The Third Man

TITLE/YEAR:

The Third Man (1949)

DIRECTOR:

Carol Reed/England/1906

BUDGET:

N/A

GROSS:

$13,576

SYNOPSIS:

A man travels to postwar Vienna to meet a friend only to find that he died just prior to his arrival.  Now he finds himself investigating his friend’s bizarre death.

NARRATIVE & VISUAL KEYWORDS:

Film noir, black market, mystery, murder, coincidence

CHARACTERIZATION & DIALOGUE:

Holly Martins travels to postwar Vienna for a job offer from an old friend of his, Harry Lime (Orson Welles). Instead he gets there to find out that his friend died in after being struck by a car. Holly quickly finds out that things aren’t adding up when he discovers that police where investigating Harry for smuggling penicillin prior to his death. Even bigger coincidence is the fact that the car that hit Harry was driven by Harry’s personal driver. In yet another coincidence, the witnesses on the scene were all friends of Harry’s. It isn’t long before Holly starts to doubt these coincidences & does his own investigation.

CAMERA/LIGHTING/EDITING TECHNIQUE:

The overall editing of the movie seemed rather smooth & brought the story together effectively. Lighting was frequently restricted casting many shadows & keeping a feeling of mystery. Orson seems to favor many close-ups, perhaps allow more of the facial features to help convey the emotions.

POLITICAL/SOCIAL COMMENTARY:

Orson Welles seems to be playing at the fact that some people will do anything to make money, even at the expense of others. He plays with a very common social belief that the police don’t do their jobs effectively. He also brings to light that many of us will do anything for love.

HISTORICAL RELEVANCE/RECOGNITION:

Won an Oscar Best Cinematography, nominated for Oscar for Best Director & Best Film Editing, won a BAFTA for best British film, nominated for a BAFTA for Best Film from any source,  won grand prize at the Cannes Film Festival, nominated for DGA for outstanding directorial achievement for motion pictures (Carol Reed)

 NOTABLE COLLABORATION:

None.

RANDOM FACT:

In 1952 he became the first British film director to receive knighthood for his craft.

1. The visual aspects of this film really tie in the theme/mood of this film. It is frequently dark giving you a feeling that you’re not getting the whole story, that there is always more to investigate.

2. The only important aspect of sound for me was the dialog. It is the only portion of sound that played an important role in telling the story & I feel that perhaps with a little more emphasis of emotions & actions, the movie could have possibly been pulled off as a silent film.

3.  I feel this film as a whole was well edited and told an enticing story. It was able to lure me in right away & keep me there until the very end. I was constantly trying to figure out what was really going on in this mystery. I would recommend it to others.

"The Third Man." IMDb. IMDb.com. Web. <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041959/>.