Wrong Place, Wrong Time: ‘The Third Man’ (1949), ‘Collateral’ (2004) and ‘Green Room’ (2016) [Retrospective]

For most of us, our tedious and boring lives are rarely interrupted with the amount of drama needed for a narrative film. But they could be. This is the joy of an unknown life, a life unfettered by fate. At any point in time, something or someone could fall into our laps, forcing us into action that we neither prepared for nor have the training to immediately succeed at, at least not without a great deal of good fortune. Now, in the world of movies, it is, of course, different. After all, most films will not follow someone who would immediately fail. Yes, they may be in the wrong place at the wrong time, but we, as viewers, get the joy of following a possible success story in the face of long odds. Now, there will be struggles, exploration, confusion, and frustration. But hopefully that will only make the journey more worthwhile. After all, who wants to watch an easy success? With the 75th anniversary of The Third Man, it becomes a perfect opportunity to take a look at unfortunate protagonists struggling through those difficult circumstances, purely through chance.

Of course, The Third Man is not the only movie to have someone we root for being in the exact wrong situation. It is certainly one of the first of its kind and just may be the best. But we won’t let that stop us from delving a little bit deeper. There are many movies that fit this particular bill, but I wanted to choose a triptych of stone-cold classics. The second film, one that also recently had a big anniversary (20 years!), is Michael Mann’s Collateral. And the most recent film we will examine is Jeremy Saulnier’s Green Room. A visit to a foreign land, a cursed taxi fare, and punk rockers trapped in a Nazi compound. You wouldn’t think that these movies would be connected, but join me as we find the common ground.

Wrong Place, Wrong Time

Major Calloway: Go home Martins, like a sensible chap. You don’t know what you’re mixing in, get the next plane.

Holly Martins: As soon as I get to the bottom of this, I’ll get the next plane.

The Third Man (1949)

Carol Reed’s The Third Man follows struggling novelist Holly Martins (Joseph Cotten) as he arrives in Vienna to take a job offered by his friend, Harry Lime (Orson Welles), only to find out that he has died before Martins’ arrival, supposedly struck by a vehicle while crossing the street. Being unsatisfied with the explanations given to him by the police, he decides to stay in Vienna and find answers for himself. Although it is easy to question his reasoning for staying, much like Major Calloway (Trevor Howard) does, the film moves quickly enough to sweep us up in its wake. After all, Martins has a failed life back home and his good friend is gone. How could curiosity not get the better of him?

Unfortunately for Martins, this is not a simple mystery. The search for the titular third man is a complete and utter red herring. It is a mark in the mastery of the filmmaking that Carol Reed does not lose his audience with the reveal of Harry Lime not only being alive, but also being the mastermind behind a terrible money-making scheme that has left many dead or severely ill. Despite finding out the details of this dastardly plot before Harry’s reappearance, Martins continues the search for his possible killers. Our lead, easy to root for mainly because he is down on his luck, is in the worst of situations. He has nowhere to turn, stuck between falling in love with his friend’s ex, Anna (Alida Valli), or giving in to those detailing horrible stories about a man he trusted. Truly, he is between a rock and a hard place. 

In Collateral, Max (Jamie Foxx), might be in an even tougher position. A cab driver, trying desperately to save money to start his own business, accepts a fare in the form of Vincent (Tom Cruise), a contract killer. Now, he certainly has a moment to turn down the extra money, but there is no way he could have known where his night in Los Angeles was heading. Despite the positive critical reaction towards Cruise’s performance, to me, Foxx is not only the heart of this film, but it also represents the best work of his career. Given his usual style, this version of Foxx is deeply subdued, sad, and, in moments, genuinely terrified. Despite the cool factor of Cruise, there is never a moment in which we are not desperately hoping for Max’s escape. The only crime committed by our intrepid driver is that he’s good at his job and living under the yolk of a capitalist system that only rewards cold, hard, cash.

The group we follow in Green Room, depending on your perspective and experience, may take more work to get behind. However, the grungy, ornery, sometimes aggressive members of “The Ain’t Rights,” an unsigned punk rock band, are also put in an unenviable position. As with many bands, they don’t have a lot of money, which leads them to being dependent on gigs for food, shelter, and gas (unless they want to continue to siphon it illegally). After one of these shows is canceled due to no fault of the band, they are led to perform at a neo-Nazi bar, which leads to terrifying and horrific events. It was supposed to be one job, in and out. Maybe not the best idea to surround themselves with racist, violent monsters, but no one could have known the amount of bloodshed and death that would await them. Sometimes, you just get unlucky, and you have to do what you have to, simply to survive, to move on.

