A Serious Man

It's not exactly clear what this film sets out to accomplish. Dark comedy? Maybe. But its protagonist's breathless search for answers, and his confusion about suffering, fate and free will makes it a tragedy.

And as a tragedy I think it's a wonderful film. Aside from the Rabbis, no character is spared imminent pain, suffering, or death. The agent of catastrophe appears natural in all cases (tornado, disease), but in fact the implication is that individual deceit or moral failing is responsible.

The reference here is thus not the Job story, but rather classical Greek theatre, where characters witlessly play a role in their own undoing. In this light, the film is an elegant culmination of the era of Jewish anxiety. It's not just neurosis--fear of failure guarantees failure--that is the engine behind horrible events. The serious man's sin is hubris, seeking knowledge beyond its natural bounds.

Matchpoint's Metaphysical Argument

A remarkable feature of Woody Allen's didactic Matchpoint is that its mild meta-theatrical elements draw amperage from the plot to make a loud and meaningful metaphysical remark. Nola professes to be an actor but is ostensibly deficient in skill while Chris does nothing but play parts, as member of high society, as keen cultural critic, as financier, and then most significantly as loyal husband. The result is a man whose belief in life's meaninglessness ensnares him in a dogged belief in fortune. When passion threatens this belief, the autonomous being rears its head for an act of savage violence. Faith in fate, it seems, can only be sustained at the dramatically high personal cost of defrauding oneself.

Chris's expressed fear in life is failing to make a contribution. This fear can be seen as the vehicle for the entire tragedy, for it prevents him from nobility in the time of his great decision. Far more profoundly, it is this fear which enables him to perform the spectrum of roles which comprise his existence. This tragic self-evasion makes the film something of a morality play, except in place of a principled constructivism we receive only the most befuddled nihilism. It's no wonder Woody Allen is so fond of the macabre creed from "Oedipus at Colonus" (he also used it in Deconstructing Harry)--where oh where has the nervous bard's optimism run off to?

Match Point