Cassa Blanca as a romantic propaganda film uses many classical Hollywood style techniques to inspire the many feelings it needs to in the audience. With many characters serving as microcosms for themes and countries in world war two, when the film was written produced and distributed, trying to make Americans consider the war while balancing the intricate love triangle between Rick, Ilsa and Victor.
The introduction to Ricks bar serves many purposes in the film. From introducing the audience to to atmosphere, themes and undertones of Cassa blanca as well as to enforcing the emotional response from watchers as it makes us feel as though we are really there entering the bar for the first time. The director uses mis en scene and dialogue in an attempt to portray what Ricks cafe and Cassa blanca are like. The cafe is packed full of people of all different lifestyles and ethnicities. One of the main things used to show the type of people found is clothing, contrasting uniforms of soldiers in the cafe create tension as there is a clear rivalry however also creates feelings of pride in viewers and people as they wish to see the allied forces in the cafe overcome the German presence, much like real life. Many people are dressed in formal suits and dresses however the lack of any extra accessories such as watches on men and necklaces on women. This simple lack of jewellery on many people suggests that Cassa blanca is a place of loss and desperation and that previous wealth does not mean anything there. Further showing the general population there is the atmosphere and props, drinks litter tables and smoke is thick in the air, suggesting a general sense of unhappiness and stress amounts the people and leading the audience to believe that Cassa Blanca during the war is not a place people want to be, possibly creating more disliking towards the war. Zooming in on the conversations focused on reveal some of the undertones of Cassa blanca and further show the desperation to get out. Almost everyone sits in pairs despite the business of the cafe, and almost all of those people are speaking in hushed tones sometimes stopping entire sentences as people walk past clearly outlining the deep distrust and secretive nature of people in Cassa Blanca and suggesting the sly nature of people due to the fact that everyone shares the common goal of escaping, but no one is open about their plans. The cinematography is one of the main elements used to make the viewers feel as though their are entering the cafe themselves, this is accompanied by a soundtrack used in a classical Hollywood style, to enforce what is being shown. The scene begins with an establishing shot to help us understand where we are with some non dietetic music, there is then a cut to a surface level shot outside the doors, the music switching to dietetic as we hear a song being played from indoors. The shot holds as we watch other people walking in, increasing the urge to enter then in a continuous shot we are welcomed in as the camera enters and the camera moves through the cafe, the use of classical invisible editing here helps to keep the feeling we are really there and entering the cafe and world of cassa blanca for the first time, this helps emphasise our emotional responses as we are able to emphasise with the people there easier. The techniques used to make us feel as though we are really there is the camera work. During the entire scene the camera moves from the right ( where the door is) to right, further into the cafe. This makes it seem as though we are moving into the cafe. The camera also zooms in on individual conversations without many cuts, to make the audience feel as though they are moving around and eavesdropping.
Focusing more on the romantic emotions and portraying the motivations behind the characters actions. Due to the fact the scene breaks classical style format of all things happening in order, it starts with an obvious transition into the scene to avoid confusion in the viewers. The whole scene contrasts the rest of the film to emphasise the happiness of Rick and Ilsa to convince the audience of their love. Almost all film form elements are used here to show difference from the rest of the film to show the difference in emotion. The first example of this is the music. The soundtrack is much more upbeat and happy to represent their happiness in the scene. On top of this the lighting in the earlier parts of the scene is much brighter with both Rick and Ilsas faces shown in full sunlight, representative of the lack of worries of issues they have when together. As time moves on we see the extent of their love. This continues up until the Germans start to invade. This links back to the propaganda elements of the film as now there is an extra layer to the Germans invade as we see them break up the love between rick and ilsa giving them both reasoning to dislike the Germans. This could be seen as an extra driving force behind ricks actions at the end of the film other than his love for ilsa. Then towards the end of the scene the reasonings behind ricks nature and his driving motivation for the rest of the films events are revealed. Ilsa begins the show signs of doubt about her relationship with rick, cinematography and lighting are used to reinforce this, shadows are often shown across her face representing the contrasting sides between Rick and Victor. There are also many close ups on her face whilst Rick talks about their future showing her reaction as doubtful and reserved and having the light shine in her eyes to show tears forming. All of these elements suggest to the viewer that something is wrong creating suspense as we wait to see if she betrays him and also understanding in ricks reserved nature and hostile actions towards her in the current day. The scene ends with rick on a train, the scene setting in a busy rainy train station representative of his thoughts, busy and negative.
Cassa Blanca was made under the Hollywood studio system, a monopoly held over the film industry from the 20's to the late 50's. Under this system films were churned out in a factory like manor, up to 800 a year from all studios combined, and all films were considered works of the studio. Directors in this system were seen in the same standing as everyone else in the crew. The directors were not seen to be creative influences in films and were thought to give the same input to the film as everyone from the screenwriters to the sound engineers. Casa Blanca made and distributed during world war two, it was produced at the height of the studio system and should theoretically follow all the rules of the era, the director leaving no creative mark and following all the elements of classical style.
