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Crimes and Misdemeanors: A Retake on the Eyes of Dr. Eckleburg
Murder and infidelity, the existence of God and human responsibility, these are the issues raised by Crimes and Misdemeanors, a film that contains Woody Alien's most overtly philosophical statements about the tragedy and comedy of human experience to date. Unlike many of his earlier films, where he "deflates every venture into philosophy, making material and practical considerations the inescapable weight on every thought" (Yacowar 85), Crimes and Misdemeanors showcases major philosophical concerns. Never one to shy away from the big questions. Alien explores them with a seriousness made palatable by an aesthetically distancing overlay of humor.
This is a film that relies heavily upon eye imagery, not surprising given the visual medium that Alien has chosen for his art. But the optical references possess a haunting quality, something of a cinematic/literary déjà vu. These are the eyes of Dr. T. J. Eckleburg, the oculist whose advertisement "brooded over the solemn dumping ground" (24) of the valley of ashes in The Great Catsby, transposed and integrated into another medium. The theme of perception is realized by the use of the motifs of blindness and clarity of vision filtered through a labyrinth of doppelgänger relationships, primarily brothers and brothers-in-law.
Certainly the fact that Judah Rosenthal is an opthamologist is no accident as he himself suggests during his dedication speech for the new opthalmology wing of the hospital. By way of explaining his interest in eyes, Judah reveals that his father, Saul, a religious man. claimed "the eyes of God are always on us." As a child, Judah says he imagined the eyes of God to be "unimaginably penetrating, intense eyes." Within the first few scenes. Alien manages to set up the major philosophical questions of the film with great economy.
Judah Rosenthal appears to have achieved the promise of the American dream; he is a highly respected, supposedly philanthropic doctor with a loving family and all the material accoutrements of success. The audience learns that he has been carrying on a two-year affair with an airline stewardess, Delores Paley. Now that Judah has tired of her, Delores threatens to confront his wife with their relationship and expose Judah's questionable financial dealings which border on embezzlement. Judah...