Introduction
Crash is the controversial winner of the 2006 Best Picture Oscar, coming from behind in a late
run to snatch the prize from the frontrunner Brokeback Mountain. Independently produced,
on a very small budget ($US6½ million), it is the first film bought at a film festival to win Best
Picture – and the first Best Picture in 30 years to win only three Oscars.
The film did not get overwhelming support from the critics when it was released. A quarter of
those surveyed by Rotten Tomatoes (the Internet site that monitors and collates film
criticism), including many of America's more thoughtful and prestigious film writers, were
highly critical of its implausibilities, its schematic nature and its tendency to have characters
make speeches rather than deliver realistic dialogue. Other writers, however, welcomed its
ambition and its courage in confronting head on the difficult issue of racism.
Perhaps the most useful approach to the film is to treat it not as a slice of realism but as a
parable, a morality play, in which the coincidences are deliberate contrivances to demonstrate
attitudes.
One thing that all the critics agree on is the quality of the acting. Thandie Newton won
BAFTA, Empire and London Film Critics awards for her performance as Christine. Only one
cast member - Matt Dillon (Ryan) - was nominated for an Oscar (for Supporting Actor), though
Terrence Howard (Cameron) was nominated for Best Actor for a different film. But almost
every one of the main cast has been singled out in one review or another for praise; the
Broadcast Film Critics in America and the Screen Actors' Guild gave the cast their awards for
the best acting ensemble of the year.
Whether one is convinced the film is good, as the Academy voters decided, or is, as Glenn
Kenny, Premier magazine film critic, described it, a "simplistic, earnest, facile, PowerPointpresentation-disguised-as-a-movie", it is still an excellent film to teach and study. The very
schematic nature of its structure will make it easy for students to write about, and questions of
quality should encourage as lively a debate as the central thematic issues. Critical excerpts
have been included to stimulate debate.
The structure is patterned on a recently popularised format: a large ensemble cast take on
the roles of a number of individuals, most of whom are strangers to one another, and who
collide during one 36 hour period. It makes a conventional plot summary rather difficult to
write, so a diagrammatic approach is suggested.
The pervasive use of bad language throughout poses a problem for students writing in
exams; rather than risk offending a marker, it is suggested that they simply leave out the
expletives when they quote. It is easy to do and seldom changes the meaning of what is said.
Interesting Trivia

The film had a budget of seven and a half million dollars – which included a shooting
budget of six and a half. It was shot in 36 days, all on location; no sound stages were
used.

With such a small budget, director Paul Haggis had to cut the costs by borrowing
locations, and using his own house and even his own car for scenes. The Cabot house is
actually Haggis's own house. The studio where Cameron works is the stage of the TV
series Monk.

The script was written in 2001. One of the things that inspired the movie was that Paul
Haggis was carjacked himself about 10 years ago.

The casting took 18 months. Don Cheadle (Graham) was the first actor approached; the
producers knew if they could get him on board, the rest of the cast would be easy to get.

Don Cheadle and Beverley Todd, who plays his mother, also played mother and son on
the great TV series Hill Street Blues, about 10 years ago.

The role of Christine was written for Thandie Newton.

Sandra Bullock was so committed to appearing in this film, that she bought her own ticket
to fly to the set.

The role of the TV director was originally offered to Forest Whitaker who turned it because
if commitments to First Daughter (2004). Before Ryan Phillippe signed on, Heath Ledger
was in talks for the role of Hanson. John Cusack was the original choice for the role of
District Attorney Rick Cabot, which eventually went to Brendan Fraser.

Terrence Howard (Cameron) experienced a confrontation with the police similar to the
one his character has in the cul de sac. He was at an ITM machine when three squad
cars pulled up behind him. It was a case of mistaken identity, but Howard was so angry
at being treated like a criminal that he behaved much the way Cameron does, and had to
be rescued by one of the police who recognised him.

Arnold Schwarzenegger makes an appearance in the film - not as an actor, but as the
Governor of California. His framed photo hangs on the wall of Lt. Dixon's office.

Although originally released in 2004, the film did not qualify for the 2005 Academy Awards
as it did not play at least one week in L.A. (as Academy Awards rules require for
eligibility). When it finally opened in L.A. the following year, the film did qualify for Oscar
consideration in 2006, and it went on to win the Best Picture.

Lions Gate bought the distribution rights to the film for $4 million at the 2004 Toronto
International Film Festival, where it also purchased Hotel Rwanda, also starring Don
Cheadle. Cheadle was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar in 2005 for Hotel Rwanda.

Crash is the first film bought at a film festival to win best picture at the Oscars. It is the
first Best Picture film since Rocky (1976) to win only three Oscars (they usually win four or
more).

Catherine 'Bird' York, who wrote and sings the song "Into the Deep" for the film, makes a
cameo appearance as the police officer giving the report to Don Cheadle at the officer
shooting crime scene. She is a regular on TV series West Wing.

