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The Third Man · 1949 — 第 3 / 17 章 · 2'44" · B2

Kurtz Feeds Martins a Cover Story, Explained：be up to something

Baron Kurtz befriends Martins in a café, praises his novels, and claims he was Harry's closest friend. He brushes off the police's notion that Harry was 'mixed up in some sort of a racket,' then walks Martins through the night Harry died — a story so polished that its one contradiction gives it away.

あらすじ

Martins meets Baron Kurtz in a café. Kurtz admires his writing, calls himself Harry's best friend, and dismisses the police idea that Harry was mixed up in a racket. Then he retraces the night Harry died and reports his dying wish: that someone look after Martins and see him safely home.

InvestigationStorytellingExplainingPersuadingStrangersB2mediumamericanClean
IMDb ↗

注目の表現

be up to somethingmixed up inhard upI wish I could

00:00 / 02:44
Space 再生 · ← → セリフ移動 · R リピート
いま
  32. ❝ 独白Kurtz recounts Lime's death6 行練習ページ ↗
セリフをタップするとそこから再生

このシーンの表現

be up to something

be planning something

Baron Kurtz flatters Martins' novels, saying each chapter leaves you guessing what the hero will be up to next.

They must be up to something secret.

このシーンの他の表現

  • mixed up in

    involved in something

  • hard up

    short of money

  • I wish I could

    a soft refusal

  • look after

    take care of

  • instantaneously

    in an instant

このシーンのメモ一覧

49 行のセリフに 28 件のメモ

表現 · A1sit down

take a seat

Delighted to meet you. Come, let's sit down here.
表現 · B2keep the tension

sustain suspense

It's wonderful how you keep the tension.
発音keep the

Keep the links together; tension takes the stress.

It's wonderful how you keep the tension.
表現 · B2leave someone guessing

keep someone wondering

At the end of every chapter you are left guessing what he'll be up to next.
表現 · B1be up to something

be planning something

Baron Kurtz flatters Martins' novels, saying each chapter leaves you guessing what the hero will be up to next.

At the end of every chapter you are left guessing what he'll be up to next.
文法 · B2what he'll be up to next

noun clause: The what-clause is the object of guessing and keeps statement order.

At the end of every chapter you are left guessing what he'll be up to next.
表現 · B2be mixed up in something

involved in something

Kurtz reports the police notion that Lime was mixed up in some racket, sounding as if he is defending him.

The police have a crazy notion that he was mixed up in some sort of a racket.
表現 · B1some sort of something

a kind of

The police have a crazy notion that he was mixed up in some sort of a racket.
文法 · C1that he was mixed up

appositive clause: The that-clause spells out what the notion actually is.

The police have a crazy notion that he was mixed up in some sort of a racket.
発音mixed up in

Run mixed up in together as one chunk.

The police have a crazy notion that he was mixed up in some sort of a racket.
スラング · B1crazy

absurd — Spoken for absurd; use absurd in formal talk.

The police have a crazy notion that he was mixed up in some sort of a racket.
表現 · B1that kind of thing

things like that

Everyone in Vienna is. We all sell cigarettes and that kind of thing.
文法 · C1would have seemed unthinkable

past conditional: Would have seemed imagines how the past would have looked from before the war.

I tell you, I've done things that would have seemed unthinkable before the war.
発音would have

Would have weakens to would-uv, with have almost gone.

I tell you, I've done things that would have seemed unthinkable before the war.
表現 · B1be hard up

short of money

Kurtz half jokes that when he was hard up he sold tyres, using the memory to excuse his black-market trade.

Once when I was hard up, I sold some tyres on the black market.
表現 · B2on the black market

illegally traded

Once when I was hard up, I sold some tyres on the black market.
スラング · B1hard up

short of money — Very colloquial; fine among friends.

Once when I was hard up, I sold some tyres on the black market.
表現 · B2mean more than that

imply something bigger

I'm afraid the police meant more than that.
表現 · B1even so

all the same

Even so, I'm not going to leave it at this.
表現 · B1be careful with someone

be wary of

I have to be careful with the police.
表現 · A2come out of somewhere

leave a place

We came out of his place like this, and were walking this way.
表現 · A2go across

cross over

Harry went across, and from up there came the truck.
表現 · A2pick someone up

lift someone

His friend and I picked him up.
表現 · B1lay someone down

set someone down

We laid him down just about here.
表現 · B1this is where ...

here is the spot

And this is where he died.
表現 · A2look after someone

take care of

Kurtz borrows Lime's name to promise he would look after Martins, a claim that sounds touching but shaky.

He was anxious I should look after
表現 · B1get someone safely home

home safe

you when you arrived, to see that you got safely home, tickets, you know, and all that.
文法 · B2before the ambulance could reach

time clause: The before-clause sets the moment; could marks what time allowed.

