‘The Third Man’: The movie Steely Dan’s Donald Fagen has seen “a zillion times”
When fans think of the influences that shaped Steely Dan frontman Donald Fagen, their minds naturally go towards musical inspirations. In fact, Fagen has spoken about the creative visionaries that informed his artistic beliefs on multiple occasions. Ranging from Miles Davis to Thelonious Monk, Fagen has drawn from an interesting collection of sources while honing his own craft. However, music isn’t the only medium that guided his sensibilities.
Fagen has frequently opened up about his love for cinema, even citing W.C. Fields as a constant source of inspiration throughout his career. While the musician’s admiration for Fields is a significant note regarding his cinephilia, Fagen’s passion for the cinematic medium extends far beyond that. Influenced by the likes of Ingmar Bergman, Federico Fellini and Carl Theodor Dreyer, Fagen has explored the contours of world cinema while searching for artistic truths.
During a deep dive with Criterion, the Steely Dan frontman named some of the greatest cinematic experiences that opened his eyes. In addition to philosophical classics like Bergman’s Fanny and Alexander, he also named the cult comedy Withnail and I. Fagen described it as “among other things, the best film about the demise of the sixties counterculture. With iconic performances by Richard E. Grant, Richard Griffiths, and the unbelievable Ralph Brown. Stupidly funny.”
However, even within his selection of favourites, one movie that stands out as a deeply personal work for Fagen is Carol Reed’s timeless 1949 noir, The Third Man. Starring Joseph Cotten and Orson Welles, the film revolves around the strange misadventures of an American in Vienna who is perplexed by the sudden news of his friend’s demise. As he digs deeper into the case, surprising revelations surface that jeopardise his own life.
When asked about Reed’s magnum opus, Fagen claimed that it has the unbelievable power of staying fresh irrespective of the number of times you’ve seen it. He insisted: “I’ve seen this picture a zillion times but always find something new to wonder about. Graham Greene, Carol Reed, Joseph Cotten, Orson Welles, Trevor Howard, Nazis, gangsters, Hitchcockian surrealism, innovative cinematography, a moody babe, Vienna, a zither for ear candy: it’s all here.”
Supported by Robert Krasker’s mesmerising cinematography, The Third Man exists at the apotheosis of the genre’s power to thrill audiences. Playing around with mystery frameworks while also raising questions about ethical concerns in the omnipresent shadow and destruction of World War II, Reed’s work is the greatest Orson Welles movie that Welles never directed.
Watch the trailer below.