Hidden Worlds

Pat: It’s funny. You were so scary at night.

Green Room (2016)

Whether it is our first visit to a location, or if we have lived in a city nearly our entire lives, we cannot possibly know everything. Our world holds mysteries, hidden from sight. Secret racist compounds, the seedy underbelly of a metropolitan city, or a hidden stairwell leading to the truth. All of these and more are waiting, if we only have the patience and knowledge needed to find them.

In Green Room, band members Pat (Anton Yelchin), Reece (Joe Cole), Sam (Alia Shawkat), and Tiger (Callum Turner) stumble upon a murder as they enter, well, the green room after their show. There are things that you cannot unsee, and no matter what promises you make to the killers, there is almost no chance of getting out without more violence, and even death. Saulnier never shies away from the brutality of the actions, and post-killing, the film switches from a movie about a band to a haunted escape movie. The energy inherent in punk rock does numerous favors for this flip and we feel our pulses pounding throughout. Anyone who has even been connected to the punk scene in an ancillary way is aware of the skinhead connections. Obviously, this is not all punk rock, and it is a stereotype that well-meaning punks fight against daily. So, to be thrown into this world, along with “The Ain’t Rights” is disturbing on more than one level. Being literally trapped in a room with a beast of a man who represents these hideous ideals would be enough, but having an entire building full of them, poised to attack, is much, much worse. Saulnier also does a tremendous job of not only building tension, but reminding us that there is no way the band all escapes alive. The fact that the true inciting event nearly leaves Pat without an arm shows us that this is not your usual escape film. People we care about will die. This is no longer a punk rock show. This is officially a slaughterhouse.

Collateral, on the other hand, has a different kind of hidden world. A city as large and anonymous as Los Angeles provides specific challenges, especially for a taxi driver like Max, who is expected not just to know where he is going, but to get there as quickly and efficiently as possible. And then you throw in Vincent, who, by the nature of his profession, operates in worlds that no one should know exist. This is a perfect match for the digital, sharp work of Michael Mann. Despite being in a city that many of us recognize, the clean, polished look of the film serves to make it surprisingly distant. This is no sightseeing journey. This is violent, frightening, and yet, it maintains its sense of cool. It is a tentative balance between a human journey for Max and brilliant action set pieces for Tom Cruise, purposefully removed from most of his usual charms. The two provide perfect foils for one another; Max being concerned about his fellow humans (while also trying to escape) and Vincent doing only what needs to be done in order to kill, make a lot of money, and save his own skin (including putting Max in danger repeatedly).

Returning to The Third Man, we find the most obvious example of a hidden world. This is set in post-war Vienna, so the entire country is now unrecognizable from its former glory. It is divided into four sections, each under different levels and sources of control. Additionally, the absolutely brilliant musical choice of using a score performed (and composed) by zither player, Anton Karas, immediately lets us know that we are not in any place that could be considered normal or have expected events to occur. But the secrets go deeper, literally and figuratively. After Harry makes his iconic appearance in a dimly lit doorway, Martins finds a kiosk that leads to a secret entranceway to the city’s sewers. In one of many brilliantly shot scenes, featuring odd angles and purposefully harsh lighting, we are introduced to yet another level of both the city and Harry Lime’s lies. We finally see how he managed to cheat death and escape any comeuppance for his crimes, which are tantamount to the murder of those in the most need for concern and care. It is also at this moment that our view of Harry changes, right along with Martins’ experience. We know that, without a doubt, Harry is on the run because he knows that he is legally in the wrong, even if he doesn’t seem to show an ounce of care or empathy for lives impacted and lost. These worlds are all hidden, and likely should remain so. All of our protagonists are absolutely better off without these discoveries, as entrancing and enlightening as they may be.

Nothing Really Matters

Vincent: Max, six billion people on the planet, you’re getting bent out of shape ‘cause of one fat guy.

Max: Well, who was he?

Vincent: What do you care? Have you ever heard of Rwanda?

Max: Yes, I know Rwanda.

Vincent: Well, tens of thousands killed before sundown. Nobody’s killed people that fast since Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Did you bat an eye, Max?

Collateral (2004)

All of these films revolve around death and violence. Be it death through tainted medication, pinpoint bullet accuracy, or attack dogs and blades; they are all impacted directly by this aggression. But who is affected, really? Do these deaths even matter? Well, as always, it depends on who you ask, and it depends upon your perspective. And this is all rooted in the audience point of view. After all, it is not simply chance that determines whose eyes we are forced to experience these worlds through. 

