The Third Man and his Woman

 

“The Third Man” is a 1949 British film, written by none other than Graham Greene and with a classical theme composed by Anton Karas. And yes, Orson Welles stars the main character, Harry Lime. The plot is set in Vienna shortly after World War II, when Austria was occupied by the Allies, including the Soviet Union. The failed writer Holly Martins is invited to Vienna by his long lost friend, Harry Lime, only to find that Lime died the day before they were scheduled to meet. Martins soon realizes that there is something strange about the “car accident” that supposedly killed Lime. He is also entangled in a romance with the actress Anna, Harry´s former love interest. And I don´t think I´m revealing any secrets by telling you that, of course, Lime is still very much alive and involved in some very shady activities…  

“The Third Man” is often regarded as the best film ever made. I saw it already as a child, and did indeed regard it that way, but after watching it again the other day (after what must be like four decades!), I realized that I´ve apparently become more hard to impress. It´s not bad, with its nocturnal chases, strange camera angles, and sometimes weird characters. But *the* best film ever made?

I dunno, dude.

Half of the film is dragging in the extreme. Yes, that would be Martins´ love affair with Anna. And while its pointless to criticize a 1949 film for being old fashioned, well, the tropes *are* old. Anna is “the confused Woman”, constantly in irrational emotional turmoil. The “bad fiction writer down on his luck” (Martins) feels a bit old, too. One trope was funny, though: the old landlady in Anna´s house was very convincing. A bit like my grandmother! Not sure what to make of the British police officers in Vienna, who are very gentlemanly, correct and do everything by the book.

The only really interesting character is the mysterious Harry Lime, a completely cynical and slightly psychopathic black marketeer with an (unrealistic) “intellectual” side. As a kid, I must have misunderstood the plot, thinking that Lime was originally a very good man, making his transformation into evil mass murderer even more chilling. In fact, Lime had always been a cheat and a rascal. Suddenly, his turn towards crime seems more plausible, with Martins looking extremely naïve not to realize what his “friend” was capable of. In passing, I noted that the film never really explains its central premise: why did Lime invite Martins to Vienna in the first place? How stupid *is* Martins supposed to be, really? But sure, he doesn´t come across as the sharpest knife in the box…

“The Third Man” ends with Harry Lime kind-of-voluntarily letting Martins kill him, perhaps in a last ditch attempt to “redeem” himself somehow. Or was he just afraid of getting caught? Well, actually the film ends with the Woman acting as irrationally as always.

I don´t have a good melodramatic close (or zither tune) to this review, so I just end here.