Casablanca: Can You Love Two People? (Updated for Valentine's Day 2014)

Can you love two people at the same time?

One of our favorite movies is Casablanca. (No surprise there.)  My husband and I often watch the movie, and we frequently debate the question:  Did Ilsa (the Ingrid Bergman character) love her husband (The Czech resistance fighter Victor Laszlo, played by Paul Henreid )?  She was willing to leave him for Rick (the Humphrey Bogart character), but throughout the movie she expresses nothing but love and caring for Victor.  In the end, of course, she leaves with Victor as Rick (the Bogart character) stays behind.

Photo of Lazslo, Ilsa, and Rick found at The Atlantic

Passion, Respect, Admiration:  Love?

My husband contends that, while Ilsa respected and admired Victor very much (she was a young woman when she met him), she did not feel love for him in the same way she felt love for Rick.  Perhaps it is true that she felt more passion for Rick.  But the development of their relationship ended abruptly; they were still in the throes of the initial pangs of passion when the Germans entered Paris and Ilsa learned that Victor was still alive.  Ilsa and Rick never had time to live together or develop a life together.  Had they had that time, those initial flames might have burned down .....  And either burned out.. or cooled to a strong simmer that can last decades or even a lifetime.  We'll never know and it was just a movie anyway. But I don't doubt for a minute that Ilsa did love Victor and might have been able to be very happy with him.. She may have loved him more and more deeply as the years went on and she matured....  But Rick, far, far away, may have never have left her heart.  

Happy Birthday, Casablanca!

Casablanca recently celebrated its 71st birthday, and, to celebrate the movie, The Atlantic published THIS article last year.  Ronald Reagan and Michele Morgan instead of Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman?  Impossible to even consider.  Snopes says that this rumor is untrue anyway.   HERE's another recent article about Jewish influences on Casablanca that you may wish to read.

The Atlantic contemplates the Ilsa character:

The motives of Ilsa, Rick's old flame, are no less nebulous. Is she merely manipulating Rick, rekindling their love as an expedience to retrieving a pair of visas? Or does she truly love him, and is she really preparing to leave her husband at the expense of the French Resistance? 

My thoughts are above:  She really does love Rick, and though she might just have left Victor for Rick, she really did not want to leave Victor.  Ultimately, going with Victor was right and deep in her heart she knew it.  Victor might really have needed her more than Rick ever did.

Now a better question:  Can you love two people if they are close and you see them both?  

Now that just seems like a recipe for disaster.

Casablanca for Valentine's Day

If you are in the Chicago area, the Music Box Theatre features Casablanca as an annual Valentine's Day tradition--  including a love song sing along.  Details HERE.

In the Falls Church area of Virginia:  Details here.

In the Austin, Texas neighborhood?   Check out the Alamo Drafthouse HERE. Downstate Illinois, in Champaign: The Art Theatre.

Casablanca is also featured in dozens of "Valentine's Day movies" lists, including this one at Tinyprints, this one at the New York Daily News,and in the Christian Science Monitor.

More About Casablanca and Valentine's Day

On the Brattle Film Brattle Blog:  Casablanca- Valentine's Day in Morocco examines the question:

So why celebrate it (Valentine's Day) by watching Casablanca – a film, by most definitions, about love lost? 

They have some answers to that question.  Click the link above.