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whiskyinmind
whiskyinmind
04 March 2006 @ 09:14 pm
"I think we miss that touch so much, that we crash into each other, just so we can feel something."  

I haven't seen Brokeback Mountain yet, I actually haven't seen much in the cinema lately, but I just watched Crash.

If this film doesn't win an Oscar then the film industry is FUBAR'd more so than I already think it is.

It's been an insanely long time since I saw a film which hit every single button in the way this one has. I went from despairing over the human condition to hoping that people could just think about others for once.

And the little girl? When she turned and said "But he doesn't have it." I wept. I was on my knees in front of the TV with my hand to my mouth crying.

I just...

I have no words. If you haven't seen it yet, rent it, buy it, whatever. Just watch it.



ETA So I'm now watching the DVD extras (something I don't do all that often on rentals) and Paul Haggis (great name) just said something which hit home. He wants people to watch this film and enjoy it, but then think "is it talking about me, is it talking about the person next to me." I watched this film and for the first half I was thinking, "thank god I live in Scotland and not LA where racism like that is taken for granted." But now I'm thinking, I still in my head call a Chinese takeaway a "Chinky" and a corner shop run by Asians is still, in my head, a "Paki" shop. I know it's racist, and it's only in my head, and I feel guilty as hell for thinking those terms, but yes. This film is making me think. So kudos, Paul Haggis. Kudos every single person involved with this film.
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Current Mood: pensive
Current Music: 'phonics - Maybe Tomorrow (over the end credits)
 
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[identity profile] velvetwhip.livejournal.com on March 4th, 2006 01:47 pm (UTC)
My mother agrees with you about Crash. I have yet to see it, but I intend to soon.


Gabrielle
[identity profile] whiskyinmind.livejournal.com on March 4th, 2006 01:57 pm (UTC)
It's rare that a film holds a mirror up and says "This is who you are, can you live with it?"

This kind of film is the reason I went back to university after I dropped out, this is art that has the potential to change the world.

This is life.

You should watch this film, everyone should. It's traumatic, it's painful, it's NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) it's a reflection of the human condition. But it's also optimistic. It's... it makes you want to believe that the world can be a better place, y'know?

I am so enamoured with this film right now. Dram keeps coming to check I'm okay because I'm getting so emotional about it!
[identity profile] velvetwhip.livejournal.com on March 4th, 2006 02:07 pm (UTC)
My only trepidation is, I think, because I spent 35 years of my life in Los Angeles and I know this movie is really going to hit home in so many ways for me. I had a friend who was beaten by police with a nightstick for being Hispanic and driving a new Cadillac... police brutality and racism aren't abstractions to me.


Gabrielle
[identity profile] whiskyinmind.livejournal.com on March 4th, 2006 02:20 pm (UTC)
The thing is, I don't have the direct experience of the 'institutionalised' racism which is portrayed in the film, but the abstractions aren't so stereotypical as they might first appear, I don't think. Yes, the cliches are there, but as soon as they appear that mirror shows up and makes you think. In one instance in the film it's the white police officer (played by Matt Dillon) abusing his authority over a black woman (played by Thandie Newton) and it... there are repurcussions. (I'm trying not to spoil it for you!)

It's hard to separate this film from life - especially if you know the situations, for me there was always the span of the Atlantic there, but it still hit home - I would possibly suggest that you don't view it as LA, that you view it as some other city to which you don't have the personal connection. An Erehwon, if you will. I would say this film is worth it.
[identity profile] velvetwhip.livejournal.com on March 4th, 2006 02:21 pm (UTC)
I'm definitely going to watch it. I just need to psych myself up.


Gabrielle
(Anonymous) on March 5th, 2006 10:40 am (UTC)
Saw Crash last week.Didn't think it was any good at all.Well, Luda was good, his character was interesting.Apart from that the locksmith, his daughter, and Ryan Phillippe were the only ones I both beleived in and was interested by.Don Cheadle,Matt Dillon,Sandra Bullock,Thandie Newton et al I either found false or unengaging.The heavy handedness of the movie actually annoyed me.I didn't believe in it at all which meant I therefore didn't come away engaged by its themes or relating them to my reality.
CJ
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[identity profile] dimlondeiel.livejournal.com on March 6th, 2006 05:52 am (UTC)
Paul Haggis is the creator of Due South, which I'm a big fan of (read, now obsessed with now the repeats are being shown on ITV3). I've not seen Crash, but it's one of those films that I keep meaning to buy/rent.
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