The Third Man

I don't usually get turned on to motion pictures by major rock stars (although Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden did teach me how to chop onions - true fact) but yesterday we Netflixed on demand The Third Man.

I liked it a lot. I'm not going to gush or explain it as it's been a classic since before I was born, so there's nothing at all I can add to the world's store of knowledge about it.

I will say one thing, though - it certainly improved my understanding of Blade Runner, one of my favorite films. I love the way Ridley Scott and crew designed the look and feel of Blade Runner, and it's startling to see how much evolved out of The Third Man. One haircut at least, one shoulder-padded costume, one building (although both the real and the CGI exterior of the Bradbury Building is no match for Lime's building in TTM) a little bit of chasing and dying, and a huge part of one scene (where the man seeking answers ends up in the showgirl's room). I'm sure there's more that I missed the first time round. I thought I knew a lot about Blade Runner, but I suppose I've only scratched the surface.

It's surprisingly easy to follow for a thriller, and the German (Austrian) is easy enough to follow that I could pick up the differences between what they were actually saying and what the English speakers said they were saying. Not essential for understanding the movie as you could tell when the English speakers were lying, but good nevertheless. Maybe I'm just out of touch with the genre but every plot twist took me by surprise and the actors were all up to the task of bringing it about.