By Katharina Ecker
Katharina Ecker is a former intern with the
Austrian Press & Information Service in Washington, D.C. and is currently
completing a graduate degree at the Diplomatic Academy in Vienna.
As a big fan of The Third Man I am somewhat
disappointed not to be able to call it a genuinely Austrian film. The
screenplay was written by the British novelist Graham Greene. Another
Englishman, Carol Reed, served as the director and producer of the film, which
not only won the Grand Prix at Cannes 1949 but also an Oscar for Best Camera in
1950. As far as the (main)
cast is concerned, one has to look hard to discover an Austrian actor (my
favorite one is Herbert Halbik as the adorable, little "he-is-the-murderer
Hansel"). The two main characters of the film, Holly Martins and the
"third man" Harry Lime, are played by two Americans: Joseph Cotton
and Orson Welles respectively.
Yet, one might say that the real protagonist
is neither one of the two. It is rather the city in which the story takes
place: the disturbing but still beautiful post-world-war-two Vienna. Its ruins
and rubble powerfully staged through tilted frames, oppressive black shadows
and dull reverb serve as the symbolic backdrop for this drama dealing not only
with the physical but also the moral destruction that was brought along by the
horrors of the late 1930s and early 1940s.
It, therefore, comes as no surprise that it is
the city of Vienna, which many of the fans of the cult film visit in order to
follow in the footsteps of Holly Martins, searching to uncover the mystery
surrounding the death of his old friend Harry Lime. Enthusiasts can go for a
walk through the city and have a look at key film locations such as the
Josephsplatz, the site of Lime’s alleged death, the Mölker Bastei or the Café
Mozart. Even a tour of the sewers of the famous final pursuit scene is possible
(Orson Welles famously never set foot in them himself, as he refused to shoot
on location). As I rather share Mr. Welles’s viewpoint on the appeal of
Vienna’s canalization system, I decide to instead pay a visit to The Third Man
Museum in Vienna’s 4th district.
The German phrase "klein aber fein"
(small but nice) certainly applies to this hidden jewel of Austrian museums’
culture. In thirteen rooms the visitor can see over 2000 original exhibits
and documents. Most rooms display a rich collection of memorabilia surrounding
the movie itself. Authentic posters from different countries, lobby cards that
were used in cinema showcases, stills, autographs and snapshots are only a
small part of the collection of treasures that can be found here. Especially
remarkable is that the collection also includes original film scripts with
annotations of the actors as well as, to my delight, "Little
Hansel's" beret that the actor himself donated to the museum.
Another integral
element of the film that is deeply Austrian also has an important place in the
collection of the Third Man Museum: the film music. Some of Anton Karas’ zither
songs have become so iconic that most people know them, even if they have never
even watched The Third Man. The museum presents an astounding collection of
over 250 Cover versions of the famous The Harry Lime Theme along with the
original zither used by Mr. Karas to record the music, which subsequently made
the typically Austrian instrument world famous.
A second interesting
part of the exhibition focuses on the background of post-World War Two Vienna.
Authentic documents such as news paper articles, letters, official papers and
photographs help the visitor to better understand the city, its history and its
meaning for The Third Man.
Lastly, the
exhibition also features glimpses of The Third Man’s reputation abroad. A
special exhibition reflects on the film’s popularity in Japan, where it was
even honored with the title of "Best Foreign Film of All Time."
Karas' music enjoys great fame and is sometimes even considered to be in line
with Austrian composers such as Mozart or Beethoven. That the movie has also
become an integral part of "popular culture" can be seen by the fact
that the Japanese beer brewery Ebisu has been using The Harry Lime Theme for
their commercials for years. The theme song can also be heard in certain
train stations across Japan whenever a train arrives or departs.
Perhaps the most special part of the
exhibition is the screening of key scenes of the movie with an authentic cinema
projector, which was used in Viennese cinemas during the time the movie
premiered. I am immediately taken in by the charm of the slightly flickering
pictures which tie in perfectly with the charm and lugubrious style of the film
noir. “A movie like The Third Man has to be seen in a theater, not at home.
Otherwise you do not concentrate well enough on the excellent dialogues and the
amazing photography”, Gerhard Strassgschwandtner, the founder of the museum,
later explains to me.
Talking to him and his wife Karin Höfler, I
find out that the entire collection was curated by them. A Third Man-enthusiast
Mr. Strassgschwandtner started out as an eager collector of memorabilia in the
early 1990s and eventually decided to present his impressive collection to the
public in 2005. The personal involvement and enthusiasm that flowed into this
project is perhaps what makes the museum so convincing and full of ‘soul’ and
character. I am therefore even more excited to get an opportunity to ask Mr.
Strassgschwandtner a few questions about the museum.
Mr. Strassgschwandtner, 13 years after the
opening of your museum it is becoming increasingly popular and was recently
even featured in an article in The Washington Post. – Do you still remember how
it all started? When did you watch The Third Man for the first time?
Yes, I do remember, I must have been around
17, or 18 years old. It did not rock my world, but then again I only saw the
(badly synchronized) German version.
How did you then get
the idea of actually opening a museum? After all, this is not something people
do every day?
Since I am also a tour guide in Vienna, many
American and British visitors asked me about The ThirdMan – where it was shot
and so on. In 1996, I bought three posters in Queens, N.Y. That was really the
beginning. I had experience as a collector and I am luckily quite good at
setting up networks, which helped me a lot.
What was the biggest challenge you encountered
in putting together the exhibition?
The biggest challenge was certainly to
convince my wife Karin of the fact that this is a good idea. That was not easy
at all! But now she is the heart and the soul of this project. I am very happy,
that we could create this museum all by ourselves. No subsidies, no
outsourcing. That makes us completely independent and gives us the energy that is
required to start and run the thing.
Do you feel people
are still enthusiastic about The Third Man today - 65 years after its release? Who are those people that come to visit the museum and want to find out
more about it?
Today, the Third Man
is considered a cult movie. That explains why the majority of our visitors are
in their 30s and 40s. They visit mainly from the US, the UK and Germany. Fewer come from Spain, Italy and Scandinavian countries. And only very few
come from Austria/Vienna.
http://www.austrianinformation.org/current-issue-spring-2013/2013/5/13/the-third-man-museum.html
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario