MovieChat Forums > Casablanca (1943) Discussion > The problems of two little people,.,.

The problems of two little people,.,.

posted 9 years ago by amkatz
6 replies | jump to latest

Casablanca has easily been my overall favorite film for many, many years now. Like others here I don't tire of it or fear doing so, & often pick up a new nuance or interpretation every time I see it. It's the prime example of how all of the pieces of the collaborative insanity of filmmaking in the studio system just somehow came together into something as close to perfection as humanely possible.

Don't mind the gaffes--the foolishness of letters (signed by DeGaulle & not the Marshall?!?) that can't be rescinded with a phone call or telex, or Lazlo working Casablanca in an ice cream suit despite the dubious protection of French authorities, etc…

Yet, yet … when Rick tells Ilsa that the problems of two little people don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy mixed up world … that's the only line that makes me wince slightly, that I wish wasn't in the film, because it seems that Rick is the one who forgot that, not Ilsa. Telling her that she'll eventually realize that comes off as unbearably condescending & inappropriate.

It's the only wrong note in what's otherwise a symphony of cinematic perfection.

[–] PillowRock 9 years ago

Rick is the one who forgot that, not Ilsa.

Ilsa also had forgotten. She had not forgotten for as long as Rick did, but her forgetfulness had started much more recently (just the night before). Ilsa was planning on leaving with Rick at that point, and had begun to protest about Rick saying that Ilsa and Lazlo would be leaving together.

At that particular moment, Ilsa needed to be reminded of what she had already known. (And, in that kind of a wartime propaganda film, that message had to be spelled out explicitly for the audience.)

[–] amkatz 9 years ago

Okay. I hadn't looked at it that way. Ilsa was prepared to leave Casablanca with Rick & leave Lazlo behind, at least for a while. I see your point.

Going to have to review those scenes & consider.

Appreciate the comments:)

[–] Doghouse-6 9 years ago

I believe both of you make valid points.

Perhaps the most condescending aspect of what Rick tells Ilsa about "the problems of three little people" is what he says next: "Someday you'll understand that."

But Ilsa had indeed been seeing the larger picture when Rick hadn't - "I know how you feel about me but I'm asking you to put your feelings aside for something more important" - until, once again acknowledging her love for him, she weakened - "I can't fight it anymore...I ran away from you once, I can't do it again" - but still with the belief that "You'll help him now, Richard, won't you? You'll see that he gets out."

It might have been more appropriate for Rick to have said, "It doesn't take much to see that the problems of three little people don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world. For a long time, I'd forgotten that. And maybe just now, you forgot it too."

Poe! You are...avenged!

[–] BobCH88 9 years ago

The line is actually, "The problems of three little people..."

The three said people are Rick, Ilsa and Victor.

[–] mikekrit62 9 years ago

But she hasn't really realized it up to that point.

She's not a freedom fighter like Victor, she's his wife and dutifully follows him out of respect and a sense of loyalty. She doesn't love Victor the way she loves Rick, and she's willing to abandon Victor and the cause to be with the man she loves.

Rick has to tell her that she has to get on the plane because she's a part of Victor's work, the "thing that keeps him going". Rick understands how much Victor loves Ilsa, so much so he was willing to abandon the cause and face death by staying behind in Casablanca so that Rick could take Ilsa away. If she didn't leave with Victor it would destroy him.

The work Victor has to do is more important than Rick and Ilsa, and Rick also knows that even if she stays there will always be the betrayal of Victor between them and it would destroy them too. The only thing to do was go with her husband and help him save the world.

Even after saying all of that, she still asks, "But what about us?". That's when he has to sum it up by saying, "The problems of three little people don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world. Someday you'll understand that."

When Rick sends Laszlo off with the "fairy tale" as Renault put it, Ilsa finally understands.

[–] information_police 9 years ago

Yes, Rick forgot it when he planned to leave Casablanca with Ilsa, but he finally realized it was true and that he had to help Laslo escape, and that Ilsa had to go with Laslo