Crash!

Crash is a fairly new film (though it was released back in May in the US), which I believe to be the freshest and most interesting contribution to come out of the United States cinema this year. In Denmark, it only plays in about 10 (smaller) cinemas, but that’s usually the case with non-Hollywood type movies. I go to the cinema a lot, and ought to write more about the flicks I go see, because most of them are quite good. But when I watched Crash today, I had to write a few lines. And you have to go see it.

The film is a two-hour long impression of all social layers, ethnic backgrounds, prejudices and everyday L.A. life that you could imagine. It hurls us through a series of events and introductions to seemingly stereotypical characters that leave us with opinions of them ranging from “Ok, he’s the idealistic, naive youngster who’ll be gunned down half-way through the movie” to “Holy f*ck, I didn’t think I’d ever want to smack Sandra Bullock so hard over the head as I do right now!?” …

Whatever the case, we are in for a surprise as the movie twists and turns and detours around our usual reference points and forces us to deal with varying prejudices, especially the ones with heavy racial overtones. It leaves us with nothing to do but watch as the various tales unfold, the character’s lives intertwining and heading for disaster. It’s a bit like watching Kim Bodnia‘s character Frank in Pusher, getting himself into more and more trouble, at the same time pushing himself away from the mercy of the audience.

I think it’s a great film, and one of those that might just go mainstream and get multiple Oscar-nominations (though the prejudicial theme might be too hot a subject for those people), or it may just enter the historybooks of cinematic achievements without much notice. But considering that it is the directorial debut of Paul Haggis (can’t have been much fun in school with that name), the script writer of “Million Dollar Baby”, I’d say the first is most likely. So go see it while it’s still fresh and trendy!