I am not a huge fan of Crash, but this thread in the IMDb forum for the movie Crash was probably the best thread regarding that movie. It has since disappeared. I have reposted it here (edited, because there are many deletions) to preserve it for those who might find it interesting.-TOoP/Bruce================================================================
by I_am_RenegadeX (Fri Mar 17 2006 07:57:21)
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UPDATED Sat Oct 4 2008 15:57:35
The same questions are being asked over and over, so I put together this little 'Crash FAQ'. Enjoy!
(tip: this thread is best viewed using the 'FLAT' forum view)
*** THE 'Plot' SECTION OF THIS FAQ CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS ***
(I've separated & moved the 'Plot' FAQ answers to the first Reply (next message below); however .. warning: to get to the FAQ answers, you must first scroll past the green 'PLOT' section in the 'FAQ CONTENTS'!)
*** UPDATE: I've added a few FAQ 'STUBS' (additional questions & answers, or insightful posts that I wrote long after I wrote the FAQ) in their own posts BELOW the main FAQ section. So keep scrolling down!
PLEASE post a *BUMP* as needed to keep the FAQ near the top of the messageboard topics list..
(.. so that others might see this FAQ before inadvertently posting the same questions)
========================
CRASH FAQ CONTENTS:
========================
MUSIC
1. What's the name of the song (female singer) that plays toward the end of the film as the characters reflect on what has happened?
2. Where can I find the lyrics to 'In the Deep'?
3. What's the name of the hip-hop song heard playing in the stolen Lincoln Navigator - that caused Anthony to lambaste Peter for listening to 'music of the oppressor'?
4. What's the name of the song that plays during the rescue scene? .. what language is it sung in?
5. What's the name of the songs used in the closing credits?
6. What's the name of the music that's used at the beginning of the 'Crash' trailer? (also heard at at the Oscars)
MUSIC STUB (separate post):
- 'Sense of Touch' / 'Flames' lyrics & background:
- 'ROME: Total War?'
- 'City of Angel'
- Shani: 'El Llamar de Pasion' ?
CHARACTERS / ACTORS:
1. What is the locksmith's name and which actor played him?
2. What is the locksmith's daughter's name? Is it 'Elizabeth', or 'Lara'?
3. What is the name of the chop-shop boss and which actor played him?
4. What are Officer Ryan (played by Matt Dillon) & Officer Hanson's (played by Ryan Phillippe) first names?
5. Tony Danza was in this film?
GENERAL:
1. Why was 'Crash' up for 2005 film awards (such as the Oscars), when IMDB lists it as a 2004 film?
2. What's the difference between the original full/wide-screen DVDs and the 2-disc "Director's Cut Edition"?
3. I heard there's some controversy involving lawsuits surrounding the producers. What's the story?
4. Why do we need another film *about* racism? It didn't teach me anything I didn't already know. What was the point of the film?
PLOT: (** SPOILERS **, this section only)
1. At the gun-shop, did Dorri know what she was getting when she asked for the 'red box'?
2. What's the deal with the Conklin (the "Barry Gibb dude") and Detective Lewis & the stolen money? Why does the DA want to frame Conklin?
3. Who trashed Farhad's store? Was it the locksmith?
4. Who were the people in the Chinaman's van, and what was so important about the cheque?
5. Was Brendan Fraser's character Rick(the DA) having an affair with his assistant Karen (played by Nona Gaye)?
6. At the end of the film, is the white stuff falling from the sky snow, or ash from the burning car? What's the significance?
PLOT STUBS (separate posts):
- CHRONOLOGICAL CRASH PLOT OUTLINE/TIMELINE
- ON *SUBTLETY* IN 'CRASH'
======================================
CRASH FAQ: ..starts here..
======================================
MUSIC:
1. What's the name of the song (female singer) that plays toward the end of the film as the characters reflect on what has happened?
It's "In the Deep" by Kathleen 'Bird' York; the song can be found on the Crash Original Soundtrack CD; a shorter 'album version' can also be found on Bird's CDs 'The Velvet Hour' & 'Wicked Little High'. Check out
http://www.birdyork.com/ for more info.
2. Where can I find the lyrics to 'In the Deep'?
Here: (includes lyrics to both versions):
http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/1281/inthedeepostlyricsrk4.jpg3. What's the name of the hip-hop song heard playing in the stolen Lincoln Navigator - that caused Anthony to lambaste Peter for listening to 'music of the oppressor'?
