Michael Curtiz Auteur- revision

What makes Curtiz an auteur:

Directional lighting
Studio lighting
Shadows- German expressionism
European influences- Hungary
Soft focus- gauze filter
Dolly shots- tracking shots and pans (Rick’s cafe)
Long takes- Ilsa
Highly detailed set- mise en scene- Hollywood sets
Snappy dialogue- 1940’s cinema
Close up
Use of femme-fatale
High profile actors- Humphrey Bogart, Bergman, John Wayne, Erryl Flynn, Joan Crawford James Cagney
Range of genres
Low-mid budget films
Characters as humans rather than archetypes
‘Human and fundamental problems of real people’- are the focus
Searchlight motif
Idea of escape and longing
Expressionistic and motivated camera movement and lighting

Curtiz- personal life:

Was from Hungary
He can be cruel/ aggressive
Good at directing people- giving instructions
Worked as an actor and directed in European countries like Austria
Warner Brothers brought him to America to Hollywood
Very versatile- didn’t want to stick to one genre
Developed a reputation for film yet was known for his cruel and dangerous directing
Film’s most skilled craftsman
Skill and perfectionism
Expressionistic style of film
Acted on instinct- didn’t know how the film would end until the day of film
Studio director- could go from any genre to another
Dedicated to the art- ‘micromanaged everything on set’ Hall. B .Wallis
‘Amazing command of of lighting, mood and action’
‘Been misjudged by cinema history’

Visual Style:

Expressionistic visual style
Unusual camera angles
Carefully detailed, crowded, complex compositions
Full mirrors and reflections
Smoke and fog
Physical objects, furniture, foliage, bars, and windows, that stand between the camera and the human characters and seem to surround and entrap them

Genres:

WAR

1940’s- made within the war period
War propaganda
Left Europe as Fascism started to rise and came to the US
Part of the German/Austrian film making industry
Starts making war films with propaganda to help the war effort
Personal to Curtiz- links to auteur-ship as it shows his personal viewpoints
John Ford and John Huston- made war films
Longing for Europe- Curtiz relates to Isla and Rick’s longing
Made a film called ‘Mission to Moscow’- commissioned by Roosevelt to show anti-communist sentiment
Made a film with Bogart ‘Passage to Marseille’- idea about wanting to escape WW2

Casablanca:

Opening Sequence:

Range of genres- war, crime, comedy, political, spy/thriller, adventure
Tracking shot- pan along line of people/ tracking shot as they walk out the plane
Expressive and motivated camera movements- close up, 190 degree rule
Low budget set- model plane, paintings
Idea of escape and longing- plane motif
European influence/ political contexts- Curtiz’s personal background and attitudes towards Italy and the German occupation
Motivated use of character- Bulgarian couple
Macro- shifts tone subtly

Rick’s cafe sequence:

Tracking shot through cafe to Sam on the piano
‘I’ll die in Casablanca’ – escape/ trapped- Curtiz’s personal interest in War- family trapped in Europe
Searchlight
Studio functional directional lighting
Motivated lighting- shadows of plants walls- artwork- German expressionism art form
Fluid sweeping camera motions- calm and orderly

Arrest sequence:

Ilsa- As Time Goes By sequence:

Long take- lingers on close up of Ilsa using soft gauze focus- high contrast
Functional lighting- lamps
Motivated lighting- shadows
Shift in genre- romance with the backdrop of war
Snappy dialogue
Manipulated use of lighting of areas and characters- Rick enters from shadow and has shadows on his face

Final sequence: