Ethics, aesthetics, and law: The Third Man

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/S1059-4337(2009)0000046007
• Published date: 2008--
• Date: 2008--
• Pages: 169-201
• Author: Shulamit Almog,Amnon Reichman

ETHICS, AESTHETICS, AND LAW:

THE THIRD MAN’S THREE PRONGS

Shulamit Almog and Amnon Reichman

ABSTRACT

The chapter explores the role of law in society and its relation to ethical

conflicts as reflected through the prism of the film The Third Man.By

focusing on the complexities of life in post-war Vienna, the film exposes

dilemmas that prevail in ordinary times and in functioning democracies as

well. Our analysis suggests that one way to manage these dilemmas and

balance the conflicting loyalties and interests they raise is to sustain open

channels between the law and other narrative-generating practices from

which normative stances areevaluated. The law-and-cinema discourse is one

such channel and The Third Man presents, in our eyes, the vitality of that

channel, due to its rich aesthetical language and its unique representation of

the ethical tensions (and their consequences) in the modern era.

War and its aftermath crush all individuals, however clever they may be.

–Sinclair (1988, p. 1)

1. INTRODUCTION

This decade marks the 60th anniversary to the victory over Nazi Germany.

The defeat of Nazi Germany was unique not only because it ended the

Studies in Law, Politics, and Society, Volume 46, 169–201

Copyright r2009 by Emerald Group Publishing Limited

All rights of reproduction in any form reserved

ISSN: 1059-4337/doi:10.1108/S1059-4337(2009)0000046010

169

massive military campaigns in Greater Europe and North Africa. Crushing

the Third Reich in battle also marked the beginning of one of the more

impressive ‘‘rehabilitation’’ processes carried out in the 20th century.

Experience taught the Allies that victory in war was a necessary but not a

sufficient condition for peace. Of the many dilemmas that this – and

presumably any other – post-war rehabilitation process entails, one is worth

highlighting in particular. Whether defined as occupation or liberation, war

and its conclusion pose, by definition, a deep challenge to the formal legal

system operable in the territory under belligerent occupation.

1

Rather than

focusing on the traditional questions that arise when a legal layer is put in

place in post-war situations (such as issues of conflict with existing laws, or

the legitimacy of externally imposed norms) this chapter will focus on the

post-war moment – or more accurately, the post-war phase – as a window

through which interesting insights can be gleaned regarding law in everyday

situations. The cracks suffered by the edifice of the rule of law at the

aftermath of war and during belligerent occupation expose some key ethical

features that often remain hidden or blurred in ordinary times. These ethical

tensions, and the role of the rule of law in their management, will be at the

focus of this chapter.

Methodologically, this chapter will steer away from the beaten path of

analyzing legislation, case law, and legal proceedings (i.e., traditional legal

methodology). Instead, the organizing source at the center of this chapter is

a film. We chose to explore the relations between the law and other

normative sources through the prism of The Third Man (1949), one of the

prime products of British post-war cinema.

2

The film – precisely because it is

not a legal source and precisely because it does not directly address legal

themes – is a useful platform for examining the unarticulated assumptions

underlying the law and for highlighting some of the tools the law uses in its

‘‘ordinary’’ operation.

3

Using a non-legal cultural artifact offers a fresh

perspective on matters the legal world is either blind to or unable to directly

acknowledge given the foundation of the practice. It also offers an

indication of possible attitudes towards the role law plays in society.

4

Our choice of this specific film was influenced, naturally, by the fact that

the movie was made right after the war, and thus reflects an authentic

appreciation of the post-war phase. Furthermore, the movie is structured

around ethical dilemmas – the very same dilemmas that an operating legal

system regulates either directly (through legal norms) or indirectly (through

enabling mechanisms for private ordering or for the establishment and

maintenance of background conditions that assist in mitigating or

‘‘managing’’ these dilemmas). Lastly, we chose the film for its aesthetics.

SHULAMIT ALMOG AND AMNON REICHMAN170

The famous black and white and light and shadow games played by the

camera – the noir characteristics of the film – are an integral aspect of the

ethical claims addressed therein.

5

In the following sections we will briefly sketch the plot of the movie,

elaborate on the ethical conflicts portrayed therein, and then comment on

their relevance to transitional and ‘‘permanent’’ legal orders. We will then

comment briefly on the aesthetical presentation and construction of these

dilemmas and their relevance to our understanding of the operation of the

law in post-war times and, by reference, in peacetimes.

2. THE PLOT

Although The Third Man is aesthetically and cinematically sophisticated – it

is among the clearest exemplars of film noir – its plot is rather

straightforward. A small-time racketeer, engaged in one trick too many,

causes the death and suffering of the sick by selling diluted penicillin on the

black market, gets caught, and ultimately finds his own death while trying to

escape. Here is how it transpires.

The year is 1949. Holly Martins, an American writer of Westerns,

6

arrives

to post-war, divided Vienna on an invitation from an old childhood friend,

Harry Lime. Lime has invited Martins to write propaganda for a volunteer

medical unit Lime allegedly runs. Upon his arrival, Martins is horrified to

find out that Lime was killed a few days prior in a car accident. Martins

decides to stay in Vienna after he begins to suspect there is more to the

accident than it appears when he meets several people who knew Harry.

First, Martins encounters the British Colonel, Calloway, who refers to

Harry as ‘‘the worst racketeer who ever made a dirty living in the city’’

(Greene, 1988, p. 26). Calloway was investigating Harry right before Harry’s

demise. Then Martins meets Baron Kurtz, who claims to be Harry’s good

friend, and tells Martins about the circumstances of the accident. Next,

Martins meets Anna Schmidt, Harry’s girlfriend and an actress in Viennese

operettas. Anna is Czechoslovakian and, therefore, officially a Russian

citizen. In order to stay beyond the Russian zone, she uses forged Austrian

papers that Harry arranged for her. Soon enough, Martins falls in love with

the melancholic, beautiful Anna, a feeling which she does not return.

As more facts are revealed, Martins becomes increasingly doubtful about

the circumstances of Harry’s death and starts suspecting foul play. His

suspicions intensify when a witness to the accident, a porter in a hotel who

was willing to confide in him, is killed shortly before their planned meeting.

Ethics, Aesthetics, and Law: The Third Man’s Three Prongs 171