Martin Norseman, who plays the 'Barry Gibb dude' Detective Conklin, is director Paul Haggis's
next door neighbour. Haggis wanted some one for the part who looked like his neighbour - and
eventually decided to just ask the neighbour to do it.
Summaries
The order here is roughly the order in which the main characters are first introduced in the
film. Numbers in square brackets indicate links to other plot threads.
1.
Detective Graham Waters and his partner Ria are called to a shooting: a narcotics
detective Conklin has shot and killed another officer, a black detective Lewis. Internal
Affairs investigates; $300,000 is found hidden in the spare tyre of the car Lewis was
driving. Waters is asked by the DA's office to support their making an example of Conklin
for the incident, from which they will gain political advantage. Graham resists a job offer
but agrees to their request to save his brother Peter from a mandatory life sentence in
prison. [3] Later, Graham arrives at a crime scene to find that his brother has been shot.
[10]
2.
Farhad, an Iranian shop owner, buys a gun after his wife was threatened. He does not
realise that his daughter Dorri has taken blanks instead of bullets. Daniel is sent to fix the
lock on the shop door, but advises that the door needs replacing. Farhad thinks he is
being ripped off. When the shop is vandalised, the insurance company decides it is
negligence. Farhad blames Daniel and demands recompense; Lara sees her father
facing a gun without his 'protective cloak' [6] and runs out to save him. The gun goes off
but Lara is fine.
3.
Peter and Anthony car-jack the Navigator of D.A. Rick Cabot and his wife Jean. They
knock over Korean Choi [7] and dump him at A&E; because of blood on the vehicle,
Lucien rejects it. They try to steal another Navigator but Cameron resists [11]; Peter runs
away [ 10], but Anthony is in the vehicle when the police stop it. Officer Hanson [10]
persuades the other officers to let Cameron go. Anthony finds Choi's abandoned white
van and it is found to be full of illegal Asian immigrants. Anthony releases them. [7]
4.
D.A. Rick Cabot looks for a way of spinning the car-jacking and decides that hanging
Conklin out to dry would be the best way. [1]
5.
Jean Cabot feels threatened by Daniel, a Mexican, who changes their locks [6]; she falls
down the stairs and discovers none of her 'friends' actually care about her, whereas her
Mexican maid is kind.
6.
Locksmith Daniel Ruiz is a loving father who has recently moved house because a bullet
came through the window of his five-year-old daughter Lara's bedroom. He calms her
fears with a fairy cloak that will protect her. [ 2]
7.
Choi is paid for his van-load of Asian (Cambodian?) immigrants but is knocked over
before he can deliver them and is dumped at the hospital. His wife Kim Lee, who had
previously rear-ended Ria's car [1], finds him; he tells her to cash the cheque. Anthony
[3] takes the abandoned van and releases the Cambodians.
8.
Officer John Ryan cares for his father who is suffering from a urinary disorder; Ryan can
get no help from his medical insurance company.
9.
Angry, Ryan takes off after a black Navigator even though his partner Tommy Hanson
tells him it is not the stolen vehicle. Seeing what he thinks is a white woman with a black
man, he stops and harasses the Thayers, sexually assaulting Christine. Later, he
rescues her from certain death in a car crash.
10.
Officer Hanson is appalled by Ryan's racism and harassment [9] and asks for a different
partner; he is assigned to his own car. He rescues Cameron, who is defying police out of
anger and frustration. [11] Later, he picks up Peter [3], who is hitch-hiking. Hanson
mistakes Peter's St Christopher for a gun and shoots him; he dumps the body and burns
his car. Graham [1] arrives at the crime scene where Peter's body lies and recognises his
brother. He takes his mother to see the body. She blames Graham.
11.
Humiliated by Ryan and by his wife's anger, Cameron goes to work and is further
angered by another racist put down. When Anthony and Peter [3] try to steal his
Navigator, he responds with fury and fights them. He takes off in the vehicle with Anthony
in the passenger seat; stopped by police, he defies them. Hanson [10], to make amends
for Ryan the previous night [9], defuses the situation. Cameron agrees to go home, and
eventually tells Christine he loves her.
Analysing the Plot
Crash presents the life of a city – in this case, Los Angeles - through a number of linked stories in which
numerous characters' paths crisscross. People from radically different backgrounds are brought
together by a grim serendipity that forces them, or at least the audience, to acknowledge their essential
connectedness. This form – an as yet un-named genre – has its origins in literature, such as Balzac's
La Comédie Humaine and James Joyce's Ulysses. It was popularised in the cinema during the 1990s
by John Sayles' City of Hope, Robert Altman's Short Cuts and Paul Thomas Anderson's Magnolia. It is
not that unusual for novels and films to have more than one plot, though most films settle for a maximum
of three as a manageable number, as in Traffic and 21 Grams. Crash has many more than three,
particularly when early single plot strands split up.
1.
Identify the various plot threads, and briefly outline each one. You may use a
diagram if it is easier.
Begins with five main plot threads: the car-jacking; the shooting of the black police officer;
the illegal immigrants; Farhad's buying a gun; Ryan's dad; these split into about 10, even
12.
The car-jacking affects the Cabots, which links with Daniel; causes the harassment of
Cameron and Christine, which splits up Hanson and Ryan, leads to Christine's car crash
and Cameron's confrontation with the police; the separation of Anthony and Peter leads
to Peter's death and Anthony's redemption.
[See 'Plot Summary' and 'Appendix: Plot Diagram']
2.
Identify the characters that connect one plot thread to another.
Anthony and Peter are central: they link the Cabots, Graham, the Thayers indirectly and
then Cameron directly; Hanson; and the Asian smuggling ring.
Daniel is part of both the Cabot and the Farhad plotlines; Graham links Peter to Rick
Cabot via the Conklin shooting.
Dorri (working at the morgue) links the Waters and the Farhad plots.
When we talk about the plot of a book or film, we mean a story that is tied
together, in which everything that happens is important: A causes B, which
causes C and so on. Remove any one incident, and the whole pattern
should be affected, the whole story will fall apart, the way a stack of blocks
will collapse if you pull out one from the bottom. Stories told like this
usually build to a climax. This tightly plotted approach is sometimes called
the step-stair structure.
Episodic films, by contrast, are looser; individual scenes can be added or
removed without really affecting the outcome of the plot.
3.
Which of these two plot types has been used for this film?
Seems episodic yet nearly every event is a stepping stone upon which the next one is
built.
4.
Does anything happen in the film that does not contribute to one or other of the
plots? That could be left out? Explain. If events do not contribute to one or other
of the plot threads, why are they there?
Some of the dialogue between Anthony and Peter is more for entertainment and
expression of ideas – though even here, it is the argument over music that causes
Anthony to knock Choi down.
Other scenes, such as those with Graham and his mother, between Graham and Ria, with
Jean Cabot are more to develop character and to illustrate thematic concerns.
5.
Select one of the plot threads and show how each incident leads onto the next.
see plot diagram
6.
What techniques apart from characters have been used to ensure the unity of the
film?

