A big surprise for many, especially younger people, is that in 2024 the “best British film” of the 20th century, according to the British Film Institute survey, was The Third Man, which turns 75 in September 2024.

Winner of the Palme d’Or in 1949 and winner of the Oscar for Best Cinematography – Black and White for Robert Krasker in 1951, Carol Reed’s film was a critical success in its time and topped dozens of best-of lists in the decades that followed. It is now considered by many experts to be one of the greatest films ever made, with some of the best performances, music, and cinematography ever created.

The plot is set in post-World War II Vienna, a city divided into zones controlled by the Allies (United States, United Kingdom, France, and the Soviet Union). The main character is Rollo Martins (Joseph Cotten), a Western writer who arrives in the city at the invitation of his childhood friend, Harry Lime (Orson Welles), who has promised him a job. However, upon arrival, Martins discovers that Lime has recently died in a car accident.

Suspicious of the circumstances of his friend’s death, Martins begins to investigate and discovers that there is something much more sinister behind the accident. He meets several people who knew Lime and begins to realize that his friend was involved in criminal activities, including the black market for adulterated penicillin, which caused the deaths of several children. The story unfolds with several shocking revelations and the most significant twist occurs when Martins discovers that Lime is alive and faked his own death to escape the authorities.

The city of Vienna, which is wonderfully captured by Krasker’s iconic cinematography, is the great character of the film, divided, explored, and mysterious. With Orson Welles at his peak (and in one of his most praised performances), The Third Man is a film to be watched several times and studied in detail.

Mixing images with German expressionist movements, another innovation in the film was the soundtrack, which dispensed with orchestras and relied on Anton Karas‘s zither, and to this day it sounds extremely modern because of this.

The Third Man is one of Akira Kurosawa and Martin Scorsese‘s favorite films, the latter of whom wrote his graduation thesis on the work. You know those films that are mandatory? This is undoubtedly one of them. With its infinitely quotable lines, awards, and prestige, the film was restored in 4K and remains frighteningly current even 75 years later. It is part of the legends of cinema, and for fans of quality stories and films, it is worth checking out because it is also a study of the human capacity for depravity, exploitation, and greed. More than a masterpiece of style and photography, it is “a deep journey into a heart of darkness”. And, a masterpiece.

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