What is the significance of the Vichy Water scene at the end of Casablanca?
At the end of Casablanca, we see Captain Renault open a bottle of Vichy water:
He pours himself a glass of it, before binning the rest of the bottle. Given the prominence of the label and the exaggerated nature of the scene, it clearly symbolised something. What was it intended to demonstrate?
Best Answer
In the script, the scene plays out as follows:
Renault walks inside the hangar, picks up a bottle of Vichy water, and opens it.
Renault: Well, Rick, you're not only a sentimentalist, but you've become a patriot.
Rick: Maybe, but it seemed like a good time to start.
Renault: I think perhaps you're right.
As he quickly pours the water into a glass, Renault sees the Vichy label and quickly DROPS the bottle into a trash basket which he then KICKS over.
He walks over and stands beside Rick. They both watch the plane take off, maintaining their gaze until it disappears into the clouds.
Just before this, Rick has shot Major Strasser dead.
It appears that this action, and his "becoming a patriot" in the eyes of Renault, inspires Renault to do the same.
Vichy was an unoccupied region of France that persecuted Jews and collaborated with the Nazi government.
By binning the entire bottle of water, he is symbolically severing his ties with the corrupt Vichy government and the entire Nazi regime, thus becoming a "patriot" himself.
This is a complete turn from his character earlier in the film, where he clearly looks out for himself, regardless of whether that means helping the Nazis or the French interests.
This turn in character is clearer in the scene afterwards, when he and Rick plan their future lives together - on the same side.
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When Captain Renault throws away the bottle of Vichy water what does that signify?
In direct terms, Renault's dumping his Vichy water signals that he's no longer willing to be the puppet. He's ready to fight the Germans just like Rick is. But on a subtler level, it also makes a very pointed statement about the U.S. government's position on the whole thing.What happens at the end of Casablanca?
When Louis presides over Strasser's removal, he is signing his own letter of transit. Thus the film ends with another romantic promise \u2013 the start of a beautiful friendship, as the two men stroll off together.What was Vichy water?
or Vichy watera natural mineral water from springs at Vichy, containing sodium bicarbonate, other alkaline salts, etc., used in the treatment of digestive disturbances, gout, etc. a water of similar composition, either natural or artificial.Was Casablanca Vichy?
Morocco, and by extension Casablanca, was under the control of the Vichy French government, since it was a French colony and the Vichy government claimed jurisdiction over international French possessions, and Vichy France was technically independent from direct German control until late 1942 (ironically just after the ...The end of the movie Casablanca
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