Crash - watch it!

A few months back, my friend recommended me a movie called "Crash". He briefly told me that it was a compelling movie about racism in US. We briefly discussed what it was and I registered the name of the movie at the back of my mind. I left it at that. Yesterday, I was down at the video rental store and leafing through the catalogue of some recent additions. The movie "Crash" featured in it. I remembered my friend's recommendation and decided to rent it out.



I watched this movie today. Man, does it blow my mind off! It is the directorial debut for the director Paul Haggis. And he has taken a very tough subject to showcase. The plot is deeply intertwining, each member of the cast is ultimately connected to other. There are not more than 2-3 major incidents in the movie and the entire plot revolves around those. Each character has been finely etched and the screenplay is amazing. The movie has its moments, amazing ones at that. Few of them that would remain etched forever would be where Ryan Phillipe speaks to his fellow beat cops to leave the black man alone after a hot high speed chase. Another scene where the Ryan throws his anti-racial convictions into thin air and shoots the young boy who just wants to show the same Zulu figurine that he has. Matt goes through his motions when he saves the same woman whom he had molested sometime earlier. A moment where Sandra hugs her housemaid and says she is her best friend. The realisation sets in her as her (previous) best friend of 10 years could not come to her rescue when she falls down the stairs and breaks her leg because that friend was taking a massage! And many more...

In the end, many of the characters realise the foolishness behind their peeves. The director has provided the answer to deal with racism in the movie itself. He asks each one of us to treat our fellow people with compassion and try to relate to them, even if it is only remotely plausible. I am going to reiterate some lines from the quote that I had mentioned in one of my earlier blog posts. "There is a lot of good in the bad of us, And there is a lot of bad in the good of us". Crash just shows that fact in a brilliant way!

Finally, there are films that deal with bold themes, and there are films that deliver a strong message. But seldom, a movie comes into the theatres that deals with a bold theme and delivers a strong message. Crash does that.

Watch it, if you have not already done so.