Casablanca lands so routinely in listings of the top two or three movies of all time, it’s become almost boring to call it great. It’s the definition of a Hollywood masterpiece. The scenes and the characters have taken on mythological lives of their own. But Casablanca manages to be strongly original while also synthesizing parts of many films of its time: a wartime setting, a hero with shades of grey in his past, a female lead who wants something she can’t have, humor and tragedy and parody and sacrifice. And, of course, doomed love. Good art tells us stories; great art makes demands of us. Casablanca demands we break our own hearts like Rick, make dangerous choices like Ilsa, sing like Sam and scheme like Louis. The movie remains timeless because those feelings are.

Immediately after the film, retired Sarasota Herald Tribune film critic George Meyer will lead a short discussion of Casablanca and an audience Q&A. The session is included with film admission.