Bambi (1942)

It is Man. He is here again. There are many this time. We must go deep into the forest. Hurry! Follow me!

— Great Prince of the Forest

Hello, everyone. I am back from vacation. Ready to get back to the swing of things. I was in Florida for a week to visit Disney World with my family. Getting back on my home turf, I thought that I might get back to Walt Disney classic film that I haven’t seen in over twenty years, Bambi.

I believe that this was the first movie I ever saw in theaters when it was re-release back in 1988. This movie freaked me out with the famous scene of Bambi, his mother and Man. I cried endlessly about that. After all these years to see the film again, it hasn’t aged well.

Not to say that this is a bad movie. Far from it, but more recent offering like The Lion King has made this movie very dated.

The story is about a young deer named Bambi that is introduced to the unpredictable world with his mother by his side. As he is trying to find his way of surviving to forest life, he is befriended by Thumper and Flower.

The story is basic. The voice acting was a bit annoying at times. I still love the multiplane camera layouts. Still an enjoyable movie.

Judgment: If you want to watch a classic family movie, this is a good choice.

Rating: ****

Casablanca (1942)

Here’s looking at you, kid.

— Rick

Coming in at #11 of the Top 250 of all time on IMDB. Nominated for seven Oscars, winning three; including Best Picture, Best Director for Michael Curtiz and Best Screenplay.

Casablanca is considered one of the greatest cinematic romances of all time. Highly doubt that. Not to say that it was a terrible movie. Far from that, but it wasn’t perfect.

Set in the middle of WWII in unoccupied Casablanca, Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) is an former freedom fighter who has a famous club where all the refugees come to get away from the Nazis. His trusty pianist pal, Sam (Dooley Wilson) entertains the crowd with his songs.

One night, he receives two transit papers that were stolen from an SS officer from Ugarte (Peter Lorre). He hides them as SS officer, Major Strausser (Conrad Veidt) arrives in town to investigate where the papers are with the help of morally ambiguous Captain Renault (Claude Rains).

That very night, Rick’s former love, Isla (Ingrid Bergman) is with her companion, Victor Lazlo (Paul Henreid). Both are active freedom fighters that are looking for a way to get out of Casablanca to escape to America.

Problems with the movie. The “romance” between Rick and Isla was not fully explored. There was no connection between them. It felt forced. Two beautiful people got together. No explanation. This movie should have been longer. Allowing the relationship to develop between the lovers.

Negatives aside, Ingrid was lit beautifully. Loved it. Interesting angles with the camera. Light and shadow worked perfectly.

Judgment: Gorgeous visuals, but the story could leave you high and dry.

Rating: ***1/2