use of motifs.

events in one plot affect other plots

transitions that link scenes


one setting; same locations
parallels and echoes in the action and
camera work

echoes in dialogue
Stories are often described as 'plot-driven' or 'character-driven'.
If a film is plot-driven, it relies upon external events and circumstances to advance the plot. External
events may be natural or human-initiated, as long as the initiator of the events is not a central character
to the story. The characters are affected by and react to events but don't really change throughout the
story.
If a film is character-driven, it relies upon the decisions and emotions of characters to advance the plot,
decisions that may produce chain reactions and conflict. The events, regardless of how many people
they affect, are triggered by characters within the story. Characters will develop as they learn how to
overcome the obstacles that are faced.
7.
Which of these terms would better describe this film? Justify your answer.
'Character-driven'. The action is full of coincidences, designed to demonstrate the thesis
that all are connected in one way or another, but each is the result of someone's decision.
Some characters are seen to change – Farhad, Anthony, Jean, Hanson, Cameron etc –
while same remain seemingly unaffected – Cabot is the best example; most are affected
by the events.
Narrative or plot structure is the term used to describe the order in which a story is told, and the way in
which different strands of the story are linked.
The most common ways in which stories are told are
a. in chronological order, i.e. the order in which the events happen;
b. using flashbacks, i.e. earlier events are included later in the story
c. with a frame of later time, and the whole story a flashback (book-ending)
d. with flash forwards, in which future events are included earlier than they actually happen.
8.
Which of these descriptions best fits the structure of this film?
d. The film opens with the discovery of Peter's body (his identity not revealed) and then
jumps back to the previous evening and tells of the events leading up to his death, and
following it. Not c. – although we return to the opening scene, there is a whole act after it,
so the story is not 'book-ended'.
'Conflict'
The main element that drives any film story (or book) is conflict. Without it, there isn't much of a story.
Conflict is a problem or struggle in a story that triggers action, i.e. that causes things to happen. It can
be very obvious, like people fighting, or much less obvious, as when someone worries over what is the
right thing to do. This second kind is called 'internal conflict'.
There are six basic types of conflict:

Person against person: one character has a problem with one or more of the other characters.

Person against society: a character has a problem with some aspect of society: the school, the
law, the accepted way of doing things, etc.

Person against self: a character has a problem deciding what to do in a particular situation, or is
torn between two (or more) courses of action, or between right and wrong.

Person against Nature: a character has a problem with some natural occurrence: a snowstorm,
an avalanche, the bitter cold, or any other element of nature.

Person against Fate: a character has to battle what seem to be forces beyond human control.
Whenever the problem seems to be a strange or unbelievable coincidence, fate can be considered
the cause of the conflict.

Person against machine: a character has to confront technology or other elements of human
creation (as opposed to natural or divine creation).

On your own or in a group, think about the six types of conflict listed above. Which
of them are included in this film? How many different examples of each can you
list?
The first three only. Although cars are significant, there is no sense that they are a
separate force.
Mostly person against person, though many of the examples of racism shown seem as
much societal and based on conditioning as on individual prejudice. Farhad, for example,
buys a gun to protect his family and himself against an unidentified threat, based on a
previous hold up.

Farhad: with the gun shop owner, with Dorri over the gun, with Daniel, whom he
thinks is cheating him.

Jean: with Rick, with Maria, plus an undifferentiated anger against the world

Ryan: with his father's medical insurance company, with city employment policies,
and with Shaniqua specifically. Takes this out on Cameron and Christine.