Well, he died before the ambulance could reach us.

「Kurtz Feeds Martins a Cover Story」を読み解く

What's really going on

The scene is a performance, and Martins is the audience. Kurtz opens with flattery — 'At the end of every chapter you are left guessing what he'll be up to next' — and moves into reassurance: everyone in Vienna deals on the black market, and the police simply have 'a crazy notion.' The tour of the death site turns it theatrical, complete with a dying message that conveniently flatters Martins: Harry's last thoughts were of him, and he wanted someone to 'look after' him. What gives the performance away is the detail Martins catches: Harry supposedly died instantly, yet there was time for words. Kurtz is not grieving; he is managing what Martins will believe, and the moment the story is questioned, he retreats into being 'an Austrian' who must be careful with the police.

Theme

DeceptionKurtz stages a grieving friend's account of Harry's death, feeding Martins a story built to be believed rather than true.
FriendshipFriendship is claimed as proof of honesty, yet Kurtz's friendship is a credential he uses to steer a stranger away from the truth.

このチャプターで学べること

  • Kurtz flatters the writer before he refuses the friend.
  • Every excuse here is a small confession.
  • A dying man's last thought is used as a bargaining chip.
  • The calm retelling of the death is the most suspicious part.

発音のポイント

  • keep the — Keep the links together; tension takes the stress.
  • mixed up in — Run mixed up in together as one chunk.
  • would have — Would have weakens to would-uv, with have almost gone.
At the end of every chapter you are left guessing what he'll be up to next.

Kurtz flatters Martins with a reader's compliment, but the phrase also describes the film's own suspense: we are left guessing what Harry is up to.

I think his best. Except you, of course.

Kurtz ranks himself as Harry's closest friend while gracefully placing Martins ahead of him, a claim of intimacy meant to earn trust.

I tell you, I've done things that would have seemed unthinkable before the war.

Kurtz normalises the black market by confessing to it, admitting small guilt so that the bigger charge against Harry will sound absurd.

Even so, I'm not going to leave it at this.

Martins refuses the easy story. Whatever the police say, he intends to keep asking about his friend's death.

Even at the end, his thoughts were of you.

The sentimental hook of Kurtz's performance: he assigns Harry a dying message that flatters Martins and explains why a stranger sought him out.

Everyone in Vienna is. We all sell cigarettes and that kind of thing.

Kurtz's defence of Harry is that everyone is corrupt, so one more small dealer proves nothing — a shrug that quietly excuses a racket.

このシーンについての質問

Why does Kurtz seek Martins out?

To keep him off the trail. By presenting himself as Harry's grieving friend and guiding Martins through the death, Kurtz tries to control what the newcomer believes about Harry.

What does 'mixed up in' mean?

It means involved in something, usually something disreputable. Kurtz repeats the phrase as if the police suspicion were merely a mistake about Harry's black-market dealings.

Why does Martins doubt Kurtz's story?

Because the details do not fit. If Harry died instantly, as Kurtz first said, there was no time for a dying message, so the touching account cannot be true as told.

Who is Popescu, and why can't Martins meet him?

Popescu is the Romanian friend who was with Harry when he was hit. Kurtz says he has already left Vienna, conveniently removing the one witness who could confirm the story.

Is Kurtz telling the truth about Harry?

Not entirely. He admits the police suspect a racket yet insists it is absurd, and his account of Harry's death falls apart under a single question, so he is protecting something.

第三の男 · 全 17 章

すべて見る →
次のチャプター · 第 4 章post-mortemMartins Looks for the Girl
第 1 章racketeerCalloway Exposes Harry Lime第 2 章hunt someone downMartins Checks Into a Military Hotel再生中 · 第 3 章be up to somethingKurtz Feeds Martins a Cover Story第 4 章post-mortemMartins Looks for the Girl第 5 章what difference does it makeMartins Visits Anna After the Funeral第 6 章up to no goodMartins Learns About the Third Man第 7 章get to the bottom ofCalloway Confiscates Anna's Papers第 8 章come to the pointMartins Questions Dr Winkel第 9 章upside downCalloway Interrogates Anna Schmidt第 10 章break the rulesMartins Confronts Popescu at the Club第 11 章look inMartins Tells Anna to Love Again第 12 章stream of consciousnessPopescu Warns Martins at the Lecture第 13 章cap and bellsCalloway Explains the Penicillin Racket第 14 章in your imageMartins and Anna Argue About Harry第 15 章a dead man walkingCalloway Tells Anna Harry Is Alive第 16 章get rid ofHarry's Speech on the Ferris Wheel第 17 章cut you inHarry's Cuckoo Clock Speech
第 3 / 17 章 · 残り約 43 分