11 February 2006
crash
okay so you know that part at the end of titanic when kate winslet emerges on the deck of the ship in new york harbor and instead of returning to her evil fiance she takes jack's name and embarks on her own life and then the camera goes back to gloria stuart on the deck of the ship and she is holding on to the heart of the ocean and it is like her last tie to her privileged past and she throws it into the ocean and you want to like stand up and cheer because this character is like evidence that there is something good and decent in humanity and people can survive in this world simply by following their hearts and being good people and you leave the theater feeling really good about the world.
well that is exactly the feeling that you will NOT have after watching crash.
crash leaves you with a feeling that the world is going to hell and anything decent that MIGHT still exist is mired in something equally diabolical so you might as well gorge yourself on kettle corn and take up a hobby like bulimia or cutting. that being said, it is sort of one of those movies that even though depressing is really important and everyone should watch it.
besides the fact that is an effing brilliant piece of work, written differently than anything you have ever seen, played by amazing actors and it has a sort of message that pierced me. i really feel like i came out of watching this movie as a more educated person, not because the movie is necessarily educational, but because it makes you think about racism (and other isms) in a way that you never have before. it was definitely my favorite movie of the past year.
crash isn't easily summarized so i won't even try rather than to say that it is sort of the cinematic equivalent of a collage or quilt. there are several different stories, all which take place in l.a. you might sort of expect them to come together neatly in the end, like in a todd solondz movie, but that isn't what happens. it makes it even more interesting to me that these stories become only tangentially related to one another, but they are intimately connected by theme. the theme of course is racism.
i was not really excited by this movie. i had never heard of the director, paul haggis (even though he also wrote million dollar baby) and none of the actors really interested me, especially brendan fraser who i think is maybe the worst actor in the entire industry (he sucks in crash too, but at least his role is very very small). plus the title just sounds really boring. but i finally decided to rent it since i try to watch everything nominated and i was so surprised by how good it was and, more importantly, not boring at all.
i think my favorite part of the movie was a scene when thandie newton's character and her husband played by terrence howard are pulled over by two white policemen played by matt dillon and ryan philippe. the acting in this scene is really amazing as dillon sexually assaults newton. i was like shaking it was so upsetting. and the way it is filmed you just want to jump into the screen and do something about it. it is very effective.
anyways, i hope everyone will go rent this when you are in the mood to watch something really serious that will make you think a lot. it is probably best that you watch it with someone else, cuz you will want to discuss it i promise. i could totally write 20 pages about this movie without flinching so i will force myself to stop. . . now. ¶ 2/11/2006 09:51:00 PM
well that is exactly the feeling that you will NOT have after watching crash.
crash leaves you with a feeling that the world is going to hell and anything decent that MIGHT still exist is mired in something equally diabolical so you might as well gorge yourself on kettle corn and take up a hobby like bulimia or cutting. that being said, it is sort of one of those movies that even though depressing is really important and everyone should watch it.
besides the fact that is an effing brilliant piece of work, written differently than anything you have ever seen, played by amazing actors and it has a sort of message that pierced me. i really feel like i came out of watching this movie as a more educated person, not because the movie is necessarily educational, but because it makes you think about racism (and other isms) in a way that you never have before. it was definitely my favorite movie of the past year.
crash isn't easily summarized so i won't even try rather than to say that it is sort of the cinematic equivalent of a collage or quilt. there are several different stories, all which take place in l.a. you might sort of expect them to come together neatly in the end, like in a todd solondz movie, but that isn't what happens. it makes it even more interesting to me that these stories become only tangentially related to one another, but they are intimately connected by theme. the theme of course is racism.
i was not really excited by this movie. i had never heard of the director, paul haggis (even though he also wrote million dollar baby) and none of the actors really interested me, especially brendan fraser who i think is maybe the worst actor in the entire industry (he sucks in crash too, but at least his role is very very small). plus the title just sounds really boring. but i finally decided to rent it since i try to watch everything nominated and i was so surprised by how good it was and, more importantly, not boring at all.
i think my favorite part of the movie was a scene when thandie newton's character and her husband played by terrence howard are pulled over by two white policemen played by matt dillon and ryan philippe. the acting in this scene is really amazing as dillon sexually assaults newton. i was like shaking it was so upsetting. and the way it is filmed you just want to jump into the screen and do something about it. it is very effective.
anyways, i hope everyone will go rent this when you are in the mood to watch something really serious that will make you think a lot. it is probably best that you watch it with someone else, cuz you will want to discuss it i promise. i could totally write 20 pages about this movie without flinching so i will force myself to stop. . . now. ¶ 2/11/2006 09:51:00 PM