Cameron, Christine: with Ryan, then each other; Christine's desire to be rescued v.
her antipathy for Ryan

Cameron: with Anthony, and then with the police; even with Hanson who rescues him

Ria with Graham over his casual racism; Graham with D.A.'s office

Ria with Kim Lee: over the rear-ending

Anthony with Peter over perceptions or racism – largely light-hearted and comedic;
with a racist society

Daniel with a world that threatens his family; with its faulty perceptions of him
Against self:


Graham is faced with a moral dilemma – to 'frame' Conklin in return for a job (easily
rejected) and to save his brother from life imprisonment (agrees – ironically, since his
brother will soon be dead)

Hanson: first over Ryan's treatment of Cameron and Christine; over the Lieutenant's
terms; then what to do after he shoots Peter

Cameron: his wish to continue his successful life against his anger at the racist
treatment he has faced.

Anthony: to sell Asians or release them.

Some others should be internally conflicted, but there is no evidence that they are:
Cabot, Shaniqua etc
Are any of these conflicts resolved by the end of the film? Which ones, and how?

Peter is dead; Hanson will never be the same again.

Farhad's horror at what he did and his belief in a miracle seem to have overcome his
antagonism to the world.

Cameron seems to reach some sort of equilibrium;

Christine's forced re-evaluation of Ryan has defused her anger.

Jean has learned appreciation of Maria.

Mostly, however, people just move on from short term conflict which is not really
resolved. And will these rapprochements last?
Narrative Structure 2
Most commercial films – “classic Hollywood” type - are similar in structure to a three-act play:

The first act introduces the main characters and situation, and in includes a scene that sets up a
complication around which the plot will revolve - the catalyst or inciting incident, that disrupts the
equilibrium of the original situation. Sometimes, the act will end with that scene; other times, the
catalyst will occur earlier.

The second act develops this complication.

The third act brings the situation to a climax and resolution.
i.e. – get the hero up a tree, throw things at him, and then get him down from the tree.
Each act is structured to end on a moment of heightened tension or interest – a ‘turning point’ or 'plot
point' that will change the direction of the story.
1. Does this film follow this pattern? Can you identify three acts? an inciting
incident? the plot points that end Act 1 and Act 2?
There are three acts - Act 1 = the set ups; Act 2 = developments and complications; Act 3
= resolutions - but with so many different plot lines, no one clear plot arc. Each of the
main stories has its own arc to a climax and its own small dénouement.
Although there are so many plots, there is one incident that can be identified as the
'inciting force. The car-jacking of the Cabots' Navigator is like a snooker cue ball
smashing into the group of red balls and setting off chain reactions as each ball hits
another and so on. Nearly every event, directly or indirectly, can be traced back to this; it
can even be argued that Daniel's treatment by Jean makes him less tolerant of Farhad
and so contributes to that nearly tragic chain of events.
The assault on Christine and Cameron is the plot point that ends Act 1 and spins the
action into Act 2; the shooting of Peter is the shocking end to Act 2. Act 3 begins with a
repeat of scene 1.
With so many plot different strands, ways of keeping the film unified are particularly important,
especially since one of the main ideas in the film is the 'connectedness' between characters.
Motifs are often used as a unifying device, to link one scene with another, or one character
with another. A motif is an image, a word or phrase that is repeated several times in a film.
Something repeated once only is better described as an 'echo'.
2. There are many motifs in this film; how many can you identify?

St Christopher statuette

Christmas decorations

reflections, esp. in rear view mirrors

stop signs

telephones

keys, locks

chain-link fences = idea of cages

crosses feature in the background of several scenes (director says it is deliberate)

doors, windows – often as 'prisons' within which people are trapped, or protect
themselves
The white van and black Navigators are more important than just as motifs, as are
telephones, which have significance as communication devices – or lack of
communication (Ryan/Shaniqua; Cameron/Christine; Jean/Rick, etc)
A worksheet for motifs is included in the SG; see 'Scene by Scene Commentary' for
specific examples.
Another method film-makers can use to create unity is by repeating or echoing the same
images or camera angles and shots (visual) and sometimes the same ideas or words
(verbal). Look especially at the transitions from one scene to the next.
3. There are several visual – and verbal - links in the film. List specific examples.
"Look at me." (Ryan, Cameron)
People in bed: Christine; Jean; Lara; Ryan
H/A shots
flying ash / snow falling
two cars on fire
two shootings: one fatal, one not (+ Lewis
but after the event)
Filming through windows of cars and buildings; through doors – Ryan and his father,
Graham and his mother
Transitions: door to door is frequently used; one vehicle becomes another;
groceries/groceries; bed/bed
"Stay in your car." = to prevent confrontations i.e. connections with others
Parallels and contrasts are unifying; they are also important for the expression and
explication of themes.
4. Identify examples.
See next page
Some (though not all) film-makers like to end their film with explicit or implicit links to the
opening scenes. This may be done through parallel or repeated actions, through bookending or other means.
5. Identify ways in which the last few scenes link back to the early scenes of the film.

starts and ends at night, with aerial views of the city

Graham and Ria are rear-ended || Shaniqua is rear-ended

Ria mocks Kim Lee's English: "I blake too fast?" || Shaniqua: "Don't talk to me unless
you speak American!"

