The Movie Waffler Video Essay Explores the Angles of THE THIRD MAN | The Movie Waffler

Video Essay Explores the Angles of THE THIRD MAN

the third man video essay
A new video looks at the distinctive use of 'Dutch angles' in Carol Reed's masterpiece.


When you think of Carol Reed's The Third Man, many things spring to mind - Orson Welles' iconic entrance, the cuckoo clock speech, that bloody theme tune, the convention defying ending. But one of the film's most distinctive features is its heavy use of 'Dutch angles', camera angles tilted to form new, angular geometry within compositions.

A new video essay by The Cinema Cartography takes a deep dive into how Reed's use of such angles plays a very real part in his storytelling, unlike the subsequent gimmicky use of Dutch angles by filmmakers like Terry Gilliam and Michael Bay. Check it out below.