Review of The Third Man (1949) by Melissa M — 02 Jan 2010

Rightly acclaimed as one of the finest British films ever made. Unlike the American take on the noir genre, all trenchcoats, guns and femmes fatales, the setting here is an infinitely less glamorous post-War Europe and the memories of the horrors of war lies heavy in the darkly expressionist shadows of the ruined city.

The stylish askewed cinematography and deeply pessimistic mood are probably the reasons this deservedly gets included under the film noir genre, but Greene's story is more in-keeping with wartime espionage thrillers with the added uncertainties of the postwar European political climate.

Cotten's hack writer stumbles round the internationally zoned streets trying to ignore the fact his old, apparently now deceased, college buddy might not be the nice chap he once knew, whilst feeling guilty for having a soft spot for the dead mans grieving lover, Valli.

Orson Welles' brief but hugely charismatic portrayal of Harry Lime makes him one of the greatest anti-heroes in cinema, on the one hand having moments of chilling misanthropy (the Ferris wheel scene) whilst being allowed a strangely poetic death scene, grasping at the breeze through a sewer grill.

However, the utterly enigmatic nature of this contradictory character makes it hard to understand why everyone is so wrapped up in his shadow, either a rare flaw or perhaps just another layer in the films dark complexities.