The Third Man Case Study Analysis

1. The Third Man
The Third Man is a 1949 British Film Noir, directed by Carol
Reed and starring:
Joseph Cotton - Holly Martins,
Alida Valli - Anna Schmidt and
Orson Welles - Harry Lime.
The film is considered to be “One of the greatest films of all
time, celebrated for its atmospheric cinematography,
performances and musical score.”
In 1949; The Third Man won the British Academy Award for
‘Best Film’, as well as an Academy Award for the ‘Best Black
and White Cinematography’ in 1950.
In 1999, the British Film Institute selected The Third Man as
the ‘Best British Film of the 20th Century.’
The plot is centred around pulp novelist Holly Martins who
travels to a shadowy, postwar, Vienna. Only to find himself
becoming involved and investigating a mysterious death of an
old friend, black-market opportunist; Harry Lime.

2. Location
The location of Vienna, this tree-lined pathway, creating a vanishing point.
The never-ending path, almost unrealistic, highlighting this seductive
dystopia location.The centred path feels so exposed to the audience,
nothing is able to hide, the bare leaf-less trees also a sign of being stripped
back; the shot composition itself is simplistic yet very powerful visually.
The angle connotes confusion, disorientation and
perplexity for the viewer. For a moment you have the
feeling of uncertainty before establishing the scene,
putting the audience on edge.
The use of claustrophobic spaces is another thriller convention.
The fear of entrapment and there being no escape. Dark,
deserted, alienated and grotty streets is another visual
convention that is played with in this film. The shiny wet
cobbles connote an unescapable labyrinth, appealing the
audience worst fears.
The final scene in the Viennese sewers (which were filmed, both, on location in Vienna
and on sets built at Shepperton) are the climatic final scenes, where both the idea of a
labyrinth and claustrophobic spaces are used, in the sewers at Harry Lime’s death scene.
The use of tilt shots is consistent, a typical camera angle thriller
convention.

3. Lighting
Sound
Chiaroscuro lighting is the classic film noir convention, creating this
spotlight effect, where the non-ambient lighting is positioned to
illuminate one particular face or object. This can create a sense of
illusion or a nightmare.
The Third Man is very atmospheric; with the use of black-and-white
expressionist cinematography by Robert Krasker, harsh lighting is
created, a key feature in the film. “The style evokes the atmosphere
of an exhausted, cynical, post-war Vienna at the start of the Cold
War.” Lime’s reveal from the doorway, with the central lighting on
his face has the shocking yet establishing impact for the viewer.
The non-diegetic soundtrack is in contrast to the action and mood unfolding visually, adding to
the viewer experience. The cultural signifier for Vienna is the music being played on a zither.
Also, the use of diegetic dialogue is used throughout, there are no subtitles, so the German
dialogue isn’t translated, leaving it not understandable. This allows the audience to be in the
shoes with Holly Martins, adding realism to the scene. Anton Karas composed the musical
score for the film. Eve decades later, film critic Roger Ebert wrote; “Has there ever been a film
where the music more perfectly suited the action than in Carol Reed’s The Third Man?” The
release of the soundtrack as a single became a best seller and spent 11 weeks at number one on
Billboard’s US Best Sellers in Stores chart.

4. Characters
Holly Martins and Harry Limes are two very contrasting
characters; they’re in fact binary opposites.
While Holly is a man who wants to do good, although he’s
unsophisticated, he’s a writer of westerns, pulp fiction.
Harry is a charming, devious and manipulative character.
He’s a racketeer; a black marketer who sold stolen and corrupt antibiotics on the black market,
killing many. Even the soundtrack, composed by Anton Karas reflects Lime’s personality. The idea
of their binary opposite is shown in lighting; chiaroscuro lighting with the contrast between light
and dark.
In the famous scene of Lime meeting Matins on a ferris wheel, Limes famous ‘Swiss Cuckoo Clock
Speech’ takes place. Where Lime looks down on the people below, comparing them to dots and
commenting on how it would be insignificant if they were to stop moving. Back on the ground,
Lime notes:
“You know what the fellow said – in Italy, for thirty years under the Borgias, they had warfare, terror, murder and 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.”
The costumes in the film are also relevant; the 1940s trilby hat and over coat is the classic
dress code for the time. Referencing traditional film noir conventions.
The character of Anna, Lime’s girlfriend, is impossible to interpret,
inscrutable, this detachment creates more distance between her and Holly,
adding this sense of confusion and discomfort at their interactions.

5. Intertextuality
Shallow Grave, the 1944 film directed by Danny Boyle, has the use of a
winding staircase. This use of walking up the spiralling staircase is also used
in The Third Man when Holly Martins climbs the steps.
Both of these images are taken from the beginning of the film.
The stairs help in the establishing process where the audience are
exposed to new surrounding locations. Connoting the idea of trying to
reach somewhere or something, the process of uncovering a secret.
There are also intertextual references between ‘Nosferatu the Vampyre’ the two
German films.
The first ‘Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens’ translated as ‘Nosferatu: A
Symphony of Horror’ in 1922 is a German Expressionist horror film directed by
Friedrich W. Murnau, starring Maz Schreck as the vampire ‘Count Orlok.’
Then another in 1979, ‘Nosferatu the Vampyre’, which was conceived as a stylistic
remake of the 1922 German Dracula adaption. A West German Art House
Vampire Film written and directed by Werner Herzog.
There are clear similarities in lighting between both German vampire films and
Harry Lime, linking Harry to a phantom. These reinforced gothic connotations
reinforced in the reveal of Harry in the doorway to Holly.
This also connotes the idea of Harry Lime being like a vampire; the human
representation of evil, a creature of nightmares.