Alejandro Mos Riera

Martin Scorsese is a big fan of Carol Reed's "The Third Man" (1949). When he was 18 & studying at NYU, he wrote a paper on the movie & gave it to his professor. The professor wrote a note on the paper which said: "Remember, it's only a thriller." Scorsese disagreed. Scorsese later wrote, "Has "The Third Man" had an influence on my career? When I saw it, I was ripe for it – ready to understand what you can do with the camera. The themes of the picture made me feel comfortable about dealing with similar kinds of characters, characters you'd consider undesirable - the charm of evil. I did a paper on the film when I was 18 at NYU. The professor had different ideas. He wrote a note on the paper: "Remember, it's only a thriller." I disagreed. We know what happens in 'Psycho' (1960) or 'Vertigo' (1958) or 'The Red Shoes' (1948). So why do we keep watching? If some dismiss a work because it "fits" into a genre, then why does it sustain repeated viewings? It's more than the plot twists and surprises of the story. Certainly, it's the characters, the world they inhabit, the love stories, the trust and betrayals – the human heart. Each presented with intelligence, wit, and a very real joy of film-making, while still feeling fresh." ("Martin Scorsese on 'The Third Man': The best revelation in all cinema", Independent, 2015) P.S: On this day, 77 years ago, Carol Reed's "The Third Man" (1949) premiered at Hastings, UK.