Graham returns to the crime scene where Peter's body was found

Kim Lee || Anthony releases the Asians, refers to "Dopey Chinaman."

talk of snow || it is snowing
Parallels and Contrasts
Motifs and Objects

two white vans

two black Navigators – both end up in flames [Lucien: 'Georgie, burn this thing.']

Hanson & Peter both have St Christopher medals
Characters


father/son, Ryan and Pop Ryan || mother /son, Graham Waters and Mrs Waters

both police officers (NB Peter is never seen with his mother)

both sons care for and deeply love their parent
father and daughter: Farhad and Dorri; Daniel and Lara


both daughters try to protect their fathers - successfully
two partnerships: Anthony & Peter || Ryan and Hanson

both split up; ends in disaster for one of each – Peter and Hanson

leads to 'heroism' for the other – Ryan saves Christine; Anthony releases the Asians

Ryan, Anthony – both mouthy, cynical racists, both save people of a different race;

Hanson, Peter – both idealistic, hopeful

both Jean and Farhad distrust Daniel

Christine's life is saved by Ryan; she is grateful || Cameron's life is saved by Hanson; he
is not
Situations

two wealthy couples – both shocked out of their sense of security in who they are, by
people with guns

two affairs: Graham/Ria; Rick/Karen – neither has a future; both men shut out the women;
both leave them standing as they walk away

two Navigators stolen/attempted to be stolen – and Anthony gets paid for neither

two blacks shot – one a cop (Lewis); both shot by white cops (Conklin, Hanson)

two fathers 'saved' by their daughters

Lara uses her 'impenetrable' fairy cloak

Dorri saves her father by choosing blanks for the gun he buys; he refers to 'my angel'

Christine would rather die than have Ryan touch her || Cameron would rather die than lie
down on the road.

two shootings – Peter, Lara, one fatal, one not

Cameron faces police twice – once he apologises; the second time defies them; in both
he is an innocent party

Choi and Christine both pulled from crashes
Scenes

Maria has gone for groceries || Graham takes groceries for his mother

Anthony's car won't go || Maria's car won't go

Christine phones Cameron from her bed after accident || Jean phones Rick from her bed
after accident

both have suffered accidents

both are told 'I love you' – though only one is sincere

Ryan hugs his dad || Jean hugs Maria || Graham holds his mother

Ryan helps Pop from toilet [21] || Graham helps his mother inside [31]; both framed by
doors [31, 54]

two burning cars – Christine's crash; Hanson's arson

two rear-endings – one to start film, one to end it

two dead bodies, both shot by cops, both black

Rick, Daniel look out from their homes
Planning and Writing Essays

Essay writing is a complex task. For less able students, break it down into smaller
bites. A series of paragraphs is a less daunting prospect than a long essay.

Explain to students that it is like arguing a case in court, in which evidence must be
presented in support of or in defence of an argument, an opinion. Debaters will find it
easier.

A good first step is to hold an "Irish debate", in which each student has to stand and
make a statement about the topic, with evidence from the film in support. This is more
effective if the topic has two sides, e.g. 'There are far too many coincidences for
credibility.'
or 'These characters are just caricatures.'
Suggested approach to writing an essay:
Step 1: Underline key words. Use them in the introduction to your essay.
Step 2: Plan your answer.

