20 Greatest Final Shots In Movies Ever
8. The Third Man (1949)
Carol Reed's indelible film noir masterwork is fondly remembered for its moody, meticulously designed, Oscar-winning cinematography, exemplified no better than in the transfixing final image.
As protagonist Holly Martins (Joseph Cotten) waits outside the cemetery for Anna Schmidt (Alida Valli), the ex of Orson Welles' twice-dead icon Harry Lime, she takes a slow walk towards the camera, before completely ignoring Holly and pressing on without him.
As a perfect visual summation of the characters and their feelings - Anna cannot forgive Holly for killing Harry, regardless of whether it was really wrong at all - and as a pure piece of art, it is a stunning image.
It was also homaged rather wonderfully in Martin Scorsese's The Departed, with Vera Farmiga performing an incredibly similar cemetery walk past Matt Damon in the film's denouement.