I watched an interesting film last night, one I'd been meaning to watch for a while: Chico & Rita
, a Spanish film which was nominated for an Oscar for Best Animated Film last year (it lost to the deserving
Rango
). The story is simple, yet timeless: Chico, an incredibly talented jazz pianist in 1940s Cuba, meets Rita, a beautiful singer. The movie details their relationship and the role of music in its ups and downs and twists and turns. The film makes some interesting parallels to a classic romance which also has music at its heart:
Casablanca
.
Chico & Rita
even at one point borrows from its musical themes and even, at one point, in something of a dream sequence, illustrates a brief reenactment of the ideas of the final scene, with Chico facing off against Humphrey Bogart.
is an incredible film – one of the greatest ever made, a statement which may be a cliché but is also the truth. Bogart stars as Rick Blaine, an American living in the title city in Morocco during World War II. Casablanca is a jumping-off point for people trying to get from Europe to America, but it is also somewhat purgatorial as the acquisition of proper papers and bureaucratic tie-ups can make departure difficult. Rick makes his living as a bar owner, and one day a former figure from his life walks in: Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman), an old flame trying to get to America with her husband.
Tinseltown presents two screenings of
Casablanca
tomorrow, Wednesday, as this week's installment in the Cinemark Classics series.
Casablanca
will be shown at 2:00 and 7:00. Tinseltown is located at 4400 Towne Center Drive. Further theater information and advance ticket sales can be found at the Tinseltown website.
Image: Internet Movie Database
