For this feature post, I decided to do a comparison and contrast between Wood Allen's two films; Crimes and Misdemeanors and Husbands and wives. Both films have been talked about already in my regular weekly blog posts and therefore I will be focusing mostly on the similarities and differences between the two films. Woody Allen is a perfect example of someone that uses the same style with every film that he directs. Or as Juliet Lapidos puts it, "The extent of the similarities from one film to the next is remarkable." After watching these two films I could already see a lot of similarities between the characters and the plot. Differences:Before taking a look at the similarities between the two films, lets take a look at whats different between them. The first major difference is with their use of camera angles and shots. In the video above, you can see the beginning scenes of Husbands and Wives, and instantly you can tell that the camera style is different. This use of a hand-held camera and choppy edits is different from the steady camera in Crimes and Misdemeanors. While both styles work great in the films that they are presented in, it does take a while for the audience to get used to the shakiness of the camera. Though this is due to the fact that Husbands and Wives is supposed to feel like a documentary and something that a normal person could record and therefore this makes it feel more realistic. Adam Mars-jones comments on the film's camera style by writing, "From the first scene onwards, the camera work is self-advertisingly amateurish." Another big difference is how the films progress the story along as well as provide more information for the audience. In Crimes and Misdemeanors, the audience gets more information from the use of flashbacks. This allows the main story to progress without stopping to have a character inform us about the past, instead it shows the audience. Meanwhile Husbands and Wives uses the film's interviews to tell us crucial plot elements as well as give us more information about a specific character or plot. This use of interviews is used a couple times to tell us about a specific character, the biggest one being about Judy's ex husband and how he accuses Judy "of being passive-aggressive". This information gives the audience something to think about as they watch Judy and the things she does from that point on. As for Crimes and Misdemeanors, the use of flashbacks is to show the audience more about a character or scene. A good example of this is with Judah and his flashback to a conversation he remembers overhearing when he was a little kid. In this flashback we see the two sides of religious people, the ones that believe that god exists and watches everything and the ones that believe that as long as you don't get caught, you are in the clear. This flashback is shown in the video down below. Overall both films have several differences between them, but in the end, both films are quite similar to each other. Similarities:I think the biggest focus on any Woody Allen film, is on how very similar they are to each other. Starting off, lets take a look at the similarities in the relationships between two characters. In both films, there is the sense that relationships can't last and they eventually fail. This is shown in Husbands and Wives, as Judy and Gabe end up breaking up their marriage. Meanwhile Jack and Sally break up as well and towards the end they get back together again. This theme of failing relationships is also in Crimes and Misdemeanors, in which Cliff already knows his marriage won't last and therefore falls in love with Halley. In the end Cliff breaks up his marriage and loses Halley to Lester. This leads me to the second similarity and that is that in both, Woody Allen's character always ends up single and broken. In Husbands and Wives, he decides that he doesn't want to cause anymore harm and therefore leaves Rain. Meanwhile Judy ends up marring Michael and Jack and Sally get back together, leaving Gabe the only one that stays single. In Crimes and Misdemeanors, the relationship between cliff and his wife is shown to be bad from the start of the film. Cliff himself sees this and therefore asks Halley to marry him. In the end his marriage is broken up and Halley is engaged to Lester. This again leaves Cliff (Woody Allen), single and sad. This form of relationship endings is also another similarity between the films. In both films there is this sort of bitter sweet ending. Some characters end up happily married or solve their issues. For example in Husbands and Wives, Sally and Jack get back together and learn to live with each other, and Judy marries Micheal. This can be seen as the sweet ending to the relationships. Meanwhile the bitter ending is with Gabe and how he is left single and broken. In Crimes and Misdemeanors, Halley ends up happily engaged to Lester, Cliff's wife ends up finding someone new, and Judah is still happily married. On the other hand, Cliff loses his wife and he also losses someone that he loved to a guy that he