The Third Man (1949)
The king of classic film noir.
Presentation:
It’s quite obscene how good this film looks for a film made in 1949. It’s one of the best looking classic films surpassing some films today due to its film noir style that films in color can’t compete with. The film utilizes harsh lighting to create high contrast ratios for those pitch black shadows in iconic film noir style. There is also some beautiful framing that is jaw-dropping impressive, better than The Good, The Bad, The Ugly, let alone many films today. You can actually learn cinematography in 2024 from this film. Dutch angles are utilized in this film to tasteful effect, the story is also engaging and not as heavy handed as Citizen Kane. It’s a believable dialogue that translates well even in 2024. The film utilizes Django guitar finger playing to provide a lighter tone despite the dark moody visuals.
Conclusion:
This would be one of the best classic films of all time were it not for a confusing soundtrack. There are times when the film feels intense and riveting, but fall apart under the silly tone of upbeat classical guitar playing. Were it not for this unfortunately distracting score taking the immersion out of the experience, it would have been a 5.
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Recommendations
Hollywood film noir doesn’t seem that high up anymore.