Thursday, April 23, 2015

Blog #3: Movie Review of "The Third Man" by Graham Greene


If done as an essay: It is a formal paper which must be typed, double-spaced, and include at least FIVE paragraphs. You are required to write a movie review about the movie “The Third Man.”  You will answer #1-3 and analyze ALL three areas below: literary, dramatic, and cinematic sections – (three paragraph body).  Final copy due by: Thursday, April 30, 2015.  

If done as a blog:  This is a semi-formal assignment written on the classroom blog of at least THREE paragraphs and TWO responses (3-5 sentences) to another student. You are required to write a movie review about the movie “The Third Man.”   You will answer #1-3 BUT you only have to analyze ONE of the areas: literary, dramatic, or cinematic sections (one paragraph body).  Final copy due by: Thursday, April 30, 2015.

Include the following elements in your movie review:

  1. In the opening paragraph state the title, and BRIEFLY summarize the plot of the movie. Describe how you truly feel about the film. What is your honest reaction to the film? Did you like/dislike it? Was it confusing? Exciting? Suspenseful? Boring?

  1. In the next three paragraphs analyze the literary, dramatic, and cinematic aspects of the film. Please use examples from the movie to support your analysis.

Literary – The literary aspects pertains to the story, dialogue and characters. Was there a good story? Believable characters? Good dialogue? Did the main character change throughout the film?  What was the main conflict and how was it resolved? Did the story interest you?  Use specific examples from the movie to support your analysis. 

Dramatic – The dramatic aspects pertains to the acting, sets, locations and costumes. Were the actors good? Was the setting or location interesting? Did the actors wear costumes? Was there a famous movie star in the film?  Use specific examples from the movie to support your analysis.  

Cinematic – The cinematic aspects pertain to the camera angles, composition, lighting, music and sound effects.  Were there interesting camera angles, or cool video and sound effects? Did the music match the film?  Use specific examples from the movie to support your analysis. 


  1. In the conclusion, rate the film (Two thumbs up! / A+ / Five Stars! / etc.) and state whether or not you would recommend the film to a friend.
NOTE: The movie "The Third Man" was shown in class. You may watch parts you missed before or after school in Mr. Dawursk's room, rent it at your own expense, or it may be available at putlocker (http://putlocker.is/watch-the-third-man-online-free-putlocker.html).
 

4 comments:

  1. Sample Main Comment:

    Sierra S December 3, 2014 at 7:19 PM

    The Third Man by Graham Greene premiered a man name Rollo Martins who arrived in Post-World War II Vienna at the invite of his childhood friend, Harry Lime. Lime indicated he had a job for him, but when Martins arrived, he finds out that his friend has died. From the looks of it Harry Lime’s death was not an accident. So Martins starts his own investigation. This led him on a mission to find the other witness; “The Third Man.” I don’t find black and white films to catchy, but this movie had an attractive image to it, with lots of action. This movie was very mysterious; in order to understand the plot, you had to watch every detail thoroughly.

    The literary aspect of this movie was good to me over all to be such an old movie. Most of the movie was approached to us as second or third hand; more so he say, she say: no evidence came from the main character. This made you wonder if you were actually getting the real story or not. Specifically going towards Rollo since he shows himself to be an un-honest individual. The main conflict of this movie was Lime was killed by a speeding car while crossing the street. Before dying, Lime asked Baron and Popescu to take care of Martins and Anna Schmidt, Lime's girlfriend. Thinking back on what was said, Limes death wasn’t an accident. A porter had mentioned Lime was killed immediately and could not have given instructions before dying. He also states that a third man helped carry the body. Who is this third man? Calloway's had given Martin background history on Lime and indicated he should leave. These evidence had convinced Martins, and he agreed to leave Vienna. Upon leaving he noticed someone, and it was Lime. Lime runs! He later on meets up with Lime and they ride Vienna's Ferris wheel, and martin was threatened by Lime. Which lead Calloway to ask Martins to help trap Lime out to capture him. They found Him trying again to escape through the sewers. The police had fired shots and Lime dies. This movie only interested me because it’s a mystery/detective plot.

    I rate this film two thumbs up! It was a likable movie to be so old. Usually old black and white films are slow and boring. Even the music was sort of catchy! If anyone I know had to do a play or skit I would recommend this movie. As for just watching it I wouldn't recommend it; more so on a rainy or snowy day would be okay when needing to watch a lot of movies to keep occupied.

    - S.S

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    Replies
    1. Sample Response

      Alexis M. December 3, 2014 at 8:09 PM

      I really liked what you had to say. I never really thought about the literary aspects that you explained. Although, it was never said if Lime died the second time, I'd like to think Holly Martins killed him to spare his best friend from the pain of a trial and possible execution at the hands a military tribunal. But, what if Harry got away again? Wouldn't that have added to the suspense and set up the movie for a sequel and Grahm Greene could have written book number 55? Greene definitely offered several false trails as the story continued and Harry's escape from death a second time would have been believable.

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  2. The Third Man by Graham Greene was centered around man name Rollo Martins who arrived in Post-World War II Vienna at the invite of his childhood friend, Harry Lime. Lime indicated he had a job for him, but when Martins arrived, he finds out that his friend has died. From the looks of it Harry Lime’s death was not an accident. So Martins starts his own investigation to see the real story of Lime’s death. This led to a mission to find the other witness; “The Third Man.”

    From a visual standpoint, The Third Man consistently impresses. The black-and-white cinematography is crisp and clean. Orson Welles is credited as once saying that every performance is better in black-and-white, and, viewing something like The Third Man, it's not hard to understand why. The atmosphere is deeper and the images are more striking. This is especially true of the settings across Vienna, and below the streets in the sewers, where the final chase and confrontation transpire. The director utilized numerous odd angles for their shots, and play with shadows in interesting ways. Like the appearance of a balloon seller, whose shadow towers high over the benighted streets.

    I Give this Movie a good 9 balloon sellers out of 10. For lovers of film noir, The Third Man is unquestionably a must-see. It's a standout from an era in which there were many great films, and a blueprint for countless second-rate copycat thrillers to come afterwards. The Third Man manages the laudable feat of combining popular entertainment with artistic achievement, making it an engaging and compelling viewing experience for nearly any potential audience member, regardless of his or her background and outlook.

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  3. Cierra Hamm
    Hour: 2
    This movie is very interesting because the movie is in black and white. They dress as if they were living in the old days. They wore long trench coats, titled hats, and suits and dresses. Their language was very fast but you still understand everything they were saying. They needed passports/papers to go to locations; they said she was born in another state. They have given her foreign passport. Mrs. Smith didn’t understand why they took or wanted to keep the passport and letters. Mrs. Smith boyfriend was killed. They feel as if she had something to do with her boyfriend’s murder and the passport. Her boyfriend Harry had left her a letter for her to do. Come to find out Harry isn’t dead, he's been hiding out. Anna's words “Poor Harry” she said she couldn’t do a thing to harm Harry, she didn’t understand why Harry would do her like that. Harry didn’t want anybody to know he was alive so what he did was hide because he knew the police had found out he was alive. I really enjoyed this movie. The music went along with the film, and made it seem as if it was a mystery film. It was interesting because it gave you something to think on. The movie “Third Man” was a good movie, the characters seem very reasonable. They had excellent dialogue. The main characters stayed the same, they didn’t change not one bit. The main conflict was people finding the truth about Harry and was he was really dead. I would give these movie two thumbs up and five stars! I would definitely recommend others to watch this film.

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