The Domino Effect

Rating: Null/10 (1 August 2011)

The film Crash (2004) is centered on a belief expressed by a detective (Don Cheadle) at the scene of investigation early on in the film. His idea is one that revolves around the notion that people, or strangers, used to touch and feel close to one another in the past. The detective expressed that as time and city life evolved the closeness that people once experienced and enjoyed had strayed away or had become forgotten. He continued by stating that this feeling is missed so much amongst the populace that these people will sometimes go to the extreme measures of crashing into one another just to experience it once again.
The film then flashes back to the day prior telling multiple stories that intertwine and lead to the scene that is being investigated by the detective. Differences in race, societal hierarchy, and privilege lead and guide the actions of these characters. Regardless of their actions or crashes into one another's lives, the characters progressively shape the story and ultimately play a key role in what happens in the end. This movie was a prime depiction of great editing. This film consists of telling many different stories which ultimately draw a connection into one another. Editing efforts ensure that viewers' ideas, links, and reactions are influenced and guided in a way that makes the film credible and logical. In the film there were many instances in which sound effects were used to contribute to the realism of the action in the film and the emotion actors were experiencing at particular times. One scene, involving a potentially fatal car fire, included sound effects which built upon the suspense of the scene. Translating emotion from the silver-screen to viewers came in the form of a repeated and melodramatic melody. The filmmaker made this continuously used the same melody which familiarized viewers and cued them to digest the actor's emotion. This film is about the influence, both directly and indirectly, we as humans have on the lives and people within our society; our individual beliefs, values, and actions impact those around us.