MovieChat Forums > Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989) Discussion > ben

ben

posted 19 years ago by dntwrrybahppi
17 replies | jump to latest

so im writing an essay on how judah and ben both relate to the motif of blindness and im haivng a bit of trouble with ben bc of how is he not blind..like this is what i have so far... In the film, “Crimes and Misdemeanors”, the two main characters Judah and Ben play an active role with each other. Judah, an Ophthalmologist who has a misdemeanor, is the eye specialist for Ben, a blind rabbi. While Judah is trying to deal with his problem of getting rid of Dolores, the woman he is having an affair with, and then dealing with the guilt of her murder, Ben tries to help him out. Both Judah and Ben relate to the motif of blindness. Although Ben is literally blind, he is very aware spiritually, whereas Judah can see yet is blind to realizing his misdemeanor.
Ben has always lived by morals. He has a positive approach and serves as a mentor to others. When Ben goes to see Judah to get help with his eyes, he ends up being a doctor for him. He sees into the spirit and life of those who are spiritually blind, such as Judah. Ben’s main positive attribute is his abundance in faith. For example, in the film during one of Ben’s eye appointments, he tells Judah that he must tell his wife, Miriam, about the affair. He believes it is the right way to handle the situation and if the truth is told, everyone will be happy again and life will work itself back to normal.

any suggestionts?

[–] Basketcase247 19 years ago

Well, first Ben is not really a main character, per say. Secondly, I saw Ben's character differently. I noticed about how he is really blind to the evil in the world. So in a way, he's already blind. Eyes are a major symbol in the film. In one scene, Delores says she believes eyes are the window to the soul. Also, the whole big mess about the most important pair of eyes: God's. Judah, after killing Delores, feels God is watching his every move.

This is all I can really think of. Hope it helps.

Whooah!-Al Pacino

[–] Warchef 19 years ago

Woody Allen said in an interview (i think it's in a book called "Allen on Allen", or something like that) that Ben is literally blind because as a religious man he is metaphorically blind. There's no secret about Woody's atheism, and of course that is that point of this whole film : there is no god in the sky or higher moral power that is going to dish out justice. we're alone in the universe, and if we can break the law, and create a personal moral system that allows us to live with it and get away with it, then why the hell not, as there isn't going to any big monty-python-esque huge foot coming out of the sky to squish us. think also about how Dolores says that she believes she has a soul and if you look into her eyes you can see it. once she is dead jonas looks into her eyes and sees nothing, only a void.

of course, to many peoples' minds this could be considered a very immoral message, or at the very least ammoral; but that is woody and his unique voice in american cinema. he is capable of brilliance, and i feel this film is his masterpiece :-)

[–] 19 years ago

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[–] thatsweetbird 18 years ago

Sounds great.

I will venture the alternate interpretation that perhaps Judah is seeing himself when he looks in her eyes. Just as Delores seems to see a part of Judah that other people can't see, now that he has sold his soul in murdering her, the void that is him is reflected in her eyes. He sees the moral abyss there because that is what he wants to see, that is all he can see now that he has rejected God and morality, that is all there is left for him to see.

I don't think that the message is immoral at all. Woody is warning AGAINST immorality. He is saying that the moral choice is up to us, not God, since God doesn't exist. That doesn't mean we have to be immoral like Judah, Lester, and Halley. We can try to be moral like Cliff and Ben. We can "choose God over truth" like Sol. In other words, even if God doesn't exist, even if we think that rationally, we can make the choice to have "faith", to "believe" that the best way to live is still with a moral order, a morality.

[–] Zando777 10 years ago

That, of course, is just Allen's ignorant opinion. No one knows if God punishes us for evil, either here or in an afterlife.

And obviously her soul would be gone after she's dead. If anything, her dead eyes after death are proof there was something else there before.

[–] franzkabuki 10 years ago

"That, of course, is just Allen`s ignorant opinion".

This seems to be presuming there`s such a thing as an "informed opinion" about god`s existence and willingness to punish/intervene - one that`d constitute some kind of definitive conclusion.

"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan

[–] IcySpoon 8 years ago

Great Answer! Lol.

"Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it." Norman Maclean

[–] thatsweetbird 18 years ago

Firstly, although Ben may not be a "main character" in terms of screen time, he is a key character in terms of the film's themes. Woody Allen doesn't have a rabbi who goes blind throughout the film for no reason.

