Crash - Bang
I went to watch the movie 'Crash' at the weekend end. It's funny cause a friend asked me how it was - and i said it was 'great'. i'm known to use a lot of superlatives when it comes to movies, so the little laugh at the other end of the phone was to be expected.
I went to watch it the next day - again. It's intresting the reponses i've heard, read etc about a flm which is essentially about racisim and sterotypes from all angles.
I enjoyed the movie - it was an angry film, reactonary - at times very un-subtle but it hit me - BANG!!!! on all levels. The characters were belivable and although their actions at times were hyper exaggerated for a 36hour period, there was enough depth to their stories and enough understanding of the real world for us to see their reasoning.
A woman in front of us when the movie finished, said 'the movie is just so angry - what's the point of that'.
Apparently Paull Haggis, the writer, wrote the script after he got car jacked, just after 9/11. Being in London at the moment with the recent bombings etc and 'seeing' the seemingly fraught racial/reglious tensions been played out on the streets and in the media, adds another dimension to what is essentially an 'american' film.
I think one thing that the film definetly does capture, is that racism/prejudice is the easiest thing to turn to when confronted with fear and more and more today, people are afriad, and segregated. I think the notion of the metling pot, works to an extent on university campuses, nice coffee shops, nightclubs - record shops etc but maybe not in the real world.
It's funny because before watching the film, a friend was trying to tell a story about some comedy, about a white guy/pretending to be black or a black guy pretending to be white etc - i can't quite remember. Anyway he was saying that in the movie, the acid test was they took the guy to watch a movie....and they could tell he was black cause he couldn't keep quite in the cruical parts. It was funny to here all the shsssh etc during the movie aimed towards a group of black friends, who ooohed and ahhhhed their way through the film. They were also the only one's to clap at the end.
I think films like Crash are important, not because they give an answer, or that they even completely make sense - but because they force us to think (those of us anyway - who are honest enought to fully admit what it is we're thinking anyway).
I recommend it.
I went to watch it the next day - again. It's intresting the reponses i've heard, read etc about a flm which is essentially about racisim and sterotypes from all angles.
I enjoyed the movie - it was an angry film, reactonary - at times very un-subtle but it hit me - BANG!!!! on all levels. The characters were belivable and although their actions at times were hyper exaggerated for a 36hour period, there was enough depth to their stories and enough understanding of the real world for us to see their reasoning.
A woman in front of us when the movie finished, said 'the movie is just so angry - what's the point of that'.
Apparently Paull Haggis, the writer, wrote the script after he got car jacked, just after 9/11. Being in London at the moment with the recent bombings etc and 'seeing' the seemingly fraught racial/reglious tensions been played out on the streets and in the media, adds another dimension to what is essentially an 'american' film.
I think one thing that the film definetly does capture, is that racism/prejudice is the easiest thing to turn to when confronted with fear and more and more today, people are afriad, and segregated. I think the notion of the metling pot, works to an extent on university campuses, nice coffee shops, nightclubs - record shops etc but maybe not in the real world.
It's funny because before watching the film, a friend was trying to tell a story about some comedy, about a white guy/pretending to be black or a black guy pretending to be white etc - i can't quite remember. Anyway he was saying that in the movie, the acid test was they took the guy to watch a movie....and they could tell he was black cause he couldn't keep quite in the cruical parts. It was funny to here all the shsssh etc during the movie aimed towards a group of black friends, who ooohed and ahhhhed their way through the film. They were also the only one's to clap at the end.
I think films like Crash are important, not because they give an answer, or that they even completely make sense - but because they force us to think (those of us anyway - who are honest enought to fully admit what it is we're thinking anyway).
I recommend it.
posted by frieddodo at 15.8.05
1 Comments:
Interesting post. Enjoyed the movie too. At first, I didn't think the heavy handedness of the racism played through ALL the characters was quite necessary. Simply because I could see the similarities of the interconnectedness of the lives and the people in a similar vein to what was constructed for the film Magnolia.
But then I tried to think of the movie without the racism, and whether or not they had enough to go on without it. To be honest, take out a few scenes that I thought unnecessary (such as the 'he doesn't speak black enough anymore' part of the on set filming scene) and you could still probably make a film of some sort of it. But then, it would just be another film like Magnolia, which is where the timing of it all comes to play.
With the recent bombings in London, I agree, we here can all look at that movie and learn a few things on the way we behave and accept other races. However, having not been to the States since I was a child, it sickens me to think that the racial tension displayed is still so bold, obvious and blatant. Yes it's disturbing, but the subtle and indiscreet kind of racism that is hard to get on film, is the kind of racial tension that I fear more.
Sandra Bullock really annoyed me though, which probably means she had a good performance...
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