The Third Man (1949)

 Carol Reed's "The Third Man"

I've got to say that when I first watched Carol Reed's 1949 film "The Third Man" several years ago, I was completely floored by it. I had even considered it as one of the greats of classic cinema. I watched it for a second time yesterday and, to be completely honest, the emotional engagement I felt from the first viewing experience had completely dissipated. That's not to say that the film isn't a great film and still a considerable classic of the noir genre and of classic British cinema. But, one of the major engagements of the film is the feeling of confusion and disorientation the protagonist feels and our equally confused and disoriented viewing experience as we follow along. However, once you know the full scope about Harry Lime and what he's up to, the mystery and disorientation dissolves and you're left to view the film as an objective observer who knows all the facts. You become disengaged from the perspective of our protagonist, which takes away from truly encompassing yourself in the thematic relevance of the film.

All of that being said, "The Third Man" is still a fantastic film and perhaps even Carol Reed's best, with 1947's "Odd Man Out" following close behind. There are so many things to love about it. Perhaps the first thing people point to when acclaiming the film is its uses of the Dutch angle. As with many film noir, the lead protagonist is investigating something he should not even be involved with and gets himself way over his head. The same is true for "The Third Man," as our protagonist Holly Martins comes to Vienna and gets swept away in the world of confusion, trickery, and conspiracy. Perhaps no other film has perfected this sentiment visually than with the continued use of the Dutch angle to encapsulate the off-kilter and 'in over his head' perspective of the protagonist as he attempt to maneuver his way through the twists and turns of the story. The continued use of the Dutch angles provide that sense of uneasiness and imbalanced certainty that the story emits. 

The main theme of the film stems from the film's perspective on the subsequent World War that had just finished up only 4 years prior. After the war, Germany, along with Vienna (the setting of the film), was taken over by Allied forces. The courts and policing of these districts were separated by various forms of bureaucracy attempting to establish law and order and, more importantly, their own unique power over the districts. The American Harry Lime, who comes in to perform unethical business practices, seems to represent the 'free for all' mentality that the availability of the land represented. Or rather, he represented Adolf Hitler himself, who saw people as nothing but disposable in order to attain wealth and power. Either way, Harry Lime is a bad person who did a lot of damage to a lot of people in order to make a lot of money. 

The real confusion that lies at the heart of the film is not WHY he did the things he did. In fact, he explicitly reveals his inner nature to our protagonist and his true feeling about the nature of power and progress. It isn't his dastardly deeds, no. The real confusion and disorientation that lies at the heart of the film is why everyone is protecting him. Harry could not get away with this all on his own, and many people assist him in not only performing his unethical business deals, but also faking his death. But it isn't even these characters that cause this confusion. It is the love interest of both Harry Lime and Holly Martins: Anna. Anna, who was Harry's romantic partner, is just as uncertain about Harry's disappearance as Holly and ourselves. Even still, Holly continues to protect Harry and even attempts to save him. In the end, when she's walking past Holly in the final (and beautiful) shot, it becomes clear that despite Holly's perceived 'heroism,' Anna still views him as a traitor his his friend. Her love for someone who clearly is an evil person remains steadfast. 

That is the real disorientating effect of the film: why does Anna choose to still protect someone labelled 'evil?' Why do the people of Germany and Austria not recognize their support over evil and unethical practices? What's even more disorientating is: have WE disillusioned ourselves into believing we are the good guys? After the, Holly, our protagonist, believes himself to be the hero of the story. He is an American author who writes Western pulp novels, stories of gunslingers and caped crusaders. In the story he's currently in, he believes himself to be a 'caped crusader' of sorts, attempting to bypass police procedures in order to uncover the mystery for himself. However, is he really the hero? Sure, he 'caught the bad guy,' but the expectation of 'getting the girl' in the process does not however come to fruition. To the girl, he is the villain of the story. That's what's so topsy-turvy and disorienting to me. That our protagonist arrives in a foreign land, plays the hero, gets the 'bad guy,' but still manages to leave just as confused as he arrived and still doesn't seem to understand the landscape and people around him. 

Perhaps this final idea is representative our the confusion left behind by the war. The country of Europe was ravaged by terror and now remains a hotbed of confusion and disorientation. Why did this happen? Why are there still conspiracies afoot? Why is evil being covered up? Are we really the 'good guys' we think of? Or maybe we're coming into a place of considerable vulnerability and using our power to wreak even more havoc and terror? All of this emanated from the tone and theme of the film. There are still things we do not understand as a society about what happened and what is still happening. Either way, we as Americans still feel the need to play the 'hero' and, in the case of Harry Lime, the unethical capitalist villain in a place we cannot ever really understand that has absolutely no place for us. This is what makes "The Third Man" such a good noir. Through the investigation of our protagonist, we uncover the true corruption that lies at the heart of society and the individual, and perhaps ourselves. Either way, nothing is black and white. And nothing truly makes sense anyway.