Reviews of The Third Man

One of the best from us Brits.

Posted : 11 months, 2 weeks ago on 29 November 2008 10:40 (A review of The Third Man)

"You know, I never feel comfortable on these sort of things. Victims? Don't be melodramatic. Look down there. Tell me. Would you really feel any pity if one of those dots stopped moving forever? If I offered you twenty thousand pounds for every dot that stopped, would you really, old man, tell me to keep my money, or would you calculate how many dots you could afford to spare? Free of income tax, old man. Free of income tax - the only way you can save money nowadays."

Directed by: Carol Reed

Starring: Joseph Cotton, Alida Valli, Orson Welles, Trevor Howard, Bernard Lee

Genre: Film-noir/Mystery/Thriller

Running time: 100 minutes



My review:

Orson Welles is Harry Lime in Graham Greenes unforgettable tale of guilt, disillusionment, corruption and betrayal. Holly Martins arrives in Vienna looking for Lime only to learn he died in an accident. While stumbling through the bleak black market zones, he discovers Harry still alive ? now a murderous racketeer slinking in the doorways and sewers of the bombed-out city. But Martins painful odyssey is not yet over and the desperate search for the truth will destroy his oldest friend.


This film was a really good film-noir film. It is a really tense film because of the chemistry between the characters and the way this film is filmed. It made me feel really great because I never realised at first of how awesome this film really is. It is one of those films that is really loved because of its absolutely outstanding cast especially because Orson Welles is in it. This film is about betrayal, corruption, disillusionment and guilt. It has one of those stories that people would really like because of its powerful characters like I do. It is a very complex mystery but it is that for a damn good reason.

Joseph Cottons performance is really good as Holly Martins. His performance makes Martins a really confused and mixed up young man after discovering his old friend Harry Lime is really alive after he pretended his death. He is sort of tortured because he really liked Lime but after the betrayal of Lime, he becomes a different character and becomes confused with his emotional. I liked Alida Valli as Anna Schmidt. She was a confused person aswell particularly the business with Lime. I really liked Orson Welles in this film as Harry Lime because I really liked his cold hearted character towards Martins and the other people he sees in the film. It is very strange but very good that Orson Welles was a really heroic guy like Charles Foster Kane in Citizen Kane. This film shows that he is really at portraying a villain aswell as a hero.

The direction was outstanding from Carol Reed. I have never seen one of her films before but this is a good start for me. There have been a lot of sexist discrimination of how "crap" women are at directing films but I find them just as good as male directors. For example, Sofia Coppola directed Lost In Translation. She may be a crap actress but she is an awesome director. That is another reason why I love this film aswell as Lost In Translation because they are directed by women and have absolutely fantastic ways of directing a film with the different aspects of camera angles and ways of telling the actors what to do in the scenes of the films. The written screenplay was absolutely awesome. I was told once that this film is very different compared to the novel. I am unsure whether that is true.

People would say that this film is quite similar to Citizen Kane but I dont think it is anything like it. People would probably say that because it stars Orson Welles in both films but that isnt really the main key point here. The chemistry between Lime and Martins was really emotional because of the heartbroken feeling that Martins has because of Limes betrayal of him. It is also live a rivalry too because Martins wants to catch Lime so he can you to prison or get shot for what he did but he struggles with that.

The twist was when Harry Lime was alive again. This doesnt spoil it for you if anybody is reading this review because it already states this in the plot of the film on the website as it probably does on a lot of movie websites.

This film had absolutely outstanding cinematography. It was very clear and was very easy to view. It was like a new type of photography that has been used in a film before. The art direction was good in this film but it just looked like it didnt really have any at all because it just looked like a randomly ordinary street in Italy.

This film was a winner of 1 Academy Award out of three nominations in total. It won Best Cinematography (black and white) but was nominated for Best Director (Carol Reed) but lost to Joseph L. Mankiewicz in All About Eve and Best Film Editing but lost to King Solomons Mines. It won the BAFTA Award for Best British Film.

This film is my favourite Orson Welles film so far. I havent seen that many films from him but I will try and watch as many as I can. It is my favourite film-noir film of all time. It is one of the best mystery films of all time. It is one of the best films of 1940s. It is one of the most famous British films of all time but most importantly, it is one of the greatest films of all time. Its a masterpiece! Its as simple as that!!

0 comments, Reply to this entry

An essential British thriller!

Posted : 1 year, 3 months ago on 31 July 2008 02:53 (A review of The Third Man)

"You know, I never feel comfortable on these sort of things. Victims? Don't be melodramatic. Look down there. Tell me. Would you really feel any pity if one of those dots stopped moving forever? If I offered you twenty thousand pounds for every dot that stopped, would you really, old man, tell me to keep my money, or would you calculate how many dots you could afford to spare? Free of income tax, old man. Free of income tax - the only way you can save money nowadays."

The Third Man is an indelibly memorable thriller - an impeccable blend of stylish film noir, drama and provocative mystery. The brilliance of this captivating masterpiece is continually reflected by critics worldwide. Look at the Top 10 list of a professional critic - it's guaranteed that you'll find movies such as Citizen Kane, Casablanca, The Godfather...and of course The Third Man will be featured. This alone symbolises its virtuosity, and gives one an idea of the company it keeps. The film is so mesmerising that even Martin Scorsese penned a treatise on the thriller as a film student. Now Scorsese is one of cinema's greatest directors. His inspirations for the thriller genre are derived heavily from The Third Man. The film is held in such high esteem, in fact, that it's hard to imagine a movie buff who hasn't watched it at least once. Further researching the critical acclaim, I truly cannot believe it took me so long to finally watch it. It isn't difficult to determine the reason behind the film's popularity; it has the correct actors, setting, mystery, atmosphere, humour and music. Director Carol Reed carves an expressionist wonderland of immense ominous shadows and peculiar camera angles - a world of an uneven balance where ethical order has descended as low as the everlasting sewers. Friendship, love and hope are extraneous ethics in the face of Harry Lime's Darwinistic philosophy...where the pursuit for veracity is a double-bladed sword.

