Directed by:
David CronenbergScreenplay:
David CronenbergCinematography:
Peter SuschitzkyComposer:
Howard ShoreCast:
James Spader, Holly Hunter, Elias Koteas, Deborah Kara Unger, Rosanna Arquette, Nicky Guadagni, Markus Parilo, Peter MacNeill, Judah Katz, Boyd Banks (more)Plots(1)
Set tomorrow or the day after, in a world where sensation has replaced communication, "Crash" tells the story of James Ballard, a commercial director in the throes of a troubled relationship with his wife, Catherine. One day, Ballard is involved in a car accident that results in the other driver's death. Anxious to come to some understanding with the widow, Helen Remington who, like him, has been injured in the collision, Ballard joins her in an exploration of cars, sex, and death... and the point at which all three meet. Along the way, they encounter Vaughn, a fetishist who recreates and eroticizes famous car crash deaths, and Gabrielle, a woman whose scars and injuries are both disfigurements and decorations. (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Reviews (4)
There’s a bunch of perverts who don't know how to get laid anymore, so they focus on the adrenaline associated with car accidents... I thought it was a great topic when I was 15, and after a while, I bought the DVD, but I didn't see it until today. So what did I think? It’s boring. The withering cast is probably the worst I've seen in years. Deborah Kara Unger is the queen of all the C-movies and I am left wondering what happened to James Spader, who was so great in Wolf but who now only stars in B-movies.
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Crash is an extraordinarily bizarre, psychologically complicated and sexually avant-garde ode to the seductive aspects of the voluntary and, at the same time, inevitable self-destruction of the physical shell of an aggrieved generation living in a cold, depersonalized world. Art in Cronenbergian garb that you won’t be able to tear your eyes away from for even a second and which will eventually lead you into a state of ecstatic depression and sorrow. Beautiful.
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An experience thwarted by the censorship of a horribly insensitive R-cut that someone must have spliced together in ten minutes. I'll add a proper review once I get hold of and watch the proper NC-17 version.
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David Cronenberg gave us a psychological thriller that builds up and anticipates a devastating finale - the destruction of the heroes. Can they survive in such a way? How could they? You can't live like this for too long. The catastrophe must reach its peak, and the fall to the bottom follows. But is it really so? I won't claim that the film portrays anything accurate, but it certainly doesn’t glorify. To view Crash as a film that celebrates accidents and unrestrained sexuality is nonsense. Crash doesn't want to shock, but it wants to show how far we can go. If you see it as a pathetic attempt to shock, a perverse film that revels in depravity, then I think Cronenberg’s films really aren’t for you, and the director won’t find understanding with you. It’s a shame because his films at least draw attention to our darker sides, which we can avoid, learn more about, and understand.
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