Impress on students the importance of planning. Avoid the term 'brainstorm', which is
more correctly used for gathering random thoughts. Planning involves the pulling
together of learned and understood material into a coherent and logical order so that a
question is answered.
Step 3: Answer the question in properly structured paragraphs. Aim for five paragraphs: an
introduction, three containing the substance, and a conclusion. Use at least one
relevant quotation or reference in each main paragraph; aim for two or three.
Question:
Discuss the effectiveness of the techniques used to connect different storylines in a
film you have studied.
(Note: Techniques may include narrative, structural and/or filmic techniques.)
Step 1: Discuss the effectiveness of the techniques used to connect different storylines.
The essay will need to clarify the various storylines, identify specific techniques, show HOW
they link the various plots and comment on how successful they are. These things do not
need to be dealt with separately: what, how and evaluation can be integrated into the same
paragraph; indeed, it is better if they are.
Step 2: Plan. (In an exam, keep this to a few brief notes.)
Intro
Explain the intertwining plot threads
list the techniques to be discussed
paragraph 2
paragraph 3
paragraph 4
characters
parallels in action and
camerawork
motifs
conclusion
comment on effectiveness; pull argument together
Step 3: Write an answer
Ensure that specific details and references are included; in film answers, descriptions of shots
etc are the equivalent of quotations in literature answers.
Discuss the effectiveness of the techniques used to connect different storylines in a
film you have studied.
When writer-director Paul Haggis and his co-writer Bobby Moresco set out to write Crash,
they did not intend to write about racism, though that is what the film ended up being about.
Their original idea was to follow a series of characters through Los Angeles and see what
happened when they 'collided' with strangers. The result is a film with multiple storylines –
five to start with and 11 by the time these have split into different strands – which is more like
a tapestry of life in L.A. than a conventionally plotted story. The techniques used to link these
numerous plots are, among others, the characters themselves, plot and cinematic parallels
and echoes, and the traditional unifying device of motifs.
The characters in this film are in a way like snooker balls on a table; hit one into a group
and they each knock into others. The film opens with the arrival of Detective Graham Waters
and his partner Ria at a crime scene, where Graham finds the body of his brother Peter –
though this last fact is not revealed until later. The film then jumps back 24 hours to show the
chain of events that lead to Peter's death. During those 24 hours, Graham investigates the
shooting of a black police officer, which leads to a meeting at the DA's office where Peter's
arrest warrant is used as a lever to have Graham support a prosecution. Peter is in trouble
because of a car-jacking – an event that triggers a chain of events. The Navigator belongs to
the DA Rick Cabot himself. This vehicle knocks over Choi, who is the protagonist of a third
plot-line (the smuggling of illegal Asian workers). The SUV rejected as unsafe, Peter and his
partner Anthony attempt to steal another Navigator, thus linking another plot, that of a
successful black couple Cameron and Christine Thayer. They have previously been the
victims of an assault by a racist police officer, Ryan, whose behaviour has so disgusted his
partner Hanson that he asks for a new partner. Hanson later saves Cameron from a police
confrontation, a direct result of the attempted theft and an indirect result of Ryan's behaviour;
Ryan turns our judgements upside down when he risks his own life to rescue Christine from a
car fire. And then Hanson is responsible for the death of Peter. The effectiveness of this
structure has been questioned as too coincidental, as suggesting the city has only a handful
of people in it, but this is to miss the point. The film needs to be seen for what it is - a
parable, an allegory of human behaviour, in which coincidences and juxtapositions like these
are acceptable, useful and telling.
Haggis is not content to have just his characters link the many storylines; he also uses
cinematographical echoes and parallels, repeating shots and angles. Scenes in one plot are
echoed in another. High angle shots suggest that these characters are not in control of their
own fates: the film opens and closes with them, and with a car crash – a rear-ending – that
emphasises the parallel. After the first, Ria, who is mistaken for a Mexican, mocks the poor
English of the other driver, Korean Kim Lee: "I 'blake' too fast? I'm sorry you no see my
'blake' lights." At the end, Shaniqua, who has been on the receiving end of Ryan's racism,
echoes Ria: "Don't talk to me unless you speak English." Scenes from different plots echo
the other: two cars burn; two wives call their husbands from bed after accidents; children
comfort their parents. The most obvious links between plots are through the transitions from
scene to scene: through doors and vehicles particularly. Several scenes are linked by
vehicles passing the camera and revealing a new scene – Anthony drives the Navigator
away, and when he has gone, the crime scene of the shooting is revealed. Later locksmith
Daniel, on his way to fix Farhad's door, backs his white van out of the drive, and it turns into
the black Navigator. Doors are effective links: Farhad's daughter Dorri pushes open the door
of the gun shop, and the scene cuts to Anthony and Peter walking out of the door of a
restaurant. As Ryan leaves Shaniqua's office (in the sub-plot of his father's medical
condition) he reaches to open a door; a cut to the next scene has a messenger opening the
door into the locksmiths where Daniel works and from whom Farhad is trying to get his name
– in another plot line involving doors, keys and locks.
Keys and locks are among a number of motifs that are effective in providing links
between plots. After the car-jacking, Daniel is called to change the locks in the Cabot house.
Perhaps because Jean Cabot offensively assumes from his tattoos that he is a gang
member, Daniel, one of the few characters who does not demonstrate racism, is less than
patient when Farhad accuses him of trying to cheat him. This failure of lock and key is a
direct cause of Farhad's confronting Daniel with a gun – another of the motifs that unify the
film. Guns are indeed ubiquitous in Crash – from the purchase by Farhad in an early scene;
to Anthony's reference to the "trigger-happy LAPD"; to Cameron's fear of Ryan's gun; to the
guns that Anthony and Peter use to steal vehicles, one of which Cameron has tucked in his
belt when Hanson assures his fellow police officers that "this man is unarmed." There is "a
nice gun" in the car of shot officer Lewis; and it is a police gun that shoots Peter. Other
motifs that link plots are the repetition of the lines "Look at me", used by both Ryan and
Cameron; the crosses that are often in the background of scenes, and the ubiquitous
Christmas decorations. Stop signs are significant in the Hanson-Peter plot and in the
Cameron plot, where they climax with a huge Father Christmas with his hand up like a stop
sign.
The effectiveness of these methods of connecting the many plot lines in this film is shown
by the fact that the stories are never confusing, that each flows seamlessly into the next. One
of the main points of the film is to demonstrate the 'connectedness' of people, the way they all
touch and affect other people. In the end, the plots are all integrated into one large tapestry
of 36 hours of life in a big city.
[number of words: 1074]
Quick Quiz
1.
What type of vehicle are Peter and Anthony trying to steal?
2.
What does Choi have in his white van?
3.
Why do they not escape when Choi is taken to hospital?
4.
Who else apart from Choi drives a white panel van?
5.
Why does Lara not get injured when she is shot?
6.
What is found in the back of the Mercedes that Detective Lewis was driving when he
was shot?
7.
Why does Graham agree to support the DA's prosecution of Conklin?
8.
Where does Cameron tell Ryan that he and Christine have just come from?
9.
What is the reason Christine gives for Cameron's not drinking?
10.
Why is Lara hiding under the bed?
11.
What does Anthony say is the origin of hip-hop?
12.
Why will the insurance company not pay out on Farhad's vandalised shop?
13.
Why will Lucien not take the vehicle Anthony and Peter bring him?
14.
What does Peter carry in his pocket (apart from a gun)?
Match up the following characters:
15.
she is the wife of the DA
16.
her father buys a gun
17.
he is a TV director
18.
he loves ice hockey
19.
he sees racism wherever he looks
20.
she is the DA's personal assistant
21.
he does the DA's 'dirty work'
22.
she is the DA's housekeeper
23.
he picks up a hitchhiker
24.
he is Persian
25.
her parents are from El Salvador and Puerto Rico.
26.
he gives his daughter an impenetrable cloak
27.
he is interested only in his political image
28.
his mother is a drug addict
29.
his father has a urinary problem
30.
she is rescued from a car fire
Choose from:
Anthony, Cameron, Christine, Daniel, Dorri, Farhad,
Flanagan,
Graham, Hanson, Jean, Karen, Maria, Peter, Ria, Rick, Ryan
Quick Quiz Answers
1.
What type of vehicle are Peter and Anthony
trying to steal?
a black Lincoln Navigator
2.
What does Choi have in his white van?
Thai or Cambodian illegal
immigrants
3.
Why do they not escape when Choi is taken to
hospital?
they are chained inside a cage
4.
Who else apart from Choi drives a white panel
van?
Daniel – though it belongs to the
firm
5.
Why does Lara not get injured when she is
shot?
Farhad has only blanks in the
gun
6.
What is found in the back of the Mercedes that
Detective Lewis was driving when he was shot?
$300,000
7.
Why does Graham agree to support the DA's
prosecution of Conklin?
to save his brother from life
imprisonment
8.
Where does Cameron tell Ryan that he and
Christine have just come from?
an awards ceremony
9.
What is the reason Christine gives for
Cameron's not drinking?
he is a Buddhist
10.
Why is Lara hiding under the bed?
she thought she heard a shot
11.
What does Anthony say is the origin of hip-hop?
an FBI plot to silence articulate
black men
12.
Why will the insurance company not pay out on
Farhad's vandalised shop?
he was negligent because he did
not get the door fixed
13.
Why will Lucien not take the vehicle Anthony
and Peter bring him?
it has Choi's blood on it; he does
not want to be on the Discovery
Channel
14.
What does Peter carry in his pocket (apart from
a gun)?
a St Christopher statuette
Match up the following characters:
15.
she is the wife of the DA
Jean
16.
her father buys a gun
Dorri
17.
he is a TV director
Cameron
18.
he loves ice hockey
Peter
19.
he sees racism wherever he looks
Anthony
20.
she is the DA's personal assistant
Karen
21.
his mother is a drug addict
Graham
22.
she is the DA's housekeeper
Maria
23.
he picks up a hitchhiker
Hanson
24.
he is Persian
Farhad
25.
her parents are from El Salvador and Puerto Rica.
Ria
26.
he does the DA's 'dirty work'
Flanagan
27.
he gives his daughter an 'impenetrable cloak'
Daniel
28.
he is interested only in his political image
Rick
29.
his father has a urinary problem
Ryan
30.
she is rescued from a car fire
Christine
Quotation Quiz
 For each of the following, give the speaker, the context and comment on any significance.
1.
Fact, if anybody should be scared, it's us: the only two black faces surrounded by a sea
of over-caffeinated white people, patrolled by the trigger-happy L.A.P.D.
2.
You want a lesson? I'll give you a lesson. How 'bout a geography lesson? My father's
from Puerto Rico. My mother's from El Salvador. Neither one of those is Mexico.
3.
We're always behind this metal and glass. I think we miss that touch so much that we
crash into each other just so we can feel something.
4.
Am I making insult "at" you? Is that the closest you can come to English?
5.
If we can't duck this thing, we're gonna have to neutralise it. What we need is a picture
of me pinning a medal on a black man.
6.
And the right message is, "Look at this black boy I just bought"?
7.
Sooner or later you gotta find out what it is really like to be black.
8.
Don't talk to me unless you speak American!
9.
Do I look like I want to be on the Discovery Channel?
10.
Why do you keep everybody at a certain distance, huh? What, you start to feel
something and panic?
11.
I am angry all the time, and I don't know why.
12.
The man steals from black people. Only reason black people steal from their own is
'cause they terrified of white people.
13.
This is weird for a white guy to say, but have you noticed he's talking a lot less black
lately?
14.
Looks like Detective Conklin shot himself the wrong nigger.
15.
Look what they wrote. They think we're Arab. When did Persian become Arab?
16.
You embarrass me. You embarrass yourself.
17.
So all I need to do to make this disappear is to frame a potentially innocent man?
18.
You have no idea why they put them great big windows on the sides of buses, do you?
One reason only. To humiliate the people of colour who are reduced to riding on them.
19.
I'm not sitting on no curb; I'm not putting my hands on my head for nobody.
20.
I'll give you $500 apiece, and you can keep the van.
Quotation Quiz Answers
This quiz is included in the Teaching Guide so it can be used as an assessment exercise if
wished.

