Casablanca is a very popular classic in which the audience is enlightened with a colourful combination of characters. The two prominent characters in the film, Rick Blane and Victor Lazlo, have a unique role because they portray the anti-hero and hero. These two character traits are critical because they differentiate the two main characters in the film. But, even though the anti-hero, Rick Blane, and hero, Victor Lazlo, have very different character personas, at the comparative level the main difference is that the anti-hero is driven by passion and the hero is driven by reason. This prominent difference is evident in their political beliefs, their relationships with Ilsa, and in the director's portrayal of their inner feelings.

Rick Blane and Victor Lazlo are individuals with very strong political beliefs. Even though both characters demonstrate that they have an interest in politics, they have different driving forces within them that bring forth their interests. In Rick's case, he exhibits an interest in politics that is centered around his feelings for the woman he loves. For example, when Rick was together with Ilsa in Paris he was very ambitious with his political belief

The audience also gets a sense of Rick and Victor's anti-hero and hero characteristics by the director's portrayal of their inner lives. We are openly invited into Rick's inner life, while we find out very little about Victor's. There are several scenes in Casablanca where the audience sees Rick drinking in the night. During these scenes Rick expresses a lot of his feelings symbolically, or verbally when Sam is around. With Victor it is almost the opposite because the audience never sees Victor alone or expressing any of his inner feelings. In fact, we find out very little about what he actually feels inside but are made well aware of his political feelings. In other words, the director portrays Victor as a shallow character with great political motivation. Furthermore, we can distinguish the director's portrayal of their inner feelings when each character is interacting with Ilsa. When Rick is interacting with Ilsa the audience is exposed to a lot of body language, dramatic dialog, and romantic or tragic music in the background. When Victor is interacting with Ilsa we usually witness a logical conversation with little or no emotion emanating from Victor.

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Approximate Word count = 828
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)