The Third Man - 1949 Starring Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Orson Welles
I really wish I enjoyed this one more. I've always loved the noir style and want to watch more of them, but after this I just don't know if these older ones are for me! I'll start with the positives though, because there were quite a few things I liked.
First and foremost I really enjoyed the setting. A post war Vienna with a variety of people all speaking different languages definitely adds to the tension and makes not only the protagonist feel unwelcome, but the viewer too. The night scenes added to this feel even more, the empty, dimly lit streets mixed with the clever use of shadows was really fun. I also really enjoyed the entirety of the third act. Orson Welles as Harry Lime is actually fantastic, he just carries this smug confidence that almost makes me want to root for him. The entirety of the Ferris Wheel scene is just great and we get a top tier villain speech. The ending was also top notch, sure killing kids with watered down penicillin is evil, but so is trying to bang your childhood friend's girlfriend after you sold him out and killed him. So yeah Holly got was coming to him too.
Speaking of which, Holly sucks. Yeah I think he's supposed to, but to me there just isn't anything endearing about him. I enjoy a flawed protagonist and all, but you still need that one thing to keep us invested in him and it just wasn't there for me. My other main issue was the mystery just wasn't engaging enough. Maybe I'm just spoiled by things like Ace Attorney or Knives Out. I'm used convoluted murders and absurdly unique characters, but here it's just hearing a bunch of people give the same account until someone mentions The Third Man, (ooooooohhhhh). So its admittedly kinda hard just watching that happen for an hour and a half with a dull protagonist. Honestly though it doesn't even matter because Harry just reveals himself shortly afterwards anyway. So uh yeah there really wasn't much that surprised me or left me thinking. It just kind of all happened. Oh yeah and what was up with that score? It was definitely unique that's for sure, but it was completely distracting and I really wonder what their intention was with that.
Maybe I'll watch it again someday when I'm more educated on film techniques or something, but at this current moment I just thought it was alright. Some things were cool, but it just didn't hook me like I hoped it would.