MovieChat Forums > Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989) Discussion > First time hearing what happened to Clif...

First time hearing what happened to Cliff's sister and the stranger!


My brother started screaming with disgust and I was laughing yet disgusted and appalled at the same time, overall it was sick, makes you wonder what goes beyond human sexuality

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Yeah...you should probably ask first if you wana do that...

'We gotta get outa here before one of those things kills Guy'

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Um, hello, that's the whole point. The guy got off on the fact that she couldn't do anything about it. He didn't give a "crap" about what she wanted.

saucybetty.blogspot.com

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Umm, yes, well done

'We gotta get outa here before one of those things kills Guy'

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that was pretty sick. i dont know what the point of that scene was tbh. that wasnt funny or anything. turned me off actually.

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I disagree. The reaction on Woody's face when hearing the story was hilarious.

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I agree. The act itself is pretty disgusting, but his reaction was funny.

saucybetty.blogspot.com

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This is part of the tapestry of modern morally degrading hedonistic behavior along with what Judah, Halley, and Lester blithely do and get away with.

It also sets up the scene where Cliff tells his wife about it her non-interested, non-caring reaction leaves absolutely no doubt about the non-existent state of their relationship, and also suggests she is not too pleasant(as Cliff does not seem to deserve such hostility).

And thus when she "meets someone" at the film's end we see another pretty crappy person succeed in life while Cliff, who seems considerably nicer, has nothing but his integrity.

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Agreed, it's disgusting, but Woody's reaction is hilarious. Not to mention the line "A strange man defecated on my sister." I was laughing uncontrollably at that point.

"What's wrong with showing a guy getting his head cut off?" -Humphrey Bogart

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Well, it's called Crimes and Misdemeanors. The defacation was a misdemeanor meant to parallel Judah's crime of misusing a woman's trust to take advantage of her and damage her without concern.

"Lens cap."

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"nothing but his integrity"

What a world we live in. Integrity is everything and, yes, it's generally worth nothing in the material world.

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if you don't think it was funny you don't have a sense of humor.


"everything i say, by definition, is a promise." CARMINE SABATINI -(The Freshman)

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its been a looong time. who is cliff's sister and what happened with the stranger??




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFtYpLV4EPo

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The point of it was the symbolism - love means opening yourself up to people, becoming vulnerable, and often they end up crapping on you.

Arguably, that also happend with Farrow and Allen. Who returns a love letter?

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I think it was partly there because it's simply funny but also to show what it might sometimes be like to be middle-aged single woman, thus explaining the desperate behavior of Anjelica Huston's character.

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I thought the scene where Cliff's sister tells him about the situation was one of the most masterfully handled scenes in any movie. Allen gets us to laugh at the ridiculous situation that his sister gets herself into, and then makes us feel guilty as hell for laughing at her by explaining the human needs she was trying to satisfy.

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Well, at least we don't see it, like we would on Springer. The way she even said it was pretty clean in some way-"He sat over me and went to the bathroom." instead of "He sat over me and took a *beep* on me." People are nuts, that's all.

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It also shows you that Woody's character has no balls, most brothers would have hunted down this guy and given him a serious beating.

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Furthermore, I think it's the first time a Cleveland Steamer has been mentioned in a mainstream film before. The script was even nominated for an Oscar! Bravo Mr. Allen.

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Exactly! A milestone in movie history :)

I love this movie


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I always crack up at the non-reaction to the news by Woody's wife. Just a bored "Why?" toss aside the magazine and pull up the cover, facing AWAY from yer devastated husband!

"May I bone your kipper, Mademoiselle?"

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bradford-1, that was even funnier. She was so disinterested.

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Woody's reaction expression when he heard that was great. Most of my laughter at that moment was from Woody's horrified expression.



"Boy that was really exciting. I bet you're a big Lee Marvin fan aren't ya."

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That was the funniest scene in the movie. Woody's reaction almost made me do what the strange guy did to his sister.

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But what happened next? Did the guy untie her? Or was she left there for the cleaning lady or her daughter to find her?

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That's not important. What was important was what this man did to her.

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Sometimes Woody's not too subtle. He wanted to show how men crap on women, so he had a male character crap on a woman.

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