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Casablanca Femme Fatale Analysis

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“Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world, she walks into mine.” These are the words spoken by Rick Blaine as he drinks himself into a slight stupor to cope with the grand entrance of the beautiful, yet mysterious Ilsa Lund. These two mentioned above are former lovers and the two main characters of the 1942 film Casablanca. Why Rick speaks these words with despair is because of Ilsa Lund, whose archetype is common in most if not all noir movies. This archetype is known as the femme fatale which literally translates to, fatal woman. The particular focus of the femme fatale and its characteristics is Ilsa Lund, female star of Casablanca, who exhibits the major and auxiliary qualities of the femme fatale character as well as her hidden intentions. The importance …show more content…

The femme fatale consists of two primary characteristics. The foremost being the seductive nature and the beauty of the woman playing the part. The second being the mystery behind the woman. The femme fatale in question, Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman), is an excellent portrait of these two main features of the femme fatale among other additional features that are cemented into the concept of the archetype. The number of examples that exhibit these qualities in the film are on the border of infinite. One apparent quality both seen in the movie and which can be recorded on paper is Ilsa’s beauty and seductive nature. While in Paris, Ilsa has completely wrapped Rick around her little finger and had the power to crush him permanently as seen in the film. After she had him madly out of his mind and madly in love, she abandons him at the train station, which left Rick happy and smiling to depressed and frowning. Another predominant attribute is Ilsas mysterious past and second life that she hides from Rick from the time they met in Paris to the later

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