Casablanca

I'm not a fan of black and white movies, especially films from the 1940's, but I have to admit I was taken aback by the universal themes in Casablanca.  Although a lot has changed from the 40's to now, as in technological advances, style and lingo, a few things have not changed such as the way we as human beings interact with one another and deal with life's issues.  As human beings we handle things like love and virtue differently, but it's all universal as far as the world is concerned. 

In Casablanca, the universal themes that caught my attention were love and virtue.  In the film the character Rick Blaine is torn between love, reigniting old feelings for his ex lover Lisa Lund, and virtue, helping an ex lover and her husband escape from Casablanca.  Love is a complicated thing, and in the film Casablanca, the term "it's complicated" is portrayed in black and white.  Rick and Lisa's love began due to the fact that she thought her husband, Victor Laszlo, was dead.  When she found out her husband was still alive, she left Rick without word of her whereabouts or explanation of leaving.

Choosing to do the right thing is a struggle most humans have had to endure many times in their lives, but when love is involved the decision becomes a little more self motivated than most.  I can see a little bit of myself in Rick Blaine.  Having love then losing it, only to have love come back in another way or form.  It's nice to see that love and virtue over time still speaks the same language at least.  Then again, in black and white, love and virtue has more of a classic appeal about it.