Yes, you could contrast his blindness with his "spiritual sight" as opposed to Judah who can see and is an eye doctor, but who can't see any moral structure or God. But you can also say that his blindness does represent blindness of the modern "reality" of the world. Cliff, the philosopher, and Halley(till she whores herself by movie's end)also have bad "sight" in this sense, and hence wear glasses. Ben is a step further, literally going blind to represent his metaphorical blindness to the immoral world around him.

But notice that he seems genuinely happy(with Judah's happiness--even at the film's end-- more dubious). Yes, his positive attribute is indeed his faith and beliefs. They sustain him. Allen seems to be saying that a certain good life does come with the faith of a Ben or a Sol, even though there is no rational reason for their beliefs. Even though God is not "just" with him(letting him go blind), his faith sustains him.

Also note that when Judah argues for Delores' murder with an imagined Ben, that Judah handicaps Ben's arguments so that he will get the conclusion--that he must murder her-=-that he wants in the first place. Judah has Ben refer to the murder as "sweeping her under the rug", a euphemism that the biblical moralist that Ben is would be unlikely to use, but that the rationalizing Judah would be happy to substitute.

[–] bhoover247 18 years ago

You have written that Judah, Lester and Halley are immoral in this film. Judah's immorality is obvious, but I don't see the immorality of Halley and Lester. Halley never promised herself to Cliff. It seems obvious she didn't love Cliff from the very begining. At the end she may have actually fallen in love with Lester. That is hardly "whoring herself" as you stated. Lester was arrogant and overbearing but that is personality defects not immorality. If Lester remains faithful to Halley (which remains to be seen) I would count him as moral as Cliff.

[–] thatsweetbird 18 years ago

Don't you think the two stories are related,lol? Woody doesn't have the Cliff story in there just for laughs. Halley IS immoral like Judah. She goes off with Lester because of his wealth and success. She sells her beliefs and soul. She's as souless as Judah becomes and as Delores' dead body.

Lester is moral?? Are you watching the same movie?? Did you miss Cliff's film of Lester's behavior?? That thinking--that Leaster is some decent guy--is EXACTLY what Allen is mocking in the film,lol

[–] bhoover247 18 years ago

You seem to be angry that Halley chose Lester over Cliff. That's the way life works. The person you identify with doesn't always get the girl. We are not given enough information as to what Halley's beliefs actually are. She makes it clear from the start that she doesn't want to have a romantic relationship with Cliff. The fact that she ends up with Lester makes her neither a whore nor immoral.

[–] thatsweetbird 18 years ago

I'm sorry, but I think you are missing some of the meaning of the film. In addition to showing how success is what impresses (most)people--not good intentions--the film is about moral degradation. Degradation by Judah in one story, and by Halley(and Lester) in the other.

She does show interest in Cliff. They kiss, they spend romantic time together, she shows disdain for Lester and his values, she leaves Cliff to go to London with the hope that they can start something upon her return.

She only moves to Lester in a calculating way after deciding to sell her values for the value of being the mate of a wealthy, famous person in her occupation's business.

I definitely did not say that Cliff's "not getting the girl" doesn't happen in real life. Indeed, that this IS what happens in real life is Woody's point concerning the shallow valuing by our culture(personified here in Halley)of success over moral goodness. People(like Halley)commit little crimes("misdemeanors") everyday that are in fact along the same degradation of morality that is followed in the rationalization and justification of greater crimes(such as committed by Judah and Jack).

You seriously don't get that Lester is supposed to be a jerk? I think Woody hammers this point quite hard. i think it is about as clear as that King Kong is supposed to be large in size.

Your defense of Halley is--to me--almost exactly what Allen is warning against in the film. He is protesting how a moral decay has set into modern life(as he does in many of his films, including "Manhgattan" and "A Midsummer..."), one of accepting hedonistic selfishness in place of integrity and a sense of duty. Judah and halley choose their to further their lives in terms of superficial, shallow "success', sacrificing their values. Judah denies any moral structure to justify murder, commonly believed to be the greatest "crime". But Halley also denies her beliefs(stated earlier in the film)in aesthetic values shared with Cliff and antithetical to Lester. It is key that she doesn't just end up NOT with Cliff, but WITH Lester. She makes a choice that 100% betrays her earlier stated values.

