Characteristics Found In Films - The Third Man

The Third Man (Carlo Reed, 1949) 

The film is about Holly, a pulp Western writer goes to Vienna to visit his friend, Harry. However, Harry was killed in a car accident. He suspicious for the death of Harry then he start investigating to know the truth.

The film starting with a narration that spoke by a unknown person. In the beginning, he introduced the black market in Vienna which already telling audience the world of criminal. Those are the element that always appears in film noir. The film also using expressionist devices like chiaroscuro light. There is a lot of low key lighting and make the shadow appears very often. The shadows look more outstanding especially those chasing scenes in the film. The uses of low-key lighting in exterior settings can be used to distort the frame and also outsize the shadow. It also showing the feeling of jeopardy and emotional instability in the mind of the character which being hunted. 

This is the scene when Harry is chasing by the people that same party with the antagonist, Harry. The Third Man (1949).

In addition, the setting of the film is in city-bound, Vienna. The film also talked about the world after World War II, the city divided into four zones which occupied by the American, the British, the Russian and the French, it is the time that Film Noir appeared. Other than that, the scenes usually are shot in night, it also contain the locations like wet, dark, and cramped which can bring out the feeling of suffocating in the film world.

 This is the scene when police officer looking for Harry in the sewer. The dark and cramped location with silhouettes lighting used in The Third Man (1949).

Besides, mise-en-shot made by the filmmaker is interesting too. The filmmaker moved the camera and crooked the visual of the shot. There are a lot of oblique camera angles, unbalanced compositions found in this film, those film techniques was influenced by the German expressionist films. Those distorted image is to enhance the uneasy feeling of the characters. 

Anna is worrying when the Russian liaison officer detains her and checking her forged passport. The oblique line of the window and angle can shows her feeling. The Third Man (1949).

In this scene when Harry first time reaches Harry’s house can clearly showing that the elements of German expressionism, the oblique camera angle and the high contrast lighting that creating shadows. The Thrid Man (1949).

That is another mise-en-shot can see in the film which playing the role of narrative enhancement. For example the conversation part between Calloway, the police officer and Holly Martins, the protagonist. The conversation is about Calloway trying to know Holly Martins and his relationship with his good friend, Harry Lime. In the beginning of the conversation, it is a two shot showing the movement of the character, Calloway pouring the wine for Harry, it shows that the politeness relationship between two character, the camera angle and shot duration is normal.

 When Holly (on the left) having a conversation with Calloway (on the right). The Third Man (1949).

When Calloway trying to ask the deeper questions to Holly, it starting to use medium close up and oblique camera angle to show the insecure feeling. In the conversation, they also have an opposition point of view.

A more close up shot when they having an opposition point of view. The Third Man (1949).

When the conversation is getting serious and serious, that is when Calloway telling Holly that his friend is a worst racketeer. The visual becomes a close up shot, it is showing the tension feeling of the two characters in this confrontation conversation, and the pace of editing is faster than before.

A close up shot to show the character more nearer to the camera provides a pressure feeling and enhance the tension feeling in the conversation. The Third Man (1949).

However, this British Noir film has a little bit different with the American's, that is the film do not have the character like femme fatale. The antagonist was played by a man. Also, the theme of the film not that darker as the American film noir, for instance Double Indemnity. It even have the main song which is whimsical type of music play along with some scenes in the film and it somewhat added some humour feeling and element into the film.