It seems virtually redundant to provide a plot synopsis for this film, as it is assumed the plot is known among movie buffs and cinematic enthusiasts. The film's charm is also so overwhelming because very basic knowledge of the plot guarantees more enthralling viewing. Hence I shall provide a synopsis as I'm bound by my personal review-writing traditions, but I will be brief.
The Third Man finds moderately successful American pulp fiction novelist Holly Martins (Cotten) travelling to Vienna in its post-war period. Martins was lured to Vienna by old childhood friend Harry Lime (Welles) who promised him a job. Upon arrival he is soon informed that Harry tragically died fairly recently in a car accident. As the police investigate, Martins senses something more than an accident has occurred. He begins interviewing Harry's closest acquaintances and discovers stories that occasionally contradict the official line. Martins is told that two men dragged Harry off the road, while another witness claims three men were at the scene.
The title is derived from Martins' subsequent quest to uncover evidence regarding this enigmatic "third man".

Director Carol Reed was one of the most successful directors during the 1940s. His other films include Odd Man Out and The Fallen Idol. In later years directors such as Alfred Hitchcock would emerge with far more thriller masterpieces. With The Third Man, Reed has created a tour de force that he was never able to match previously or subsequently. Its potency and influence remains undimmed. No spurious nostalgia shrouds its strength and disparagement; the film is a faultless combination of the arts of directing, screenwriting and acting.

Cinematographer Robert Krasker earned an Oscar for his wonderful photography. The film is captured in glorious black and white: each shot is permeated with visual flare and intrigue, while bursting with cinematic elegance. There is never a wasted shot as every scene and every edit serves a narrative purpose. Vienna's grand architecture, its decrepit and deteriorated walls, and its ominously fog-enshrouded back streets institute a moody atmosphere that enhances the mysterious occurrences of the plot. Reed photographs the city from virtually every angle except straight-on. There's scarcely a direct angle to be witnessed. Everything is ever so vaguely cockeyed: this infuses the film with a peculiar, surrealistic eminence. The lighting is especially novel and innovative. The most memorable shot of the entire film is when Welles first appears...his enigmatic character being illuminated by a single light from a window that only reveals his unmistakable face. With every citizen looking malign, from infants to cab drivers, it's a combination to achieve a world where nothing is as it appears to be.

Camera techniques aside, The Third Man has yet another enthralling contribution to add: the haunting, remarkable, perfect zither music courtesy of musician Anton Karas. That tune...that main theme will haunt you repeatedly for days. It's absolutely impossible to forget the evocative use Anton's zither which is the only instrument used for the score. A paradoxical mix of the cheerful and melancholic...its frigid timbre encapsulates the alchemy of The Third Man and presents yet another dimension. This tone emphasises all of the action and is a crucial part of the picture...as important as the actors or plot. In fact, Anton's music became so popular that it made him a global star, and the theme became everlastingly linked with the film in viewers' minds. Yet its utilisation in the movie was a last minute decision. Director Reed discovered the musician playing tunes during a party just before the film went into production. Following small debates with the producers, Reed hired Karas to compose the musical score.

Apparently the title role was to be played by someone like James Stewart or Humphrey Bogart. All are great actors, but Joseph Cotton does a sublime job as Holly Martins. Cotten is spot on, contrasting a debonair urbanity with a discreet naiveté as he blunders into situations beyond his comprehension or hegemony. Orson Welles is perhaps best known for his celebrated classic Citizen Kane. Welles' glorious cameo lasts about five minutes, and he's introduced over an hour into the story as the enigmatic and mysterious Harry Lime. This is Welles' defining cinematic moment as he creates a persona far more complex and intricate than any other movie from his career. Out of the limited key scenes, Welles' lips generate words very scarcely. His story is told by the shadows and setting in addition to his hauntingly memorable dialogue. Also on display are fantastic performances from Alida Valli, Trevor Howard and a young Bernard Lee.

Overall, The Third Man remains a potent cinematic masterpiece. At times it's not as suspenseful as it wants to be, however this is essential viewing for anyone who calls themselves a movie buff. Carol Reed's The Third Man is essential for its mind-blowing technical merits and original story. Now the story may be looked upon as clichéd and unoriginal, but at the time of release it was unheard of. In later years films like Get Carter followed the formula of a civilian conducting his own investigation into the death of someone close. All these films have taken notes from this powerful classic. This is a revolutionary film noir that boasts truly passionate filmmaking and stunning central plot turns. Highly recommended!

9.2/10

0 comments, Reply to this entry

Beautiful but smug

Posted : 1 year, 8 months ago on 18 February 2008 07:53 (A review of The Third Man)

The cinematography is brilliant, and so vivid you almost forget you are watching a black & white movie. It's been well preserved and looks as if it could have been released yesterday. And the locales were so interesting that Vienna seems like another character (whether it was shot there or not). But maybe today's audiences are just too smart, but I never trusted anything or anyone, so any shocking developments were anything but. Except the girl, in a movie full of smug, smarmy and overly earnest people, she always seemed real, and sympathetic and realistically honorable. But, as a movie in all the top 100's list, it let me down, but it was probably the first brilliant movie of it's kind, but now isn't enough.

0 comments, Reply to this entry

The Third Man review

Posted : 1 year, 10 months ago on 17 December 2007 04:43 (A review of The Third Man)

_beautiful...

0 comments, Reply to this entry