For each of the following, give the speaker, the context and comment on any significance.
1.
Anthony to Peter as they prepare to hijack the Cabots' Navigator. Irony
2.
Ria, to Graham who has just referred to her as a Mexican. One of many examples of
racist stereotyping.
3.
Graham to Ria, in the car just after they have been rear-ended. Statement of metaphor
that informs the whole film.
4.
Gun shop owner to Farhad, after he has just called him 'Osama'. An example of the
way people see what they expect rather than the person actually there. And of the
propensity to be negative about those whose English is not good.
5.
Rick Cabot, DA, to his assistants, as he worries about the effect that being car-jacked
by two black guys will have on his image. The 'black man' he comes up with is in fact
Iraqi.
6.
Graham to Flanagan, after being offered the job as the DA's squad lead investigator;
the DA wants a 'person of colour' to 'send the right message' to the black community.
7.
Cameron to Christine, after they were stopped and assaulted by Ryan for being DWB
(driving while black).
8.
Shaniqua, after her car is rear-ended. Last words in film. She objected to Ryan's
racism; she is no better.
9.
Lucien, car thief, after rejecting the Navigator because it had blood in it.
10.
Ria to Graham, about his emotional distance from her. Later, it is revealed he is
rejected by the mother he loves.
11.
Jean Cabot, to her 'friend' on the phone (who doesn't want to know).
12.
Anthony to Peter re Mo Phat; irony, because when Anthony finds himself trying to steal
Cameron's vehicle, he does not stop.
13.
Fred, Cameron's producer (and boss) putting the uppity black boy in his place –
referring to the actor who has corrected some of the grammar in his lines.
14.
Graham to Ria, when they find that the dead black is Detective Lewis.
15.
Shereen, Farhad's wife, as she cleans the graffiti off the walls of their shop.
16.
Cameron to Anthony, after they have 'escaped' from the police. The moment Anthony
changes direction?
17.
Graham to Flanagan, about to be 'bought' to save his brother from life imprisonment.
'This' refers to an arrest warrant; the 'potentially innocent man' is Detective Conklin,
who has just shot his third black man.
18.
Anthony to Peter, in another of his wonderful funny diatribes; after his car won't start.
Irony, since he will take a bus himself later – and so see and release the Asians.
(Karma, as Earl would say.)
19.
Cameron to Hanson, who is trying to save him from himself as he confronts the 'triggerhappy LAPD.' Cameron is hanging desperately onto what sense of self he can; yet he
lapses into 'black' talk, suggesting his background is not middle class.
20.
Lucien rejects the old van of Mr Choi's but will buy the Cambodians inside. Anthony's
chance of redemption – he turns him down and releases the people.
Cinematic Techniques Worksheet Answers
 The following techniques are used repeatedly by Director Paul Haggis. Cite
examples of each and comment on the effect he was trying to achieve. Record the
scene number for your convenience, though you won't use these numbers in an answer.
There will be other examples.
Shooting into the light – 'halation'

