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| The Third Man 10 of 10 |
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| Directed by Carol Reed Cinematography by Robert Krasker Joseph Cotten Alida Valli Orson Welles |
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| This is the best film-noir ever made. Film-noir is a genre that revolves around "tough, cynical characters and bleak settings," and those two have never been more convincingly combined than in this Carol Reed movie. Set in post-WWII Vienna, the story centers around the suffering created by the war, and the flourishing black market that sprang up because of it, especially the one involving medical supplies. A pulp fiction writer (Joseph Cotton) is invited to the city by his friend Harry Lime, and arrives only to discover that Lime has died mysteriously days before his arrival. With the aid of Lime's former girlfriend (Alida Valli), he attempts to discover what really happened. The ensuing events are truly gripping, and certainly fall under the category of "tough, cynical, and bleak." In fact, I'm not even sure exactly how the film ended. There are many different ways to understand the last 10 minutes, and some of them are much more cynical than others. Everything about the film is excellent. (Except for the exclusively zither sound track. Although this is one of the most famous and oft-praised features of the film, it is incredibly irritating. Bad idea.) The acting is wonderful. Cotten and Valli are both superb, and the rest of the cast is also top-notch. But Welles steals the show, and does it emphatically. He is simply astonishing and totally dominates the picture, even though he shows up over halfway through the film, and has far less screen time than anyone of the other principles. The scene where he makes his first appearance is one of the most intensely dramatic and visually stunning shots I have ever seen. Reed's directing is matched only by Krasker's wonderful visuals; although it is probably worth noting that both of these aspects are probably more Welles' contributions than Reed's or Krasker's. Brilliant in every way, and a true classic. A must see; you will be well rewarded for your time. "In Italy, for thirty years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love. They had five hundred years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock." |
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