I've realized something odd about myself as a movie critic... other than I'm not a very good one. I realized that most of the time when I watch a movie I don't know if I like the film or not until afterwords when I research more about it, or discuss it with other people. I wish I wasn't like this, and could just judge a movie based on what I myself see and interpret, but I'm not that way. Maybe as this class goes on I will truly hone my own critical judgment and be able to figure things out better for myself, but we shall see...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5mB2qoBLdQ&feature=related
Overall, I followed and enjoyed 'The Third Man' better than I did 'Citizen Kane'. The first thing I noticed was the absurd, almost tropical sound of the music, which reminded me of Spongebob Squarepants off the bat (a show I'm perhaps a little bit too familiar with). The music didn't really "fit" the movie at all in conventional terms, and I can see how it annoyed the hell out of some people, but the music became a comedic thing for me as a viewer. A playful-sounding zither accenting a movie about post-war destruction, death, crime, etc. really added an odd element to the film-- but there were definitely times when the music chimed in and I couldn't help but chuckle to myself.
One thing that we both discussed in class and read in our article this week that struck me was how much the movie was about Harry Lime, and how little it really was about Holly Martins-- who was certainly the character with the most screen time by far. In fact, by the time I got to class on Thursday I had almost forgotten completely about Holly because I had been thinking about Lime so much after reading the article comparing him to Dracula. Then when we finally did discuss Holly Martins in class-- what kind of character he is, whether he's likable or not, etc. I realized I didn't truly know what I thought of him as a character. Thinking back on it, I sort of pity him, and look at him as this guy who really has no clue what he's doing, is naive, goes to a foreign place and expects everything to go his way, and of course it doesn't. Although I do see the side of him that we discussed- a gun's blazing, cocky American coming to save the world but really just messing it up-- I definitely still had a level of sympathy for him.
As far as Harry Lime goes, I thought the concept of him and Dracula being very similar characters was interesting. Throughout the whole movie I noticed the dark, beautiful yet broken shots of Vienna and it made me think of Gotham City. Going off that thought, and considering Harry Lime, I sort of compared him to the Joker in my head-- he is the villain, we know the terrible things he has done, but there is an undeniable playfulness and charm to him. It's easy to compare him to any likable villains really, some more likable than the actual "heroes" of the movie (Can Holly be considered a hero, even? Antihero, I guess, as we discussed)
So.. overall I think I'm getting a little better at this movie critic thing. I'm enjoy myself though, and I'm excited to (hopefully) grow into this more throughout the semester!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I think it's good to not be sure if you liked a movie or not until you've thought about it--possibly better, in fact. Your observations are sharp, and this blog touches on everything I asked for: your own observations, class discussions and class reading. Take a step further though--based on all of these things you're noticing, what do you think this movie is really about, and what makes you think that? That's a more important question to ask, when looking at movies critically, than whether you liked it (though your own emotional response is certainly informational).
ReplyDelete