What an utterly dark and bleak movie. This is not to be confused with another great Woody Allen film, Matchpoint, in which a character also kills a woman with whom he is having an affair with. That film briefly touched upon the notions of luck and fate and worked as a more conventional crime film. In this earlier Allen film, fate does not play a role at all and acts as a more philosophical journey. You make your own fate, you are a sum of your choices and in Crimes and Misdemeanors, Judah, played wonderfully by Martin Landau, coldly and calmly justifies squashing this woman like a bug. Of course, he is indignant at the idea at first, but even in his protestations to the idea, you can see the gears turning in his mind to the idea.
Certainly this isn't the first movie where a man kills his lover and it wouldn't be the last either, but very few have dealt with the moral dilemma as well as this film. Judah, the son of a rabbi, is told as a child that "the eyes of God are always watching." Even if he gets away with the murder in the real world, what of the kingdom of God? He justifies it by saying "God is a luxury I cannot afford." He has too much to lose. He is a man of wealth and prestige, a family man with a loyal wife and kids who idolize him. In his heart he wants to believe in a higher moral order, but in reality he cannot believe in it, at least if it does not convenience him. But suddenly when the deed is done, he is stricken with this guilt and the realization that perhaps God is indeed watching him.
That is the heavy part of the film, now on to the comedy. Woody Allen once again plays his poor self, a pitiful kind of man resentful of the world around him and perhaps his own life. His story is told parallel to Judah's and also deals with morality. He is unhappily married and meets a woman that he becomes smitten with. It is a light hearted kind of quasi-romance but is it any less meaningful or sinful as Judah's decision to kill his mistress? I don't think Allen is trying to suggest that they are equal, but at the same time he points out that these decisions can weigh equally heavily on any person. One person may feel guilty for killing another person, another may feel distraught over forgetting to leave a tip at lunch. Or conversely, the killer may feel nothing at all. Levels of sin and guilt are all relative to the people doing the crimes and misdemeanors. (See what I did there?)
SPOILER:
So what does Allen say when Judah gets away with it free and clear? While he admits to feeling a dark cloud of guilt and despair, one day he wakes up and the sun is shining, life is good, his family loves him and this weight has been lifted off his shoulders. Meanwhile, the generally good meaning Cliff (Allen) is left out in the cold. He doesn't get the girl and instead sees her engaged with a man he totally despises. In a way, it is a challenge to God asking why is evil rewarded. Cliff argues that even if a man got away with murder, he must live with it for the rest of his life. Judah, who once had notions of being a moral man forgoes God, and does indeed live with it.
END SPOILER
Crimes and Misdemeanors is dark and cynical. It challenges you and makes you uncomfortable with the implications. Above it all, it is also a fine piece of film making by Woody Allen.
Grade: A
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