Go Into The Story Movie Analysis: “Casablanca”

Starting Monday, I thought we’d try something different with our bi-weekly Go Into The Story Movie Analysis series: Dig into and analyze a classic movie. Since September is Classic 40s Movies month here at the blog, I figured why not review the 1941 movie Casablanca.

What a great excuse to watch this movie again, which you can do here for as little as $2.99. But I’ll bet you own a DVD like I do. And if for some reason have not seen Casablanca… well, correct that problem by watching it this weekend.

Monday: General Comments
Tuesday: Plot
Wednesday: Characters
Thursday: Themes
Friday: Takeaways

Why watch movies?

Because to be a good screenwriter, you need to have a broad exposure to the world of film. Every movie you see is a potential reference point for your writing, everything from story concepts you generate to characters you develop to scenes you construct. Moreover people who work in the movie business constantly reference existing movies when discussing stories you write; it’s a shorthand way of getting across what they mean or envision.

But most importantly, you need to watch movies in order to ‘get’ how movie stories work. If you immerse yourself in the world of film, it’s like a Gestalt experience where you begin to grasp intuitively scene composition, story structure, character functions, dialogue and subtext, transitions and pacing, and so on.

Movies must be in your lifeblood — and the best way to do that is to watch and analyze them.

This series is your Call To Adventure! Do yourself a favor: Watch Casablanca and join the discussion beginning Monday, September 28.

If you find interviews and/or analysis of the movie, please post in comments.

For an excellent Casablanca fan website, go here.

To access all of the movies we have analyzed in this series, go here.

Finally let me know what you think about this for a monthly schedule for this series: One movie currently in theaters, one movie from the past.