Reed classic includes one of the greatest single shots in cinema history
THE THIRD MAN (Carol Reed, 1949)
Film Forum
209 West Houston St.
December 18–29
212-727-8110
www.filmforum.org
Carol Reed’s thriller is quite simply the most entertaining film we have ever seen, twi-ny’s absolute all-time fave. Set in divided post-WWII Vienna amid a thriving black market, THE THIRD MAN is heavy in atmosphere, untrustworthy characters, and sly humor, with a marvelous zither score by Anton Karas. Joseph Cotten stars as Holly Martins, an American writer of Western paperbacks who has come to Vienna to see his old friend Harry Lime (Orson Welles), but he seems to have shown up a little late. While trying to find out what happened to Harry, Martins falls for Harry’s lover, Anna (Alida Valli); is told to get out of town by Major Calloway (Trevor Howard); meets a stream of Harry’s more interesting, mysterious friends, including Baron Kurtz (Ernst Deutsch) and Popescu (Siegfried Breuer); and is talked into giving a lecture to a literary club by old Mr. Crabbin (Wilfrid Hyde-White). SPOILER: The shot in which Lime is first revealed, standing in a doorway, a cat brushing by his feet, his tongue firmly in cheek as he lets go a miraculous, knowing smile, is one of the greatest single shots in the history of cinema. Film Forum is screening a new 35mm print of THE THIRD MAN in honor of the film’s sixtieth anniversary.
François Ozon, a daring director who regularly challenges his audiences – usually with thrilling results – has pulled it off again with the very strange but utterly captivating RICKY. Ozon has made sexy mysteries (SWIMMING POOL), moving melodramas (UNDER THE SAND, TIME TO LEAVE), a bedroom farce (WATER DROPS ON BURNING ROCKS), and even a star-studded, misguided musical (8 WOMEN), but he turns to an offbeat modern-day fairy tale with his latest, a favorite at the 2009 Berlin Film Festival. Alexandra Lamy stars as Katie, a single mother who has an on-the-job bathroom quickie with Paco (Sergi Lopez) that results in a pregnancy. But when little Ricky (Arthur Peyret) is born, he soon proves to be a boy like no other, as he develops a – well, it’s better if you find out for yourself how he is different from everyone else. RICKY, based on the short story “Moth” by Rose Tremain, could have been a cheesy gimmick, but Ozon settles for making a charming film instead of a morality play. RICKY is a pure delight, even as it has its head in the clouds.
