A-Z #54 Crash

You can pick up hundreds of DVD's for a round-pound each - it doesn't matter. Its never about quantity, its about quality. A-Z is my way of going through my collection, from A-Z, and understanding why I own the films ... or you can tell me why I should sell 'em

#54 - Crash

Why did I buy it?

 

I had been desperate to see it ever since my younger brother Graham was raving about it - he had struck gold on one of his 'blind-cinema' viewings (he didn't wear a blindfold, he simply visited the cinema and randomly chooses a film he knows nothing about...). He constantly stated how incredible it is and when I saw the trailer I was especially interested - LA, ensemble-cast, socially relevant themes of racism and societal-problems... seemed especially good. It was inevitably that I, to paraphrase Cheadle, 'crash' into this film and see what it was all about.

 

Why do I still own it?

I won't lie - I am glad this won over Brokeback Mountain. Brokeback Mountain is a good film: it breaks boundaries in releasing such a mainstream film about such a contentious issue, it looked epic and sweeing in its romance and context. In fact, Brokeback Mountain is a great film. But Crash was not the favourite in the Oscars that year. Brokeback Mountain  was - and it was up against Spielberg's Munich, Clooney's Good Night and Good Luck, whilst the fifth nominee was Hoffman playing Capote. All the other films are much more Oscar-baiting (does that work?) than Crash. I like how it won and it beat all the odds. I like how a film with a Travis song on the closing credits won Best Picture. This is a film that is not a force to be reckoned with - its not 4-hours worth of Ben-Hur and Gone with the Wind. It is not the epic scale of Amadeus or Gandhi - so important because of who these people are in history. It is not huge-pans across large countries - New Zealand in The Return of the King or Texas in No Country for Old Men. Its not particularly profound - its just a bloody good film.

Should I sell it though?

Possibly on the basis that there is a better edition out ... should I upgrade is the proper question...

A-Z #53 Crash

You can pick up hundreds of DVD's for a round-pound each - it doesn't matter. Its never about quantity, its about quality. A-Z is my way of going through my collection, from A-Z, and understanding why I own the films ... or you can tell me why I should sell 'em

#53 - Crash 

Why did I buy it?

We all know about Crash, the original Crash. Opposed to the remake by Haggis (joking!). After a while, once you have heard all the twisted stories - cars, metal and sex... - you eventually think, sure, why not. I also read the BFI Modern Classic on the film and it was incredibly dense. Potentially, too much. At any rate, it was bought with the view that it is a 'classic' or 'essential'  film I should own!

Why do I still own it?

I have only watched it once, first off. It is twisted and truly messed-up - but not without an air of consistency. The themes that run through the film are consistent and relate sex and vehicles in a way that I dubt has existed before or since. The emotional attachment following an accident, the sexualised and erotic pleasures that cn be found through these attachments, the friends and people you meet when you explore this obsession and attraction. I don't deny how strange it is, but I feel that after a few watches, I will understand the attraction people have to the film. Some people rate Cronenberg on the strength of these films - Crash and Naked Lunch - opposed to the much-more commercially viable A History of Violence and Eastern Promises, which, in fairness, I do prefer.

Should I sell it though?

Mayb I am fooling myself - trying to be the cool-kid-who-loves-the-weird-shit - and I should give up the ghost and sell the film without any thought for the potentially all-important, second watch.