years. I wanted that cinema, the building itself, to be very much present in the work. But I soon realized that the narration was leading somewhere else, and as one must never go against the way a story unfolds, I decided to put off that homage for another occasion. Later on I will do it, and with a fantastic story, as I said”. So, the novella developed a realistic tone and it had little to do with that cinema of his childhood. It was written in November–December 2002, in Reno, and corrected in February 2003 at Lake Tahoe. Main characters Señor Ferrari A rich Argentine ranch owner, who offers all his possessions to his admired Ingrid Bergman as long as she marries him. His proposal is rejected, so he decides to create his own Casablanca on his estate, and to play the role of Señor Ferrari. Sam He is from Uruguay. He was working as a bellhop at a hotel in the City of Buenos Aires when Señor Ferrari came across him. He's the true narrator in the novella. Rick Argentinean, a former high school literature teacher. He's very fond of French authors and given to drinking. When the novella starts he is over eighty years old and blind. Ilsa Australian. She earned her living as a trapeze artist at an American circus. On a Brazil tour she was hired by one of Señor Ferrari's agents to work as Ingrid Bergman's double. Foul mouthed and energetic, she becomes Ferrari's mistress and protégée. In the story, Sam calls her “Elsa”. Ugarte Before being hired by Señor Ferrari, he sang tangos at a strip-tease night club in the City of Buenos Aires. Fortunato A homeless child adopted by Ilsa and Sam when he was a few months old. In the story he is around ten. Although he does not know the language, he reads French books to Rick. The Narrator Nothing is said about his age, physical appearance or profession. Theme The novella Casablanca is a perfect metaphor of Argentina. In the story, the Argentine Casablanca is a copy of the famous movie; in real life, Argentina was built as a copy of certain European countries, a copy, so to say, that “Europeans in exile” (as Borges defined himself and Argentines) made of a movie entitled “Europe”. The splendor of the Argentine Casablanca was weakened, at first, by certain natural disasters, and