CRASH (15)
D: Paul Haggis
Pathé (Cathy Schulman, Don Cheadle, Paul Haggis, Mark
Harris, Bobby Moresco & Bob Yari)
USA/Germany/Australia 🇺🇸 🇩🇪 🇦🇺 2004 (released
2005)
112 mins
Drama
W: Paul Haggis & Bobby
Moresco
DP: J. Michael Muro
Ed: Hughes Winborne
Mus: Mark Isham
PD: Laurence Bennett
Sandra Bullock (Jean), Don Cheadle (Graham), Matt
Dillon (Officer Ryan), Jennifer Esposito (Ria), Brendan Fraser (Rick), Terrence Howard (Cameron), Chris Bridges (Anthony), Thandie Newton (Christine), Michael
Peña (Daniel)
Though originally released on a limited theatrical run in
2004, it wasn't until a wider release in 2005 that Crash began to grab attention.
Racial tensions overspill in Los Angeles in the weeks
running up to Christmas, with a diverse range of characters interacting, seemingly 'crashing' into one another's lives.
The stories and characters range quite widely, beginning
with a car-jacking of a politician and his wife, a racist policeman's molestation of a TV producer's wife and a convenience store robbery which sees an innocent man suspected of committing
the crime.
This is a film which split audiences, one half with the
opinion that it was overly sentimental, clichéd and schmaltzy, whilst the other half thought it was an excellent representation of racism amongst a multicultural society. I'm siding
with the latter.
I can't be the only person who thinks so
either... Winner of the Best Picture Oscar for 2005.
8/10