Crash
Movie: 2005, color, 1hr. 53 min
-Director: Paul Haggis
-Actors: Sandra Bullock, Don Cheadle, Brendan Fraiser, Matt Dillon, Thandie Newton, Terrence Howard, Ryan Phillipe
Crash is a film encircling the lives of a dozen plus Los Angeles people.
How does editing play an important role as to connecting each character?
Editing plays a significant role in the film Crash. Editing with music and clips adds for easy transition into the different worlds of these characters. In a film with more then a dozen characters it is imperative that the shift of scenes need not be choppy. For example the director uses Middle Eastern music to play at a part of the film when each of the characters are finding redemption such as the fire scene with Dillon and Newton and then Howards scene with Ludacris but he swiches to the Iranian man who is far from redemption. This brings confusion when the music begins with the other characters who are clearly not Middle Easter and finishes with the unstable Iranian man making a horrid decision. Another example is doors, a scene of transition with doors is exemplified when Ryan Phillipe shuts his police door and closes the awkward conversation with Matt Dillon and that leads to the Mexican American male who comes home and opens his home’s door, this significant object that both represents transition, security and irrationality.
Rather then putting a whole entire assortment of different races, Haggis makes a few of the characters the same race, why does he do this?
Haggis has a small variety of races including Caucasian, Black, Asian and Middle Eastern. To specify we have Matt Dillon, Ryan Phillipe and Brendan Fraiser as main male white characters. One Caucasian female Sandra Bullock. Three main black males played by Ludacris, Terrence Howard, Don Cheadle. A black female Thandie Newton. Then we have a Mexican American female played by Jennifer Esposito and a Mexican American male played by Michael Pena. Shaun Toub to play an Iranian storekeeper. Haggis chooses a few different actors in the same race because he wants to demonstrate that a minority is stereotyped because of a few individuals but that as an individual it’s your opportunity to defy that label. These different characters that portray one race are from all different walks of life. It’s Haggis’ statement as to why we must not judge on appearance.
