pressed by the use of the set of a movie theater. Clifford takes his niece and the production assistant to see old movies which happen to closely correspond to the specific conflict and choice confronting Judah in the other story line. The theater set facilitates transitions from Judah's story line to Clifford's.
             Other sets are used in flashbacks to Judah's childhood to assist the viewer in gaining an understanding of the religious and moral upbringing that he and his brother experienced. Sets depicting the synagogue Judah attended as a boy and his family's celebration of a Jewish holiday around the dinner table provide the viewer with an excellent sense of the severity of the disconnection between Judah's exposure to the belief that wrongdoing will be punished and his decision to have his girlfriend murdered. The religious sets effectively convey the depth of Judah's guilt brought by making a decision which openly defies religious and parental teachings. The set depicting the floor plan of Judah's childhood home, which he visits as he struggles with a decision whether or not to confess to the murder, helps create an image for the viewer of the life Judah left as he moved toward moral depravity.
             Other sets help communicate the conflict-causing differences between the lives of the two main characters and those around them. Clifford works in a small, dark movie production lab with a scratchy film of Professor Levy, the subject of his life's work. The sets contrast with those of his tremendously successful TV producer brother-in-law (Lester) which are replete symbols of opulence including fine restaurants, posh party locations, and his own, large, well-equipped movie theater. The set for Clifford's apartment communicates a very financially modest lifestyle. These sets convey not only the basis for Clifford's jealousy toward Lester, but intensify the viewer's understanding of his struggle in choosing to humbly accept employmen...