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| Figure 1 |
Figure 1 depicts Harry running from the police down a tunnel in the sewers.The use of lighting in this shot creates a vanishing point at "the end of the tunnel". Throughout the film Harry Limes has been running from his crimes and we know at the end of this scene he is shot dead. At the start of the film there is the metaphorical heaven and hell conversation with the German man, this scene could be taking ideas from that as Harry is running away from the light as a visual metaphor for him going to hell because of how horrific his actions were. Another take on this shot could be that the more Harry runs from his crimes the more he is getting consumed by his moral crisis. There isn't a horizontal in this shot and the camera is tilted downwards, this is a visual metaphor for Harry's lack of power and control over the situation, and his vulnerability. Throughout the film he is always a step ahead but now he is trapped and is vulnerable. The film was released in 1949, just after WW2, when the whole world was vulnerable. The vanishing point in this shot is off centre which further supports the idea of Harry having a lack of control.
Tilted angles are used to connote ideas of not only power but also vulnerability, by having a downwards tilted angle Harry Limes is shown to be vulnerable and that the police are in control of the situation, a stark contrast to the rest of the film where he always seems to be ahead of the police by a step or two. By using a upwards tilted shot we immediately get the idea of the character being powerful. Quadrants are used in figures one, two and four to draw our eyes to certain areas of the screen, the areas that feature characters. With further analysis this could be seen as metaphor to how Harry Limes is searching for an escape out of the sewers.
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| Figure 2 |
In this shot Harry lime is running from the police deeper into the depths of the sewers. By creatively using lighting to create a vanishing point off the screen, our eyes are drawn towards it but cant quite see it, just like Harry Limes must be feeling, that he is trapped and cant find a way out as hard as he tries. By having Harry as a minuscule character in this shot he is presented to be very alone and vulnerable in such a large space, foreshadowing the inevitable as we know he is surrounded and outnumbered. There is a good use of metaphors in this shot with the idea of "The light at the end of the tunnel". The idea that Harry is holding out hope for one last lucky break and thinks he will get out of the situation okay, or it could be referencing the idea of Harry letting go and "Going towards the light" as if he is accepting the inevitable that he is going to die.
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| Figure 3 |
By using lines of light and shadows to create a vanishing point, our eyes are drawn to the far exit in this shot. Harry could see this as a way out, coupled with the visual metaphor of the light coming through the tunnel Harry may see this as an escape route. However in the corner of the shot there is a second exit, this creates a sense of claustrophobia and uneasiness, the theme of a moral crisis is present throughout the film and even more so here through the use of a visual metaphor in the form of the two exits. Harry has 2 exits which should connote ideas of escape and freedom, however by using a top down tilted shot we instead get ideas of vulnerability, that whatever exit Harry tries to use will in inevitably lead to his downfall. This shot also uses a lot of sharp angles and lines to show of German expressionism. Figure 3 is set up using quadrants to encourage the viewer to search the shot for characters. Lighting is used to get our eyes to focus on specific parts of the shot, mainly the two exits from the sewer, the use of a downwards tilted shot shows us that when Harry Limes goes through this area he is very vulnerable and that the police are catching up to him.
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| Figure 4 |
In one of the final shots after Harry Limes chase, the shot takes a more peaceful turn. There is no more powerfully running water like in the previous shots which creates a sense of peacefulness. The shot is also the first to feature a prominent horizontal which furthers this idea of there finally being peace. The strong contrast of the character on the white background is made even more obvious by the use of shadows and lights to create a vanishing point which is right on him, getting us to focus all our of attention on him. When looking closer though, we can notice that the character still has an enlarged shadow to his left, connoting the idea that after all of this, after finally stopping Harry Limes crimes, he is still in a moral crisis, that there is still wrong doing in him. After all he stopped Harry Limes but in the end he had to kill one of his friends, and was that the right decision to do?
