Casablanca is one of our favorite classic films. There are many reasons to love it including the music, the lines, the acting, the scenery, the story and of course, Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Claude Rains and Peter Lorre.
Last night was our night to watch this wonderful film. This time around, we focused a bit more on the politics of the situation. Something that has always perplexed me was toward the end when Captain Renault pours himself a glass of water, looks at the bottle and drops it into the trash. The label says it is from Vichy. I just finished The 33 Strategies of War and some of the situations surrounding France and northern Africa are covered there and so I thought it might be related.
We were discussing why he dropped the bottle into the trash; the event occurs at the end of the movie when Captain Renault covers for Rick after Rick shoots Major Strasser. Not only has Rick killed the German Major, but he has also taken the stolen letters of transit and used them to help the leader of the resistance flee to Lisbon and from there (presumably) to America. Up until this point Rick has been very careful to stay neutral, despite his history of being a mercenary, fighting on the wrong side of various wars, etc., but his most recent actions put him forcefully against Germany and for a free France.
Captain Renault likewise has stayed very neutral, being friendly to the Germans but always siding with "Unoccupied France". Turns out Vichy was the seat of power for Unoccupied France during this time and so we had a good conversation trying to understand the significance of this cinematic symbol. (See here, toward the bottom, for the answer.)
We went back and forth for a while, discussing French geography, world politics, de Gaulle and even some of the other symbols in the film.
Then the five-year old gave us his analysis:
"Well, maybe it was expired!"
