Film Studies: Crash Background Information Plot summary Crash shows an eventful two days in the lives of several residents of Los Angeles. While the film moves back and forth between various interlaced storylines, the strands are held together tightly by an overarching theme: the dynamics of racism within society. We follow an array of socially and ethnically diverse characters as they run into situations in which the effects of racism become visible for us as well as for some of them. A television director and his wife need to overcome the trauma of her being molested by a racist police officer with his disgusted young partner just standing by; an Iranian shop-owner is suspicious of a Hispanic who repairs his locks and tries to protect his property with a gun; a car thief who likes to philosophize about racial oppression suddenly has a chance to get rich quickly by selling off a bus-load of illegal immigrants from South-East Asia; and the viewer gets sucked into a maelstrom of human tragedies triggered by instances of sometimes ever-so-subtle racism. About the film Crash is an acclaimed Academy Award-winning drama film. It won three Oscars for Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay and Best Editing of 2005 at the 78th Academy Awards. Cast Karina Arroyave Elizabeth Dato Bakhtadze Lucien Sandra Bullock Jean Cabot Don Cheadle Graham Waters Loretta Devine Shaniqua Matt Dillon Officer John Ryan Michael Pena Daniel (as Michael Pena) Jennifer Esposito Ria Nona Gaye Karen Brendan Fraser Rick Cabot Ken Garito Bruce Terrence Howard Cameron Ludacris Anthony (as Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges) Thandie Newton Christine Yomi Perry Maria Ryan Phillippe Officer Hanson © 2007 Cornelsen Verlag, Berlin 1 Ashlyn Sanchez Lara Marian Sirtis Shereen Larenz Tate Peter Beverly Todd Graham’s Mother Writing credits Paul Haggis (story) Paul Haggis and Bobby Moresco (screenplay) Director Paul Haggis About the writer/director Paul Edward Haggis (born 1953 in London, Ontario) is a Canadian screenwriter, film director and a director/producer of television programs working in Hollywood. In 2006, he became the first person in the history of the Academy Awards to write two back-to- back Best Picture Winners, for Crash and the previous year's winner, Clint Eastwood’s Million Dollar Baby. He also wrote the screenplay for Flags of Our Fathers, the film Clint Eastwood just completed and collaborated with Eastwood on Red Sun, Black Sand, which Eastwood is currently directing. Additionally, Paul Haggis recently completed writing services on Casino Royale, the latest James Bond film, set to reach theaters in November 2006. As a television writer/producer, he created or co-created the series Walker, Texas Ranger, Due South, Family Law, and EZ Streets. In 1989, he received two Emmy awards for his work on the show thirtysomething. He will return to the realm of television in the fall of 2006, as NBC has picked up a 13-episode order for his crime drama, The Black Donnellys. Paul Haggis is also co-founder of Artists for Peace and Justice, a member of the board of directors for the Hollywood Education and Literacy Project, the Environmental Media Association, the President's Council of the Defenders of Wildlife and the advisory board of the Centre for the Advancement of Non-Violence. Crash soundtrack Title Artist 1. City of Angel Sungsoo Kim 2. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen Traditional 3. In the Deep Kathleen York 4. Maybe Tomorrow Stereophonics 5. Redemption Mark Isham © 2007 Cornelsen Verlag, Berlin 2 6. Swinging Doors Merle Haggard 7. Whiskey Town Moot Davis 8. El Llamar de Pasion Shani 9. Gonna Buy Me a Rope Paul Haggis 10. Jinglebells Traditional 11. Problems Move.meant 12. Str8upndown Move.meant 13. We Wish You a Merry Christmas Traditional Information about the film http://imdb.com/title/tt0375679/ http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1144992-crash/ Official website http://www.crashfilm.com/ Reviews http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050505/REVIEWS/505020 01/1023 (very detailed, positive review) http://film.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/Critic_Review/Observer_Film_of_the_week/0,,15 48712,00.html (detailed, positive review) http://popmatters.com/film/reviews/c/crash-2005.shtml (very detailed, rather positive review) http://thoughtsonstuff.blogspot.com/2005/05/crash.html (rather positive review) http://www.chokingonpopcorn.com/popcorn/?p=657 (positive review) http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/2005/07/crash.html (detailed, very positive review) http://cameraeye.wordpress.com/2006/02/19/crash/ © 2007 Cornelsen Verlag, Berlin 3 (negative review) http://archives.umc.org/interior.asp?mid=7987 (detailed, positive review) http://couched.blogspot.com/2006/05/crash-2004.html (review with positive and negative passages) http://goatdog.com/moviePage.php?movieID=751 (detailed, rather negative review) Online material and study guides for Crash in English classes http://www.filmeducation.org/index.html (information about films and film analysis in general, study guides etc.) http://www.cineschool.org/resources/Crash.pdf (study guide) http://archives.umc.org/interior.asp?ptid=1&mid=7997 (collection of study questions, including some group activities) http://www.damaris.org/content/content.php?type=1&id=296 (plot summary, background information, collection of study questions) © 2007 Cornelsen Verlag, Berlin 4.