Collateral certainly shows us plenty of death. But I would argue that, unlike many action movies (even some by the same director), it never allows us to enjoy that process. The reason for this is housed in the first scene between Max and his initial fare, Annie (Jada Pinkett Smith). Despite her being a hardened federal prosecutor, she is charmed by his sense of motivation and hope for the future, something we are meant to understand that she does not see very often. This perfect setup (both from a character and a plot perspective), leaves the film with a high hurdle to clear. We are forced to live in the seedy world of Vincent, while also rooting against him for the sake of Max’s safety and innocence. Even though we know he is outmatched, outwitted, and unprepared, we, like him, have some belief in the inherent justice in our world. This is in direct contrast to Vincent’s discussion of war crimes, showing us that most people simply do not care. Unless it affects our lives directly, why should we? To Max, it is because all people deserve a life that is not cut short, whether he cares for them or not. Mann, smartly, leaves the final message up to the viewer. Max survives, so is he correct? Or is Vincent right? After all, the lives that Max saves are his own and the woman he has come to care about.

Green Room, especially in its second half, is almost nothing but death. Death by stabbing. Death by attack dogs. Death by boxcutter. Death by gunshot. As in most horror movies, we may be left wondering if any of this tension, blood, and death is worth it. Given all of the intensity, it is easy to forget that all of this began with the death of a woman, Emily, who simply wanted to escape the neo-Nazi world. That key component takes Green Room beyond torture porn and bloodlust. It would be easy to make a movie like this as a simple revenge film. But the goal here is not to kill all of the Nazis. The goal is not even for “The Ain’t Rights” to save themselves. Someone has to escape to actually tell the true story of what happened that night. Otherwise, it is truly all for nothing. To the villains, led by an effortlessly terrifying Patrick Stewart, these lives, and even the lives of their comrades, are not important. All that matters is the cause and the protection that is brought by silence. It is important to notice that the two heroes that survive could not be more different. Pat is quiet, introspective, and grievously injured. Amber (Imogen Poots), who was a close friend of the girl who died, is curt, sarcastic, and clear-headed. In a stroke of screenwriting genius (also from Jeremy Saulnier), despite the care that both of them have taken to tell the story of Emily, when Pat attempts to answer a question to lighten the mood, she responds, “Tell someone who gives a sh*t.” This shows us that even though we can go through hell together, in the end, all that matters is the truth. Levity is overrated. What we go through is real and needs not be undercut.

The Third Man may have the most frank and clear discussion of the death of strangers. In easily the most memorable scene of dialogue in the film, Martins confronts Lime about his numerous victims, while floating high above a crowd in a ferris wheel. He responds, “Victims? Don’t be melodramatic. Look down there. If I offered you $20,000 for every dot that stopped, would you really, old man, tell me to keep my money? Or would you calculate how many dots you could afford to spare? Free of Income Tax, old man.”   

This moment solidifies, for Martins, who his friend has become. This is no longer hearsay from the police trying to solve a case as quickly as possible. HIs friend is admitting to heinous crimes, exhibiting zero remorse, and implying that anyone would do it. This is not only an indication that his friend is terrible, but that this same friend believes that no one, except he and those he deems worthy, matters. It is another stroke of genius that a character, who, for the first half of the film, is a focal point of grief and doing the right thing, has now become a symbol of everything wrong with our world, both pre- and post-World War.

We have all been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Sure, hopefully none of us have experienced this through neo-Nazi clubs, hired killers, or the death (and then not) of a close friend in a foreign land. But we can all imagine that moment when you ask yourself: What would I do? Would I stay and investigate my friend’s death? Would I play that show? Would I take that fare? I think that we all want that answer to be yes. We both crave safety and the adventures that life has to offer. Movies, as always, provide the answer. We get to feel that rush of adventure from the safety of our homes or, if we are lucky, the cinema. How incredible, that even three quarters of a century later, we can put ourselves in the shoes of Holly Martins, doing our own investigation, and looking for our elusive third man.

The Third Man was released on February 1, 1950 by Selznick Releasing Organization and is available to stream on Crackle. Collateral was released on August 6, 2004 by Paramount Pictures and is available to stream on Paramount+, Plut TV and Prime Video. Green Room was released on May 13, 2016 by A24 and is available to stream on Cinemax and rent on Prime Video.