Shakespeare’s and Reed’s texts both explore their setting’s corruption through the impact
of war on their setting. However, the characters within each setting are shown to react very
differently to the influence of war, showing a difference in how the setting impacts
individuals. The Third Man’s war is one of the past, with Vienna having only recently lived
through World War Two. This is portrayed through the opening montage, which contrasts
pre-war Vienna with the Vienna the audience sees in The Third Man. Narration is used to
establish the stark difference between “the old Vienna before the war, with its Strauss
music, its glamour and easy charm” and the “bombed about” Vienna in the “classic period of
the black market.” The montage portrays Vienna’s beautiful buildings and sculptures,
creating an image of an elegant, cultured city, but soon begins to portray the damage
suffered by Vienna’s buildings as a result of the war. This physical decay of Vienna serves to
represent its moral decay, with post-war Vienna no longer being a hub of culture, but
instead a place of crime and corruption. Holly struggles to move through this damaged
Vienna, stumbling through rubble when he is chased by Popescu’s men. This shows his
struggle with the setting, as his idealistic perspective conflicts with the harsh realities of
Vienna’s corruption. However, Vienna’s citizens are shown to be largely unbothered by the
damage the city has suffered, ignoring the damaged buildings and continuing to lead normal
lives. This shows how the people of Vienna have grown accustomed to the corruption of
their city, and no longer find its moral decay questionable. In contrast, the war that
influences Hamlet is one of the future. In the opening scene, dialogue between Barnardo,
Francisco, Horatio and Marcellus establishes the character of Fortinbras and his aim of
capturing Denmark. Fortinbras’ activities are shown to have created an atmosphere of
anxiety and tension, with the characters having to identify that they are “liegemen to the
Dane” and not threats. This shows that there is a fear of corruption within Denmark, as it is
suspected that there may be enemies within it. In contrast with the characters of The Third
Man, residents of Denmark are still not at ease with their setting’s circumstances, and are
deeply uncomfortable with the idea of the Danish throne being usurped by a foreign man.
However, the irony of the fear conveyed by the characters is that Fortinbras does not pose a
threat to Denmark, as his uncle’s control over him prevents him from invading and forces
him to redirect his efforts towards Poland. The usurper that threatens Denmark is in fact
Claudius, the now-king who killed his brother and who lies at the root of much of Denmark’s
moral decay. As Marcellus claims that he and Horatio are “liegemen to the Dane”, this
shows the loyalty of the characters within the scene to a corrupt ruler, despite their
apparent disgust for the use of violence in taking the throne. Though both The Third Man
and Hamlet show use their character’s responses to war to indicate corruption, Reed uses
the influence of war to show how Vienna’s citizens have grown accustomed living in a city
filled with corruption, while Shakespeare uses it to portray how Denmark’s citizens may
have strong moral convictions, but find themselves loyal to a corrupt man anyway due to his
deception of the country.
Both Hamlet and The Third Man portray multiple characters who reinforce the corruption of
their setting, but the central villains of each text are particularly strong examples. Claudius
and Harry are both so strongly linked with their setting’s corruption that they seem to
almost be living embodiments of their setting’s moral decay. Shakespeare and Reed both
use techniques of their text type to portray their villain’s corruption and duplicity. In
Hamlet, Claudius’ address to the court in Act 1 Scene 2 uses juxtaposition and oxymorons to
describe his supposedly conflicted feelings. He speaks of both sadness at his brother’s death
and joy due to his marriage to Gertrude, describing how he finds himself “With an
auspicious and a dropping eye/With mirth in funeral and with dirge in marriage”. This
contrast feels jarring and unnatural, showing how Claudius’ corruption has upset the natural
order. Hamlet’s dialogue also emphasises Claudius’ corruption, with Hamlet bitterly
referring to Claudius as “smiling, damnèd villain!” in Act 1 Scene 5, juxtaposing his façade of
friendliness with his malevolent nature. Meanwhile, the nature of Harry’s villainy in The
Third Man is represented via the film’s soundtrack, which features zither instrumentals as
the only non-diegetic use of sound in the film. These instrumentals are lively and cheerful,
mostly sticking to fast-paced tunes in a major key. The jovial music continues throughout
the film even in moments when it would seem inappropriate, such as the shot of the dead
body floating in the Danube. This dissonant soundtrack creates a juxtaposition very
reminiscent of Harry’s, who never loses his calm and friendly demeanour despite his moral
depravity. Rather than having the obviously intimidating and aggressive presence typically
associated with villains, Harry seems fairly nonthreatening, with the porter remarking that
he appeared unremarkable and “could have been anyone.” Harry smiles mischievously
when caught by Holly and keeps up a casual conversation tone as he talks about taking
human lives, whom he dismisses as “dots” that “stopped moving”. Harry’s meeting with
Holly takes place on a Ferris wheel, which should suggest playfulness and childhood, yet this
is the location where he reveals the true extent of his callousness to Holly. The zither’s
omnipresence throughout the film suggests that Harry’s nature is not exclusive to him, but
that there are other citizens of Vienna who are similarly corrupt. Both texts use contrast to
portray their villain’s behaviour as unnatural and disturbing, and to show the conflict
between their nonthreatening demeanour and their malicious nature. However, Claudius is
portrayed as the source of Denmark’s corruption, while Harry is merely a symptom of
Vienna’s. With the death of Claudius and the characters he has corrupted, Denmark is
purged of his influence. However, Harry’s death only puts a stop to one source of Vienna’s
corruption, and the black market is so widespread that Vienna will remain corrupt even
after the film’s end.