Critical review for movie Casablanca Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Critical review for movie Casablanca - Essay Example Then by train, car or on foot through North Africa in Casablanca, French Morocco. Here, the lucky ones, thanks to money or friends, could get exit visas and run further, in Lisbon and thence to the New World. Others had to wait in Casablanca. Victor and Ilsa tried to get out of Casablanca by all means, because Gestapo trailed them and Major Strasser has arrived to the city. With the support of the Prefect of Police, Captain Renault, Strasser tries to block Laszlo’s path to freedom. In this complex situation, it appears that the only person who can help the Laszlos is Rick. Everything is clear with the first character, Rick Blaine. Hiding under the guise of fictitious skepticism and indifference he stays the inspired fighter for justice. It’s much harder with Ilsa Lund. On the one hand, it seems she is naive, trusting and maybe even spineless, if we look at how torn she is between two men. On the other hand, she has tragic experience and has a strong moral compass. Behind her crystal clear purity we see hiding pain of loss, when she was losing one beloved man after another. Michael Curtiz was the one who tried to understand that complex psychological drama of the characters and make that story appealing. The general set-up is clear, but lets add to all this the bloody war, human struggle, nobility, dignity, faith and you will get Casablanca - the film that became the genuine classic of cinematograph. This romantic drama does not reflect the realities of war, but gives a general feeling that prevailed in the American and European societies at tha t time. Films are not called the classics just for nothing. Curtiz’s film has all the most faithful reasons to be one. Behind the apparent truism (or even banality) we see a hidden socio-political conflict, which does not spoil the movie; instead it raises it to another level. The problems of three little people don’t really amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world. Love or

HISTORY Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

HISTORY - Essay Example He was crowned King of Anshan after the death of his father in 559 BC. He soon started on a series of great achievements that marked his 29-year reign as the greatest in Persian history (Wikipedia.org, 2007). Cyrus’ first great achievement was the conquest of the Median Empire ruled by his maternal grandfather Astyages. Being a vassal kingdom of the Median Empire, Anshan was subject to its feudal lordship policies. Cyrus decided to rebel against Median control. In an armed struggle that lasted 5 years {554 BC to 549 BC}, he finally managed to defeat the Median armies and capture Ecbatana, which marked the end of the Median Empire. Cyrus then united it with Anshan to create the Achaemenid Empire Cyrus’ second great achievement occurred 3 years later when he conquered the Lydian Empire. In 547 BC, Croesus, ruler of the Lydian Empire attacked Pteria, a city of the Achaemenid Empire. Croesus besieged the city, captured its inhabitants and forced them to serve as slaves. Cyrus gathered a large army and marched against the Lydian forces. Many fierce battles were fought, most notably the Battle of Pteria and the Battle of Thymbra. In the latter, acting on the advice of one of his military commanders named Harpagus, Cyrus used a new military plan – he ordered his soldiers to follow behind camels as they marched to fight. The plan was to create panic among the horses rode by the Lydian cavalry who were not used to the smell of camels. The plan worked and the Lydian army was totally defeated, marking Cyrus’ conquest of the Lydian Empire in 546 BC (Wikipedia.org, 2007). Cyrus’ third great achievement was the conquest of Asia Minor 4 years later. It began when Cyrus ordered his military commander named Mazares to pursue a Lydian called Pactyas who had earlier tried to create a rebellion in Sardis {capital of the Lydian Empire} against Cyrus’ rule. Pactyas fled to Ionia where he