"Trash" (2005)

Rating: 1/10 (31 October 2005)

Crash is a movie that deals with the structure of society and the racial intolerance that exists within it. I have to say that contrary to popular opinion, I was extremely disappointed with this film and afterwards felt quite frustrated by it.
I found its attempt to provide a commentary on the racial intolerance present in society very fabricated and unnatural. Directors such as Bresson, Dreyer and Tarkovsky have proved that you can achieve accurate emotional responses, without relying solely on melodramatics or manipulative music. Haggis has sold us short and presents deeply complex issues with a series of trite observations that short change the themes of the film. Slow music is played throughout most of the film, providing a symphony for the suffering or pain we see the characters endure on screen. This can be effective in films if used subtly, however in Crash, Haggis has succumbed to the melodrama and pseudo humanist approaches characteristic of soap operas and dramas. A typical example in Crash would be the scene where Matt Dillon rescues Nona Gaye from her burning car. As the action intensifies the music builds and the camera zooms in on the struggling characters within the overturned (and burning) car, and our heart is meant to break. Scenes such as this one frequent the film, but instead of being well portrayed, I found that they were empty and forced. This is because Haggis does not let us form our own emotional responses, and manipulates our feelings and plays to the emotions of its audience.
Crash is as crassly manipulative as it is topically exhausted. The film does not single anyone out and comes to the conclusion that we are all inherently limited in our tolerance of other races, and that we all make rash judgements about people as we try to go about our daily lives. I do not need a whole film to explain this to me - for centuries conflict and oppression has occurred because of political/racial/religious intolerance's, and humans constantly seek to resolve these conflicts wherever possible. Using this principle as the driving theme of the film is pointless and tyring to wring water out of a dry cloth. In an enlightened 21st century where political correctness plagues society, it is insulting to realise that Haggis thinks hes shedding new light on these problems. He does not and indeed he offers no solutions either. I completely reject the idea that this film teaches us about who people truly are  as the films tag line suggests. I struggle to see how anyone closely resembling the characters on screen exists (perhaps with the exception of Sandra Bullocks character). Many of the films characters seem to continually voice their philosophies and conveniently memorised statistics on race relations as though they're recalling extracts from a research essay they've just written. Crash manages to perpetuate the very stereotypes it claims we brand people with.