Casablanca 80th Anniversary – Cinema Screening!

Casablanca is one of my all time favourite films and for so many different reasons, I was so excited when it was announced that it would be getting cinema screenings to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the film! Across all different cinema chains, but so lucky that my local Cineworld were going to be screening it for the whole week at 7:10pm so I made the effort to make sure I got to the Friday night screening and I ended up being the only person in the screen!

I love catching up with older films of the big screen and even more so when it is one of my favourites, I feel like I have waited years to see Casablanca in all its glory on the big screen! Yes, it has been on in different cinemas over the years but not at times that I could actually make. So this turned out to be perfect time, it was also an extra lovely touch for it to be the day after my Nanna Hannah’s memory, 11 years she loved Humphrey Bogart. In the speech I did at her funeral I even mentioned the Paris quote which totally links to this film, so that made it feel extra nice.

Being able to witness an 80 year old film at the cinema really is something special, it made me really think about how incredible it must have been to see it at the cinema back when it was released back in 1942. Especially considering it was released as World War II was still ongoing.

The genius surrounding Casablanca is that it has so many incredible quotes and moments, as well as 80 years on highlighting that people really have not changed in that amount of time and heartbreak really can totally break a person and cause them to become so cynical yet still be sentimental. That is Rick, he has been broken by a woman and never expects to see her again after she didn’t show up at the train station in Paris when they were going to leave together. He ended up in Casablanca the last place in the world he expected Ilsa to show up, with her husband Victor Laszlo.

A big talking point has always been if you are Ilsa who would you have wanted to pick to be with out of Victor and Rick. I truly think that your answer to that question will depend on your life experiences and could even change at different times and stages of your life. I mean just look at that highlighted in ‘When Harry Met Sally’ and how Sally changes her mind years later about her decision on who Ilsa should be with, which really is such an interesting point about the films love triangle. Although I guess we also have to remember that she really did not think her husband was still alive and didn’t mean to fall in love with Rick. Although come on we all love Rick? As the cynic he had become because of losing love, that is what makes the final scene even more impressive really. It doesn’t go the way we actually expect at one point and I think that is another brilliance of this film.

I urge anyone who has never actually seen it before to take advantage of the cinema screenings and see it in all its glory on the big screen, it is a beautiful as ever with one of the most tragic love stories and a truly beautiful friendship.