hates. Now lets take a look at the story/plot side of the similarities. Both films have some discomfort and hard to see scenes in them. In Husbands and Wives, Wallflower writes, "it's one awful scene after another after another." The biggest scene is when Jack and Sam are exiting the party and we see Jack yelling and tossing Sam around. This scene is brutal and hard to watch. Meanwhile in Crimes and Misdemeanors, Cliff goings to see his sister and she talks about what a man did to her when she was tied up. Though this was more verbal than visual, the sense of discomfort wasn't any different. Another thing Woody Allen does to his plot is add a sort of epilogue or time skip. This is seen in both films, where the audience is shown what happened to the characters and how they ended up. In Husbands and Wives, we have the epilogue through the interviews and that is where we learn about how each character ended up. Jack and Sally are shown to be remarried and they talk about the irony of how Gabe and Judy ended up breaking up in the end. Then we see Judy and Micheal together, and they both talk about their marriage and what they have planned for themselves. Gabe is also interviewed and the audience sees that he is broken and not in the best state. He mentions that he is not ready to look for someone new and that he still needs time to heal. After that he looks into the camera and asks if he can leave. This epilogue answers a lot of questions that the audience has and provides a good closure to the film. Meanwhile in Crimes and Misdemeanors, the epilogue is done with a time skip. After this time skip we get to see how everyone ended up. As Cliff is walking around, he stumbles upon Halley and he overhears that she is engaged to Lester. This leads to a few words exchanged between Halley and Cliff before he leaves to go drink. As he is alone and depressed, Halley comes up to him and tries talking to him. In this scene we can see that Cliff is totally destroyed and disappointed at Halley. We also overhear Lester talking to his sister (Cliff's wife) and we hear that she has found another man. As for Judah, he comes up to Cliff and tells him that he has a great movie plot for him. When he tells him the story, he is actually talking about himself and his life. During this time we also see that Judah has fully accepted what he did and doesn't feel bad for it. Once again, Woody Allen's character is left alone and lonely. This brings me to another great similarity and that is that both films make is seem like something is going to happen and then they do the opposite. For example, in Husbands and Wives, Gabe and Rain's relationship is really developed and we see the love they both share. The audience assumes that Gabe will end up with Rain and they will be happy together, but in the end this doesn't happen and Gabe is left single. Meanwhile Judy and Michael get married with almost no screen time worth on building up the relationship. This can also be seen in Crimes and Misdemeanors, where Cliff and Judah end up receiving the others punishment. Judah ends up having someone killed and it looks like he is going to turn himself in, but in the end he learns to live with it and he carries on with his life. He goes on to love his wife and life is great for him. Meanwhile Cliff is a honest man and in the end he loses his wife, Halley, and ends up alone and depressed. This twist in the end is hard to swallow for the audience, because the bad guy in the film gets away with it and the good guy is the one that ends up suffering. In both films, it seems that the characters that are the nicest and should have the best ending, end up suffering the most. One last similarity between the two films is with Woody Allen's use of the same characters. Mostly his own characters, Gabe and Cliff. If a person where to flip Gabe and Cliff and put them in the other ones film, the film would end up being almost the same. As we saw in the other similarities, Woody Allen's characters are very similar and except for a couple minor differences, the characters are the same. Both Gabe and Cliff fall in love with a younger woman. This love for younger women and their failing relationships is similar between both of them. Overall, Woody Allen's characters are similar to each other and if Woody Allen were to flip the characters, the audience would have a hard time telling the difference. Overall Husbands and Wives and Crimes and Misdemeanors have a very similar feeling to them. This isn't to surprising considering they were both directed by Woody Allen and his auteurship is very similar between all his films. Though the story has some differences, the audience has a hard time not feeling like they are watching an adaptation of one of his other films. This use of similar characters and plots is what makes Woody Allen stand out from the rest. In the end, Woody Allen's films get better the more of his films you watch, because you are able to see the similarities and connections between the films.
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