Ah, finally. When I submitted my ballot, I had done some waffling back and forth on how to rank a couple of my top films, deciding on whether or not to put a favorite in second, or a film I thought to be one of the most quintessential and legendary noirs of all time. They both actually qualified for the latter, but I think The Third Man perhaps does so more. I ended up with
The Third Man at
#2 and putting
The Big Sleep at #3, even though I like
The Big Sleep a bit more. Today, I feel like I should have just gone with my favorite film instead, but it wouldn't have mattered much.
The Third Man is a film with such a strong artistic presence and style, that it makes you aware of it in pretty much every frame. Its rich shadows absorb you into the proceedings. Someone above said it comes close to being a perfect film, and it's hard to argue, unless you don't like the zither, eh Citizen?
I figured out my top 3 for this countdown almost instantly, and none of the viewings of films I hadn't yet seen came close to changing my mind. There are several legendary film noirs that are just that much better than all the rest, and
The Third Man is one of them.