After finishing The Third Man, I realized that I was into the movie the entire time but by the time it ended, I didn't love or hate it. That's not to say there weren't things I liked about it, the class discussion, or the reading. I think in combination with all of those aspects, it brought my interest to a level of overall enjoyment.
During my own viewing of the movie, the angles jumped out at me as something interesting and worth noting. It seems strange that tilting the camera could help a movie since it seems movies are so technical and precise sometimes. But it worked well for this movie, creating and showing differences between people. Sometimes it felt like it was shown during moments of important information passing from one character to another. Or if one person was asking a question, it might be tilted. I especially liked the scene on the ferris wheel between Harry and Holly. I'm sad to say I kind of got 'lost in the sauce' during their dialogue there because I was trying to focus on the tilting motion of the cart. It seemed to tilt downwards on the person whose point wasn't being made. If Harry had the upper hand or was explaining something, it seemed to put him on the higher side, and vice versa. Simply put, it was a great scene, as we get a great look at and insight into the character of Harry, already fascinating enough being played by Welles.
I had made a note in my notes about 'chasing shadows' because there was a few times where that happened. I think it goes hand in hand with something someone said in class and also the reading, about Harry being compared to a Vampire. The person in class mentioned the shadows in regards to a world we don't know exists, the underworld of that era, with crime etc. Also, the world of a Vampire you might say. I never even thought of the comparison until the reading, but now I can see it. You know, this man Harry, traveling by night, feeding on the blood of the world (the deaths he causes), living in a shadow world. It's an amazing connection that struck me as awesome, and no, not because Vamps are currently trendy. (although True Blood is a pretty cool show)
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Some really good description here of what happens--in the film, in class, and in the reading. I'd like to see you pull these sharp observations together into analysis--so what does this all add up to? How does the movie tell a story on a visual level, that complements or complicates the narrative level of plot and characters?
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