Great movie, horrible music!

It's a stylistic choice designed to provide two things: first, an authentic Vienna atmosphere (the director found the composer playing zither in one of the bars seen in the film, actually); and second, to supplement the comedic and occasionally somewhat surreal elements and undertones used to offset the bleak story and themes. It fulfills its function incredibly well. Whether or not you like that function is a matter of personal choice. (For the record, I didn't really like it, but I'm a product of my time, just as is the film itself). But don't call it "stupid" or "a mistake." Doing so only shows that you're approaching the question superficially and without any thought or background research whatsoever.

It's a stylistic choice designed to provide two things: first, an authentic Vienna atmosphere (the director found the composer playing zither in one of the bars seen in the film, actually); and second, to supplement the comedic and occasionally somewhat surreal elements and undertones used to offset the bleak story and themes. It fulfills its function incredibly well. Whether or not you like that function is a matter of personal choice. (For the record, I didn't really like it, but I'm a product of my time, just as is the film itself). But don't call it "stupid" or "a mistake." Doing so only shows that you're approaching the question superficially and without any thought or background research whatsoever.

Initially, the "quirky" zither tune was interesting and off-beat. But there were 2 factors that took it from "different" to "annoying". At critical points, it just seemed to go off the rails, and it sounded like they handed a ukulele to an orangutan and just pressed "RECORD".

Then there was the repetition. The same 37 notes. Over. And over. And over. And over. And over. And over. And....

I thought "Beyond Tomorrow" recurred a lot in "Serpico". That was nothing.

The zither refrain in "The Third Man" made me long for a relaxing session of root canal with Edith Bunker yelling in my ear.

I challenge anybody who enjoyed this to obtain the soundtrack to this movie, and play it in their car for 1 hour. I guarantee you will drive off a bridge or into a telephone pole in the first 15 minutes.

Again, I like the piece but it isn't that great when used within the movie. I bet someone could edit the audio in this movie very easily adding either traditional orchestral scoring or using popular music to make a better version of this movie.

I liked the music. I even bought the CD.

😎

The constant repetition of the theme is supposed to be jarring, I think, and grating on people's nerves as the film progresses. It's just so relentlessly cheerful & absurdly ridiculous, even as things get darker & darker, and that's what makes it work so diabolically well. The perfect score for this film!