Sunday, March 18, 2012

Doubt and Misdemeanors

I chose to examine and compare the shot of Sister James in the garden from Doubt, and of Judah driving in his car from Crimes and Misdemeanors. Both shots are close and have the characters faces in the middle of the shot and both portray them deep in thought and represent the inner struggle and moral dilemma they both are facing.

            Sister James replays evidence in her head and tries to decide whether or not Father Flynn was abusing Donald. Her facial expression is a perfect example of how an actress does not have to speak for her thoughts to be known. She is looking into the sky with a puzzled look where you can tell that she doesn't want to believe that it is true but simply cannot choose. Over her shoulder is shown a statue of the Virgin Marie but its shadow is also shown as dark to represent the lack of clarity in the situation. James however, represents the positive side of moral ambiguity because she is always very kind and has strong morals, while Judah ignores the consequences to help keep his "happy" life afloat.

         The shot of Judah has background dialogue of him talking to himself, presumably his thoughts about his affair and the idea of her murder. What is so interesting is that the director (Woody Allen) doesn't need to include the dialogue and the same picture is portrayed by the imagery. I actually watched the scene with the sound off and Judah's character has the look of someone who is made sick to their stomach by the issue hanging over them. Judah must decide whether to tell his wife of his affair or to take the path of "having her taken care of." The sheer idea of someone dying as  result of him directly is a struggle of moral values vs. personal gain. His fear is that of he goes through with it he will feel guilty and that ends up being correct. After she is killed, Judah begins to feel extremely anxious and guilty to the point where it affects his well being. These portrayals of moral struggle are probably far larger than any we will have to experience but on a bigger scale, these teach us of the importance and sometimes ignorance of moral values for the better of oneself.