It's "Str8upndown" by 'Move.meant'. Check out their MySpace site:
http://myspace.com/movemeant4. What's the name of the song that plays during the rescue scene? .. what language is it sung in?
The song as found on the Soundtrack CD is called 'Flames'. However, 'Flames' starts with Farsi (Persian) vocals, heard during the scene where Farhad is searching through the dumpster - and fades into the 'rescue scene' music, which is sung in Welsh. The standalone Welsh song also plays later in the film, and is called 'Sense of Touch' on the CD. Whether 'Flames' should be considered an 'extended version' of 'SOT' or 'SOT' should be considered an edit of 'Flames' is debatable - bottom line - if you're looking for just the 'rescue' music, hunt down 'Sense of Touch'!
In the post found here:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0375679/board/flat/38650882?d=38952268#389 52268 - I explain the interesting story of how Mark Isham came to use the Welsh vocals, and also explain what the lyrics are and what they mean in English.
5. What's the name of the songs used in the closing credits?
During the final scene in Chinatown, 'Maybe Tomorrow' by 'Stereophonics' (
http://www.stereophonics.com) plays, and continues into the credits; the 2nd credits song is 'Problems' by 'Move.meant'.
6. What's the name of the music that's used at the beginning of the 'Crash' trailer? (also heard at at the Oscars)
It's Samuel Barber's 'Adagio For Strings' - the opening strings from Kronos Quartet's rendition of 'Adagio' leads into the choir-version of the same song performed by the Taliesin Orchestra. Taliesin's version is available on their CD, 'Sacred'.
CHARACTERS / ACTORS:
1. What is the locksmith's name and which actor played him?
The locksmith's name is Daniel, and his character was played by Michael Peña.
2. What is the locksmith's daughter's name? Is it 'Elizabeth', or 'Lara'?
Her name is 'Lara', and she's played by Ashlyn Sanchez. There's some confusion about the character's name because Daniel, the locksmith, yells 'Honey - stay inside-Elizabeth!' as his daughter runs to the door. However, a few moments later, her mother yells "Lara, stay out of the street!". We can deduce that Daniel was previously yelling to get the attention of his wife, Elizabeth. Furthermore, earlier in the film a sign on her bedroom door is seen stating that it is "Lara's room".
3. What's the name of the chop-shop boss and which actor played him?
The chop-shop boss 'Lucien' was played by actor Dato Bakhtadze.
4. What are Officer Ryan (played by Matt Dillon) & Officer Hanson's (played by Ryan Phillippe) first names?
Both characters are briefly mentioned by their first name in the film.
- Officer John Ryan. When Officer Ryan (driving) pursues a black Lincoln Navigator as per the police dispatch radio bulletin - Officer Hanson says to Officer Ryan "That's not the vehicle, John. The plates don't match".
- Officer Thomas('Tommy') Hanson. During the traffic stop, Cameron apologizes and asks to be let go with a warning, prompting Officer Ryan to say to Officer Hanson, "The man's apologizing, Tommy. I think we can let him go. Don't you?", and then a moment later, "Let's go, Tommy".
5. Tony Danza was in this film?
Tony Danza (of "Taxi", "Who's The Boss?", "The Tony Danza Show", and 10-10-321 tv-commercial fame) played the role of 'Fred', the tv producer who asks Cameron if he's thinks Jamal is "talking a lot less black lately?". Surprisingly, he did not suck!
GENERAL:
1. Why was 'Crash' up for 2005 film awards (such as the Oscars), when IMDB lists it as a 2004 film?
'Crash' was first shown to a public audience (<- the standard date criteria that IMDB uses) at the Toronto Film Festival in September, 2004. However, 'Crash' was not released in theatres until May, 2005. Academy Award rules state that in order to be eligible for the 78th Awards, a film must play for at least 7 consecutive days in Los Angeles County, California between January 1, 2005 and midnight of December 31, 2005. Therefore, 'Crash' qualified for the Awards held in March, 2006.
2. What's the difference between the original full/wide-screen DVDs and the 2-disc "Director's Cut Edition"?
The 2-disc Director's Cut Edition(DCE) features:
- DCE slip-off cover with new artwork - a view from inside a car looking out over the dash onto a nighttime street, with a rear-view mirror at the top reflecting the 'rescue scene' (cropped from the original DVD's 'full' cover picture). The box beneath the slip-cover retains the original artwork. Both have lettering at the top and side panel indicate "2 Disc Director's Cut Edition".
- aspect ratio of 2.35:1 (vs 1.85:1 for the original 'widescreen' DVD release and 1.33:1 for the 'full screen' DVD release).
