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, a pompous, crass and vulgar man who is also a successful television creator. Cliff must film a documentary about the man he hates, glorifying him and his work. While filming, he falls in love with a woman named Halley, who is producing the documentary Cliff is working on. Cliff becomes despondent over his miserable marriage, ends up fired from the movie (after, ultimately refusing to compromise his principles, he uses the film to compare Lester to both Benito Mussolini and Mister Ed) and pursues Halley, who eventually rejects Cliff for Lester, a man that is his polar opposite.
[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.