I guess it could be argued that she was just being insincere with Cliff earlier in the film, and now her true colors are simply unhidden(the fact that she removes her glasses during some of her lines to Cliff suggests this possibility that she is being insincere then--is "seeing clearly" the lack of a moral structure in the world). But regardless of whether Halley betrays her stated values at the end or from earlier on, she certainly is inauthentic as a person, an existential failure.

I can't see that your interpretation of Cliff's story would make thematic sense with Judah's story; it doesn't due Woody's screenplay the credit it deserves. i don't think that Woody has Cliff betrayed to tell us the mundane news that his character "didn't get the girl". This film is all about, to quote Rabbi Ben: "seeing a moral structure". Halley does start out the film seeing it, shares it with Cliff, and then betrays him AND herself(who she is authenticly)for the souless, self-serving, pap-producing, womanizing, uncaring Lester.

[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] thatsweetbird 18 years ago

TY, getawaydriver!

And may I say--depending on your gender--I find you regally handsome or perfectly lovely:)

[–] Zando777 10 years ago

Excellent post, sweetbird.

Her crime is just a misdemeanor, but she is selling out her values. And Alda is clearly a jerk. He sexually harasses his staff, he yells at them, he fires a guy with cancer.

[–] ao590 9 years ago

I know this is a very old thread, but I just wanted there to be another opinion represented about Halley and Cliff.

I think Cliff is certainly not as positive a character as you interpreted him to be. He tries to cheat on his wife early on, embarking on the same journey that led Judah to murder. I see him and Lester more as two sides of Allen's personality; one's a witty socialite, confident and happy in his accomplishment, the other constantly aware of how poorly he compares to the greats and crushed by an obligation of greatness that he imposes upon himself.

More than a simplistic difference between mainstream success and sticking to your principles I think Allen is inviting us to see the less obvious; the shortcomings of Cliff as well as the true talents, the lack of self-awareness and a charming simplicity of desires in Lester.
Despite his moral high-ground it was always Cliff that was dishonest about his intentions; he tried to seduce Halley by clinging to an intellectual common-ground, instead of being straightforward from the start as Lester. Notice the difference between their attempts in the first scene, at the shooting. Lester pesters her with his affection and while he acknowledges the silliness of his aggressive advances he is firmly set on winning her. Now Cliff on the other hand tries to find common ground with her intellectually and only admits to liking her later on. He might offer her champagne and spend time with her, but he never really comes out and admits to wanting anything more from her until after he's already kissed her.
Then there's their work; Cliff is filming a documentary about a guy he hates, but instead of confronting him he just makes faces behind the camera and then cuts it to show crude comparisons with his subject and Mussolini; I mean if he was a great filmmaker he could've delivered an edit that showed Cliff's true colours while still pleasing his ego, but I digress. The point is that, again, Lester is honest about his dislike for Cliff already at the party at the beginning of the film, but Cliff never confronts him, he let's himself drift into a situation where he's doing something he hates and won't do anything about it. Conversely, Lester does what he wants, he may be a dick and trying to appear better than he is but he never really lies about his intentions.

So despite Lester being a pretentious phoney in many areas of his life, it is actually Cliff that is being dishonest throughout his relationship with Halley.

[Moreover, I really don't think Allen is protesting against a 'moral decay' when the most fundamental point of the film is 'there's no God' and we are shown that one can get away with murder, and live happily. Instead, I think if we wanted to squeeze the message of the film into a simple sentence it would have to be 'things are not black or white and nobody's perfect'.]

[–] PoppyTransfusion 10 years ago

My thoughts on the film:

There is internal sight and there is the external sight that we mean when we refer to seeing.

Judah is haunted by being looked into and seen for who he is, so he becomes an opthamologist who can look into others and search for them and their souls. But he doesn't know what he is looking for and so is not able to see what he looks for. His lack of self awareness is a form of moral blindness. He is worse than his brother because he is a hypocrite and does not know what he is capable of doing. Even when observing Dolores's dead body sees her as an object only. Judah has no internal sight.

Ben loses his external sight but he will always have sighted memories and his internal sight, which for him is married to faith, gives him a belief in love and marriage and life as abundant.

There's a lot more that could be said on this. These are my early, rudimentary thoughts.

Movement ends, intent continues;
Intent ends, spirit continues