Crimes and Misdemeanors
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| Crimes and Misdemeanors | |
|---|---|
 original movie poster |
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| Directed by | Woody Allen |
| Produced by | Charles H Joffe |
| Written by | Woody Allen |
| Starring | Woody Allen Martin Landau Mia Farrow Anjelica Huston Alan Alda Jerry Orbach |
| Distributed by | Orion Pictures |
| Release date(s) | June, 1989 |
| Running time | 107 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $19,000,000 |
| IMDb profile | |
Crimes and Misdemeanors is a film written and directed by Woody Allen. It stars Woody Allen (as Cliff), Martin Landau (as Judah), Mia Farrow (as Halley), Anjelica Huston (as Dolores), Jerry Orbach as Jack and Alan Alda (as Lester). The film was met with critical acclaim and was nominated for the following Academy Awards:
- Woody Allen, for Best Director.
- Martin Landau, for Best Actor in a Supporting Role.
- Woody Allen, for Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen.
Due to the film's serious and realistic treatment of its plot and characters, it is considered by many to be Allen's most mature film.
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[edit] Plot
The film is set in 1980s New York and follows two main characters: Judah, a successful ophthalmologist, and Cliff, a failed documentary filmmaker. The two men are each confronted, respectively, with different moral crises.
Judah's crisis concerns the affair he had with an airline stewardess named Dolores. After Judah unceremoniously ends their relationship, Dolores, scorned, blackmails Judah, threatening to tell his wife about their affair. Frustrated and desperate, Judah has her killed, and subsequently must deal with his guilt.
Cliff, on the other hand, is hired by his brother-in-law, Lester (Alda, excellent in one of the films he made with Allen), a pompous man who is nevertheless a successful television director. Cliff is to make a documentary celebrating this man he hates. While filming, he falls in love with Halley, Lester's producer. Cliff is despondent over his failing marriage, and he woos Halley. He clashes with Lester and when he completes his documentary it contains hilariously demeaning scenes (which Cliff thinks are simply accurate) comparing Lester to Benito Mussolini and Francis the Talking Mule, side by side with candid clips showing an unsupecting Lester yelling at his staff and trying to pick up female staff members. When Lester sees the film, he is furious and fires Cliff. Cliff continues to pursue Halley, who eventually rejects him for Lester, a man who Allen deftly portrays as at once Cliff's polar opposite--a dimwit who mispronounces "foliage" ("foilage") and "nuclear" ("nuculer")--but also his equal--Lester quotes Emily Dickinson in one key scene, which cows Cliff, and impresses Halley. At the end of the film, at a party, Cliff learns that Lester had sent Halley dozens of white roses for weeks at a time when they had been working together in London, a move which finally made her fall in love with. Cliff is crestfallen as he realizes he is incapable of that kind of affectionate display. In the final powerful scene, Judah, who has worked past his guilt and is enjoying life once more, draws Cliff into a discussion about their moral quandaries, with Judah stating that with time, any crisis will pass (he has gotten away with murdering Dolores), and Lester morosely claiming instead that one is forever fated to bear one's burdens and pay one's dues for "crimes and misdemeanors."
[edit] Influences
The film appears to be heavily influenced by the films of director Ingmar Bergman. This is evident from the film's somber tone and bleak themes, as well as little of the nostalgia that permeates many of Allen's films. There is also one key scene in which Judah relives a memory from his childhood while visiting his former home that is nearly identical, in terms of thematic intent and staging, to a scene from Bergman's Wild Strawberries. Additionally, the film's cinematographer is Bergman's long-time collaborator, Sven Nykvist.
[edit] Music
As with most of his films, Allen makes good use of classical and jazz music in many of the film's scenes. One piece that stands out is Schubert's String Quartet #15 in G, which is used in the scenes leading up to Dolores' death, and the discovery of her body by Judah.
[edit] Trivia
Both Judah's lover and the principal character in Nabokov´s Lolita have the same name: Dolores. These two women awake an awful attraction on the male characters. Dolores also means "pains" in Spanish.
[edit] External links
- Crimes and Misdemeanors at the Internet Movie Database
- Roger Ebert's Review of Crimes and Misdemeanors
[edit] Box Office
The North American box office tally was $18,254,702, more than usual for an Allen film.
