Review of The Third Man (1949) by Gavin D — 03 Oct 2012
Greater than Citizen Kane. The greatest performance of not only Joseph Cotten, but of Orson Welles, however so brief it was. This is tied for my 2nd favorite film, along with Aguirre: The Wrath of God, and both of those are behind Jean Vigo's "L'Atalante".
It's style/structure is indescribable, and is so further out than anything else in the history of popular cinema. The reason why I will refer to it as a perfect film, is because every aspect of it, emphasizes the other aspects. The soundtrack emphasizes the cinematography, the cinematography emphasizes the acting and atmosphere, I don't know, the list is endless. This is the only film that I've seen that I love so much, that has a structure so unfamiliar to me. It's odd. But with Citizen Kane, it completely reutilizes every familiar aspect to the epitome of how they could be used (and hasn't been used better since), while also having it's entirely revolutionary aspects, like the ending. But, The Third Man has the same power and knowledge to do what Citizen Kane has done, but it decides to use it for something totally new, and indescribable. I don't think I will be able to describe it in even 20 years. Don't get me wrong Citizen Kane is the greatest American film ever made. But, perhaps it's myself personally, but I prefer The Third Man in every way.
This review of The Third Man (1949) was written by Gavin D on 03 Oct 2012.
The Third Man has generally received very positive reviews.
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