Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1942) is a film that tells the story of Rick Blaine and Ilsa Lund, two long-lost lovers meeting in a Vichy-controlled city in 1941 occupied France. On the surface, the film is a classic love triangle between the dissolute bar keeper, a beautiful woman and a committed hero. However, set in 1941, during the German Occupation of France, and at a time when America was still debating whether it should pursue its policy of isolationism, the film is actually an allegory. In this allegory, the two central male characters represent the countries that eventually became the allied forces, Rick symbolising American isolationism, through his disregard for surrounding events; and Laszlo being the antithesis, symbolising the French
