thomas4cinema

Back reference to what I wrote about “Brokeback Mountain”: Crash is among the best films I have seen over the last years, and I am glad it received the honours of the Academy Award, if only because this will make more people see it (I guess everybody who wanted to see the gay cowbpys had a chance to do so in the meantime). The script is friggin’ excellent, learning the lessons of the Altman-Anderson school, avoiding heroism, showcasing disgusting normality (the most appalling character to me, by the way, was the freaked-out Sandra Bullock person – I could not feel the slightest bit of sympathy. The lady characters had a bit of a sympathy problem in general, I would say…). The script also offers (1) some of the best dialogues I have seen in the movies recently (eg in the opening sequence, when the two black boys keep discussing racial discrimination and suspicion – until they draw their guns) (eg when Don Cheadle tells his mother that he cannot talk on the phone, because he was about to screw a white woman, the annoyance hitting on the mother and the screwed Puerto-Rican chick alike [was that Jenifer Esposito? Oh yes!]). (2) a mastership in anti-climax that is very refreshing after years of permanent climaxes (cinematic, I mean…), the best example to me is the continued effort of the racist white cop trying to play the racist black card with the hospital administrator, where you expect something to explode at some point – or the lady to give in, prove her empathy and give him what he wants. It just won’t happen, people do not win their battles in this film, they also do not lose them. People also don’t resolve their marriage or their family problems (violent brothers, imbecile mothers, hysterical wifes, ignorant husbands). They just live with it (again: see Brokeback… unfortunately, there must be some truth to it). Maybe the movie is about the desperation ongoing battles causes in people, and what side effects this can have. I also do not really think that this is a film about racism in Los Angeles. Most of the cast gets into misery by trying to avoid being racist, and the effort to behave “normal” or “fair” in a neighborhood that has the stench of PC bullshit all over. I admit it: I love that kind of depression. Especially when other people drown in it. I love watching films that show the arbitrariness of being. Sure life can be fun, and can be worth the effort, and can be inspriring. But it can be a useless pain, too. And the only hope is that you can get the balance between the two sorted out.