The Third Man

No need to recap the oft-repeated plot. So why bother commenting after 500+ reviews. I guess it's because I'm a movie lover and want to enter my little note of appreciation. What sticks in my mind from the movie's first release are the visuals. They're among the most memorable if not the most memorable in film annals. In sum, they're a nightmare world of emptiness-the streets, the walkways, the dead hulking edifices. It's a communal world emptied of community, leaving only ruins and shells. The metaphor for a post-war Europe is unmistakable, while only the morally destitute like Harry Lime have thrived. I can't imagine that filming in color was actually entertained (IMDB). Had that happened, the film would have passed into semi-obscurity unlike its now celebrated status. Note too, that no one ends up happy, in contrast to narrative norms of the day. I think what brought many folks to showings at the time was the unfamiliar zither music. As I recall, a commercial cut was heard regularly on the radio. Still, I expect a lot of folks left the theater put-off by the bleakly unhappy world they had just seen. Anyway, the movie remains a brilliant slice of cinematic imagination and should not be missed.