Do people have a moral center?

Do people have a conscience or are we just kidding ourselves and the universe.
Woody Allen spent most of the 1980s and '90s veering between comedy and drama, and he rarely combined the two with greater success than in Crimes and Misdemeanors. In the movie he weaves together two stories lines about the same serious issue, morality; More specifically the question of conscience. After Freud the consciences took a hit. Most today, following Freud’s lead, see the conscience as a social sensibility that is more or less something comparable to social engineering.

In crimes and misdemeanors woody Alien goes head to head with Fyodor Dostoevsky. Allen admittedly clams that Crimes and punishment was in part the antagonist for this piece. Allen and Dostoevsky works both beg the same question of audience, “Can man get away with murder and still live with himself? In both, the issues of the role of guilt and the existence of God and the soul are raised. In crime and punishment, Dostoevsky argues that we cannot escape the judgments of our conscience no more than we can the escape air. Such an argument may have been a strong one in Victorian Russia but in post-Freudian modern America this idea does not have a chance, (comrade!). Allen clams the opposite is true. With wit and pessimism, Allen weaves a drama that regrettably shows the modern truth, “you’ll get over it.” You may need to resolve some meta-ethical issues first like Oh say, the “existence of God!” But you will get over it. Allen holds that Freud was right the Russian was wrong.

In crimes and misdemeanors, Alien’s tells the story of modern man’s battle with conscience where two parallel accounts of the conscience are presented. One common and recognizable, the other is more foreboding and rich. In the story, Cliff Stern (Woody Allen) is a documentary filmmaker working on a pet project, a documentary about philosopher Louis Levy. As we all know, films about philosophers don't pay the rent! So Cliff's wife Wendy (Joanna Gleason) arranges for him to make a documentary about her brother Lester (Alan Alda), a famous TV comedian whose vapidity is exceeded only by his arrogance. While reluctantly making the film he meets Halley Reed (Mia Farrow) and find himself infatuated with Reed.

The other story line is about Dr. Judah Rosenthal, (Martin Landau) a prominent ophthalmologist with a successful practice, a loving family, and a reputation for generous charity work. But Rosenthal also has a secret: his mistress, Dolores (Anjelica Huston). What began as a casual fling has become uncomfortably intimate, and as he tries to break off the relationship, Dolores threatens to expose his infidelity to his wife and some “unorthodox” financial arrangements to his colleagues. His brother Jack has Dolores murdered at the request of Rosenthal and Rosenthal is left with a guilty conscience over the murderous affair (imagine that!). Allen seamlessly weaves the stories into one film with the comedy and drama only he is known for.

I will leave you to dialog with Judah yourself. And encourage you to watch a good movie and do some unpacking but I warn you when you stair into the abyss you find something starring back. Siskel and Ebert discussion is rich with ethical questions and shows the problematic and provocative nature of this movie. Watch them here.


This movie is a classic of from Woody Allen. Some of classic clips from the movie are at the bottom of the page.


This first clip is a powerful look at the inner diologue of Rosenthal





Concluding doxology