“Moving at the speed of life, we are bound to collide with each other” - CRASH
“It’s the sense of touch. In any real city, you walk, you know? You brush past people, people bump into you. In L.A., nobody touches you. We’re always behind this metal and glass. I think we miss that touch so much, that we crash into each other, just so we can feel something.”
Racism, one ‘ism’, we haven’t been able to do away with, anywhere in this world! Why? Why not? And, how did we get there? How do we get out of there? Questions, questions and some more… and we could argue that for hours, ages… without actually getting anywhere…
The movie is just about that… how we, our small and big prejudices, lead us to do certain things which we wouldn’t dream of attributing it to ourselves, as a general rule.
A very very insightful portrayal of characters, enough development of each one of them, not very “in-your-face” hard hitting, but very subtle which works slowly, more on a hindsight than while you are actually sitting through it.
Somewhere in LA, a prejudiced and absolutely frustrated white cop – Officer Ryan (Matt Dillon) and his nervous partner (Ryan Phillippe) pull over a married African-American couple (Thandie Newton and Terrence Howard) and , molest the wife, just to spite them.
“When Peter (Larenz Tate) and Anthony (Chris ’’Ludacris’’ Bridges) carjack the District Attorney’s (Brendan Fraser) SUV, his wife Jean (Sandra Bullock) goes on a racial tear to justify her own depression. Daniel (Michael Pena) is a quiet, polite Hispanic locksmith who finds aggression from a Persian family who loses everything in a store robbery he tried to prevent. And Graham (Don Cheadle) is an African-American detective looking for his lost little brother, forced to use his skin color to tow the company line when corruption rears its head in the department”
(borrowed from imdb)
Nominated for 6 Oscars in 2006, Paul Haggis’s CRASH is a statement on our society. The reference frame is definitely LA, quintessentially American, but you can easily pick up the characters and superimpose them on any society of world and it would be as relevant.
A few scenes worth mentioning
A white cop – Officer Ryan, played by Matt Dillon; venting out his anger and frustration, because his dad his suffering at home and he can’t do anything to set it right…; molesting a black woman, Christine (Thandie Netwon), on some framed up felony pretext.
Officers Ryan, trying to save Christine’s from a car crash, and her first reactions and then later reactions, all in matter of few mins.
Officer Ryan pleading for his dad’s medical emergency to Black Nurse played by Loretta Devine.
Graham’s, played by Don Cheadle, first lines of the movie.
Officer Hanson’s (Ryan Phillipe) scene where in he saves Cameron (Terrence Howard) from another pull over later.
When Daniel (Micahel Pena), a Hispanic locksmith, ties an invisible protective cloak around his daughter Lara’s (Ashlyn Sanchez) neck, so that she wouldn’t be afraid guns etc.
And many more…
The magic of the movie is that it does an easy rope walk of drama and reality. Slowly and surely, it grows on you. Each frame, witty dialogues from unlikeliest of characters, turn of events with slight believable twists and an excellent screenplay; the movie not only makes you think; but leaves an indelible mark.
A lilting background score and equally good soundtrack; by Kathleen York, Paul Haggis and a bunch of others, not only seamlessly integrates itself with the story line, it also enhances it. No wonder, the movie was Oscar nominated in the original Music Category as well.
Two times Emmy winner Paul Haggis deserves a special mention. Not only as producer-director, but also fro writing and music credits. With hordes of TV Series credit and screenplay for movies like “Million Dollar Baby”; Paul definitely knows how to spin yarns of extraordinary subtlety and substance.
CRASH is a must catch, whenever!