

Casablanca

One of the most famous films of the Classic Hollywood Film era is Casablanca. It was made in 1942 by Warner Brothers studio, and starred Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, and Paul Henreid.
At the time, Warner Brothers were doing a lot of war films, deciding to focus on war films after the bombing of Pearl Harbour.

It was originally a play called 'Everybody Comes To Rick's'. The play was unproduced at the time, and had been inspired by a trip to Europe by one of the two writers of the play, Murray Burnett. There, he had visited a club very similar to the one at the start of the film.
The film itself was made during World War II, and is set in the war, as many films at the time were. It follows people in resistance against the Nazis. One part of the film that reflects that in particular is the scene known as the 'duel of the songs', where a group of German soldiers start singing 'Die Wacht Am Rhein', but are drowned out by the band, and then everyone else as well, singing 'La Marseillaise', the French national anthem. This is an iconic scene of resistance against the Nazis.

Classical Hollywood Cinema

Classic Hollywood Cinema is a style of film that was used during Hollywood's 'golden age' and started in the American film industry in the 1910s and 1920s, and lasted until the late 1950s. It may seem fairly realist at first glance, however it is actually considered a form of formalism.

Three films classified as Classic Hollywood Cinema are: The Wizard Of Oz, King Kong (1930s version), and Citizen Kane.

Features of Classic Hollywood Cinema include the narrative flow being made of small narrative fragments pieced together so the joining up goes unnoticed, sequences that happen at the same time but at different places intercut to raise tension, dialogue scenes being a series of over-the-shoulder shots from the participants, and point of view shots after showing a character's reaction to something.
The intercut narrative used to create tension is a formalist device, as it involves seeming two simultaeneous series of events, which would not be possible in reality. Also, the switching between third-person and point-of-view shots is also quite formalist.
The narrative itself nearly always ends with a solid resolution of the events that happened within the film. This can be considered a minor form of formalism, as this may sometimes involve improbable events.

German Expressionism

German Expressionism is a film style that was common in Germany in the 1920s, shown in films like 'Nosferatu' and 'The Cabinet Of Doctor Caligari'. It has influenced film making hugely, and even modern films use features from the films.

The key features of German Expressionism include distorted sets and props, like the strangely-shaped rooftops in 'The Cabinet Of Doctor Caligari', and dramatic lighting with emphasis on shadows, like the scene in 'Nosferatu' where Count Olaf's shadow is seen going up the stairs. In some scenes in German Expressionist films, the shadows were painted on the sets to make them more distinctive. In many films of that genre, the characters and their actions are symbolic, and the acting is very exaggerated and over the top, partially due to the need to show what is happening, despite the restrictions of lack of sound and very basic film equipment. The actors usually have a very distinctive appearance, with very dark makeup around their eyes.
Due to the technological restrictions of the time, the editing is very straightforward, with fairly long cuts, and the sound is restricted to the music used throughout.

The influences of German Expressionism are seen in many film styles over time. Film Noir used the same dramatic, shadowy lighting techniques, as do a lot of modern horror films, particularly those after a gothic/gloomy feel. The distorted sets and props are used in many films when a surreal feel is needed in many genres. The acting style has since mostly disappeared when dialogue was added to films, and cameras became better, allowing for actors to show emotions in more subtle ways.
There are also a lot of direct references to specific films, or scenes in those films, especially the two films mentioned above, such as the video for Living Dead Girl by Rob Zombie, which is extremely similar to 'The Cabinet Of Doctor Caligari'.
The appearance of characters from German Expressionist films has also influenced modern films like 'Edward Scissorhands' and 'The Crow', both of which use the shadowed eyes and dark clothing on their main characters. These films also use shadowed lighting and strange sets.

Run Lola Run - A formalist film

This afternoon, we watched the film 'Run Lola Run', which is a modern example of a form of formalist film making.
The film uses a formalist narrative, where the same twenty minutes are repeated three times, and in each one, subtle differences end up affecting the plot in big ways. In each scenario, minor characters also are affected by the events, with the narrative briefly showing what happens to the character through a series of snapshots.
Other formalist devices are used, one of which is the use of animation in the credits, and in the sequence where she runs down the stairs, which is the only part of the main narrative portrayed in animated form.
Another major formalist feature is the camerawork. A lot of extreme close ups are used, as well as bird's eye views and worm's eye views, the latter of which is also a point-of-view shot. One example of formalistic camerawork is the sequence where Lola throws the telephone receiver in the air, and the camera follows it, with multiple angles on it, looking up, down and on a level.
Closely related to the camerawork is the editing. Most of the transitions are jump cuts, and in one sequence, where Lola is running across the bridge, and the angle keeps changing from a side view to a front view. The film also uses split-screen at points to show what two characters are doing at the same time.
The lighting is mostly realistic, except in the scenes between each series of events, where the lighting is red. The mise-en-scene is also mostly realistic, but there is an emphasis on red objects, possibly to link to Lola's red hair, some objects being the telephone receiver, the man's bicycle, and the ambulance.