Ria [1]

Anthony and Peter discussing the 'Chinaman' under the truck [15]

behind Ryan [10]

Farhad as he walks towards Daniel with the gun [42]

Graham with his mother [31]

Flanagan, Karen and then Graham [49]

Shaniqua in her office [28]

Ryan as he leaves [28]
 Note how often it is associated with the abuse of power.
other light effects

chiaroscuro - Ryan's place [21]

light switched off as Fred asserts his power over Cameron [27]

red light of fire [38]

red light on Ryan as he leaves Shaniqua's office (anger) [28]

dawn on Ventura Bv [22]

elevator door closing on Karen, leaving her in the dark 52]
filming through windows, especially car windows

Anthony, Peter in car [24]

Christine and Cameron in their bedroom [13]

Ria, Graham in their car [31]

Lucien talking to Anthony about the Discovery Channel [19]

Hanson in his car [34]

Cameron in his Navigator brooding 41]

Anthony on the bus [47]

Ryan and Christine in the crashed vehicle [38]

all relate to Graham's opening speech; often give the look of
prison bars
HIGH ANGLE SHOTS

opening view of L.A. – establishes setting plus the idea that these people are like pin balls on a collision
course – an 'eye of God' shot

the Navigator as Ryan and Hanson approach with torches; again as Cameron and Christine get back in –
the sense of people losing control of their lives (+ it's a very cool shot)

final shot of collision, street, city – reinforces idea of their lack of volition [60]

TV studio exterior [ 32]

Graham and Ria arriving at I.A. [35]

TV studio // Cameron brooding [36]

car explosion [38]
SLOMO

Lara running to 'save' her father

Jean falling down stairs

Ryan running to save Christine

specifically links these incidents – maybe a bit histrionic?

+ Graham at morgue – he is hurt as they are
REVERSE TRACKING

Anthony and Peter [3]

Jean walking through her home [6]

Jean and Rick [3]

Rick and Karen [23]

more interesting than static shots
FADE IN and OUT

during the opening credits – hints at the effects of a crash

after Hanson has shot Peter – to link back to the opening and following scene