The Third Man Is A Constantly Riveting Feature That Brilliant Subverts Norms of the Noir Genre

SPOILERS AHEAD! 

One of the many wonderful things about watching The Third Man for the first time was discovering it belong to one of my favorite subgenres of world cinema, post-World War II movies. I am utterly fascinated by non-American features that explore life directly in the wake of World War II, it's a perspective that was never covered in my public education experience and getting to explore the various perspectives of foreign countries in the wake of this worldwide conflict through the lens of cinema has been eye-opening. Bicycle Thieves, Tokyo Story, Drunken Angel, so many good stories have been told about people trying to move on with their lives in the wake of all the events of World War II and The Third Man is one of the most thrilling entries in this subgenre.

A Father And Child Reunion Is More Than A Motion Away In Late Spring

Sight & Sound Voyage Entry #10
Placement On Sight & Sound 50 Best Movies List: #15

Both Late Spring and Tokyo Story are the first Yasujiro Ozu movies I've ever seen, and if they're any indication, the concepts of family and mortality loom large in his productions. Ozu seems quite fascinated at contemplating how the finite time we have on this Earth impacts the way we interact with our loved ones, especially since the realization of us all having only so much time to live is likely to be more prevalent on the minds of older individuals compared to their younger relatives. Whereas Tokyo Story was about coming to terms with death as it occurs, the story of Late Spring is more concerned with preparing for that kind of possibility.

Now Here's A Little (Tokyo) Story, All About How My Life Got Flipped, Turned Upside Down...

It's always interesting to watch a piece of work from a famous director for the first time without any preconceived notions about the director in question. Oh, I had heard of legendary director Yasujiro Ozu plenty of times over the years, but the idiosyncracies of his work were an utter mystery to me. Tokyo Story would be my first ever glimpse into what kind of cinema Ozu was capable of crafting. As it turns out, it's quite a different, slower-paced piece of filmmaking that didn't work 100% of the time for me personally, but even in its weakest moments it doesn't bog down the strong acting and fascinating themes of Tokyo Story.