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Similarities Between Casablanca And Rick Blaine

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Even in the older films we watched, there were many characters that were not depicted as black and white, good or bad. Many were very complex, with secret motives, back-stories, and personalities. These few kept us on the edge of our seats during the movies we watched. Two that were very complex, key characters in the films were Rick Blaine from Casablanca and Blondie from The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. We never knew too much about these two as opposed to other characters in their respective movies. They were direct contrasts to the shallow, 100 percent pure or evil characters that lined up beside them.
Rick Blaine is a main character from Casablanca right from the start. The story starts off with him but quickly moves away. We never get …show more content…

When she comes to Casablanca with Victor Laszlo, running away from the German police after escaping a concentration camp, Rick’s hopes of living a normal life again are shattered. They loved each other while they were in Paris, while she assumed Laszlo was dead. Seeing her with another man after she abruptly left him, he seethes with rage. This is even visible on his face every time he sees her. This is part of his complexity as a character. He is showing relatable emotions and deep character thoughts. This emotion does such an ordeal to him that in one scene, we simply see him choking down alcohol to stifle his depression. This is yet another example of a human character really, with faults that are normal, unlike the pure good and evil characters that we sometimes see in movies. Later in the movie, we realize that Rick in the owner of the two visas that will eventually get people out of Casablanca, into Lisbon, and then the U.S. And who else would need them but Ilsa and Victor. The whole movie, Rick has been a law-obeying, neutral restaurant owner. In this portion of the movie, we see his seething rage get the better of him as he denies Laszlo the visas. When Laszlo asks him why, Rick responds, “Ask Ilsa, she’ll tell you.” We can tell that rage and bitter jealousy have overcome a once good character. The only future Rick can see the visas having is with him and Ilsa in America. But late …show more content…

When kept in a war camp, his facial expressions and lines demonstrate his resentment of war. During the battle sequence between the confederates and the union soldiers, Blondie states, “I’ve never seen so many men wasted so badly.” Also, on the journey to the graveyard to find the money, they come across a dying soldier, whom Blondie wraps in his coat and gives a drag of his cigar. This demonstrates how through his indifference at almost everything around him and his unlawful actions, we can relate to Blondie as an actual human being with complexity and emotions. War and violence bring out the best in him, and when everything else turns bad, we discover some of his “good”. We also manage to find some humor under that stony disposition when he leaves Tuco hanging under a noose, then shoots the rope, leaving Tuco stranded in the desert yet again with half of the money and the nearest town some 120 miles

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