How does the sewer scene from The Third Man use framing and composition techniques, mise en scene and cinematography to create, meanings, metaphors and effects?

Figure 1

In figure 1 the lines that surround the character are all pointing inwardly and toward him. This connotes the feeling of being trapped and how everything surrounding him is pulling him back down further and further. the character here is being trapped by inorganic shapes which means that he is forcibly trapped beyond his own will. The small and confined space of the spiral staircase connote being trapped and how the character in figure 1 will always be trapped as the spiral staircase will just keep going round therefore indicating a feeling of eternal entrapment as he is always on a downward spiral. The low angle shot shows how he has lost all power and is trying to struggle to freedom but the camera is just far away enough for it too look like he is almost falling into the darkness of the sewers again. The lighting on the wall beside him is slowly vanishing which can connote lost hope because as he started to climb up the stairs there was hope there but the further and further he tries to escape the more he realises that his freedom is lost and that he has no hope left. The theme of lost hope is used a lost in the sewer scene as it relates to the real life context of the lost hope and anxiety of Europe at the time after World War Two. Vienna is a perfect example of lost hope post World War Two as it used to be a city of art and great culture but in the time of the 1940's and 50's it was a hotspot for the black market to excel which in turn shows just how the hope is slowing being lost not only in this scene but in the city they are in at the time.

Figure 2

In figure 2 the character is blocking out the light which connotes lost hope. He has been running for a long time but eventually the hope has been blocked out by himself as he is the one who ruined his own life. The scene has a vanishing point in view which is unusual as in most scenes, such as the one in figure 3, it is out of view. This shows balance and harmony in this scene as the whole time the character was running the shots were tilted and the vanishing points were out of view because it creates a sense of confusion and distortion but everything is now in balance as he has been caught with no where to run so there is now a sense of moral clarity. On the walls the light gets darker the closer that he it gets to him which shows that he is a dark and immoral person and not even the light can get past him because of how his darkness inside will only make things around him dark. This is showing how in Vienna at the time there is darkness that surrounds it and cannot be got rid of by just the light, it has to be backed into a corner and physically gotten rid of. This can be things such as the black market that thrives in Vienna.
 

Figure 3

In figure 3 there is a character that seems to be running into the light which would usually connote hope however he is running further and further into the sewers which would mean that he is just following the lost hope that he has inside himself. He is running into his own entrapment but in his mind he is running to freedom. The vanishing point is out of view which creates distortion as the character doesn't know where he is going so he has to rely on the sewers for his escape so as the character is confused so the viewer is also just as confused. In this scene although he is running into the light there is still darkness that surrounds him which can connote evil as he is bringing darkness and evil with him into where he believes is freedom. This can also be compared to figure 2 as he is surrounding the light in his own darkness because his character cannot ever go to the light, just block it out with darkness.

Figure 4

In figure 4 the character is trying to run away from what he has done but the only place to go is down the almost pitch black stairs. This connotes a dark journey that this character has inevitably lead himself to because of what he has done. The only place for him is either to get caught or follow the dark path into the unknown. The chiaroscuro lighting is used to show who is evil and who is good in this scene as the character Harry Lime on top of the stairs is the dark character therefore he has dark shadows around him and very dark walls where as in the tunnel the police officers are the only light there which shows how they are trying to stop the evil. The shot is tilted to show confusion and disorientation within the characters and the viewer. The characters in the tunnel are trying to catch the character at the top of the stairs so there is confusion between where they need to go and if they will find him. This creates a sense of disorientation by allowing the rule of thirds to be broken and our eyes to try and work out the scene instead of our eyes being shown where to look.