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Displaying wall posts 1 - 30 of 85 in total
Shelley
11May12
agree with below, the score works fantastically here. it really keeps the whole film a little "light" despite the "noir "aspects of it. the cinematography is classic and beautiful black/white, especially the very last scene. I loved every minute of it. the last 20 minutes made my heart stop. what a wonderful film. everyone should see it.
Jyoti
4Apr12
I've read some criticism of the film's music, but the jaunty score really worked for me. I thought it was great at underscoring the dark humor in the film.
Shelley and Sudipto Basu like this
Alexander Robino
24Feb12
I can't decide who the cooler old suave mustached man is - Trevor Howard or Anton Walbrook?
filipequintans
4Feb12
¡elclandestino! Em #52filmes52semanas, hoje, em elclandestino.blogspot.com #cinema
Donald R. Monroe
15Jan12
If it looks like a film noir, it's performed like a film noir, it's suspenseful like a film noir, and it feels like a film noir--- its a film noir.
autistic likes this
msmichel
13Jan12
Essential cinema. One of the all time best scripts offering a more rich experience with each viewing. The wonderful camera placements and edits; the amazing zither score; the performances by all involved especially Cotten and Howard; the crackling dialoque; that perfect capture of post war Europe in a Vienna that is still recognizable today; all adding up to a near perfect cinematic experience. "the cuckoo clock"
Daniel McCarthy and 2 others like this
Michael Harbour
3Jan12
Indeed a masterpiece. Subtly disturbing, creative framing. A score seeming at odds with the tone of the film but which ends up heightening the tension as a result. Fine performances. A must-see film.
Edna Sweetlove likes this
James
1Jan12
Slightly disappointed, if only because all the hype had me prepped for a stone classic on the Double Indemnity/Touch of Evil/Chinatown/Blood Simple/Blue Velvet-level. But there is much to love- the zither, the chiaroscuro, the fully realized evocation of post-war Vienna, Welles' scenery chewing, and the kind of perfectly coiled script that you just don't see these days-to name a few.
Jack Lehtonen
5Dec11
A truly melancholy film, in two distinct parts. First, we follow an enjoyable mystery, hunting down leads. Then it transforms into a tragedy in which the hero has to kill his best friend and lose the woman he loves, while the zither continues to wryly observe the events with its jaunty, indifferent tune. War has broken the world into shards and fragments (Dutch angles anyone?), and Holly finds himself an empty soul.
James likes this
Altero
8Nov11
“Don’t be so gloomy. After all it’s not that awful. Like the fella says, in Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love – they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock. So long Holly.”
Heikan
21Oct11
Of course, Harry Lime is the epitome of cynicism, but then again, it was the post-war period. Mankind had just seen the worst part of itself, the world had never witnessed a more massive and systematic genocide. When you come to terms with the context, you can see that Harry Lime is a man of his time and, sadly, the predecessor of the modern businessman, who no longers views the people in terms of human beings.
Danny Bailey
26Sep11
i love welles, howard, and cotten, and reed, but this film surprisingly did not cut the mustard for me
Mathieu Boucher
16Aug11
"Like the fella says, in Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love - they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock."
eliberger likes this
Mitchell Corner
18Jul11
Quintessential 'Desert Island' movie for me. Not a wasted frame with classic cinematography, intriguing score and international cast. A truly unique film experience with it's post-war locales and of course Orson Welles as the most intelligently charming scoundrel in film history. Carol Reed crafted one of the best movies ever made as if all the stars aligned. Perfection.
Christopher Taylor
6Jul11
One of the most perfect films ever made. Characters, canted angles and intrigue make it's shadowy world one I come back to again and again.
trolley freak
30Jun11
Reed's 1949 masterpiece is perfection in all aspects of movie making, from the script to the performances and especially the cinematography and the unforgettable zither score. In the lead role, Joseph Cotten is superb as the hack writer who turns up in Vienna at the invitation of the mysterious Harry Lime only to find he has recently been killed in a road accident. But was it an accident? And is Harry even dead.....
Matthew Martens
13Jun11
Anna's concluding promenade towards and then past Holly between the rows of trees just about kills me dead. Simultaneously it makes me smile ruefully. That's a nice effect.
chad bentley
29Apr11
The Ferris wheel conversation, the music (put me in mind of Brazil), the tunnels and the voices closing in, and of course the parrot. I'm going to let this one simmer then watch it again.
Alex Vizitiu
18Apr11
Now this is a perfect movie, not a single shot isn't gorgeous, the direction, editing, all amazing. And of course, Orson Wells as Harry Lime is one of the most memorable villnas in cinema