- an additional 4 minutes of footage over the cinematic release; various minor additions/changes interspersed throughout (including the under-the-bed locksmith/daughter scene, the hospital scene near the end, and an added police-station scene involving Officer Hanson).
- adds English Dolby 6.1 DTS-ES audio track option in addition to the standard Dolby Digital 5.1 & 2.0 audio options.
- As also found on the single-disc DVD releases: Audio commentary (in English) with writer/producer Paul Haggis, Producer/Actor Don Cheadle, and screenplay writer Bobby Moresco; English & Spanish subtitles; trailers.
- Disc 2 Bonus materials include: Deleted scenes (with optional director's audio commentary); additional featurettes including 'On Paul Haggis', 'LA - the Other Main Character', 'Unspoken' (narrated by Thandie Newton; examines racial hatred, why we hate, how money & class play a role.. and possible solutions), and a 30-minute 'Behind the Metal & Glass' making-of featurette; Bird York's 'In the Deep' music video, music montages, and script-to-screen comparisons and storyboard-to-screen comparisons.
** The general consensus from 'Crash' fans on various messageboards seems to be that the 2-disc DCE is an excellent package, worthwhile the upgrade.
3. I heard there's some controversy involving lawsuits surrounding the producers. What's the story?
This is a 3-parter, all involving independent film financier Bob Yari:
- a) Bob Yari sued 'Crash' producer Cathy Schulman & her producing partner Tom Nunan on Jan 6/06 - stating that Schulman had siphoned off funds payable to his companies, that she'd falsely claimed that she was the one who made the decision to make 'Crash', and also that she leaked early copies of an upcoming movie that he'd financed called 'The Illusionist' - undermining its sale and promotion.
- b) Due to Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Producers Guild of America rules, only 2 producers may be listed for their 'Best Picture' award. When 'Crash' was released in May/05 - 6 producers were listed in the credits (Haggis, Schulman, Yari, Don Cheadle, Mark Harris, and Bobby Moresco), but the Academy & Guild determined (secretly & without giving any reason or rationale) that Haggis and Schulman would be the only names eligible for the 'Best Picture' Oscar. Yari sued the Academy & the Guild on Feb 28/06 in the hopes that the process will be more accountable in the future.
Said his lawyer: "All we want to do is to get the rules changed. It's just fundamentally unfair, and we want it fixed". It should be noted that Yari believes that Cathy Schulman petitioned the Guild to deliberately have his name left off.
- c) Cathy Schulman & Tom Nunan filed a lawsuit on Feb 28/06 against Yari, his production company & his attorney Neil Sacker - seeking at least $2 million in damages for fraud, breach of contract & accounting claims. There's a dispute over who owns 'Bulls Eye Entertainment' (both parties claim they do; Schulman & Nunan claim they founded it and brought Yari in as a financier & partner); money owing for work done (Yari says he paid salaries but they weren't entitled to producing bonuses until the revenue from the (5) movies covered costs); a counter-suit against Yari's claim that Schulman swayed the Guild to get his name removed from the credits; and further 'reputation' damage by a wrongful accusation of leaking 'The Illusionist' and stealing money from Bulls Eye Entertainment.
Yari says that Shulman's bitter contention is "a shameful misrepresentation of the facts"
The 'Hollywood Reporter' has a good article that explains it all:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_i d=1002114729
On Dec 26th/06, a judge dismissed the 4 lawsuits, though Yari plans to appeal.
4. Why do we need another film *about* racism? It didn't teach me anything I didn't already know. What was the point of the film?
'Crash' isn't really about racism.
Ok, racial-based prejudices & stereotypes are a central theme - there's no denying that - but there's MUCH more to 'Crash' lying beneath the ugly surface of racial tension. Haggis says:
"It’s a story about strangers, and how we affect strangers. This isn’t about ‘the bad white people’ or anything like that– I hate those kinds of movies… Racism was just a way to demark strangers."
"I didn’t know what I had until Bobby Moresco and I were finished with the script. The only thing I knew was that I wanted to talk about how we affect strangers. If you’re driving down the street and someone cuts you off and you give them the finger, then that person goes left and you go right—and I was just fascinated by the concept of what happens to that person after they leave your sight. Do they get into a collision? Do they go home and get into a fight with their wife? Maybe they do something wonderful or miraculous! And since I was setting the story in Los Angeles, which is a multi-ethnic community, I figured that a good way to talk about strangers was to have the characters meet people who didn’t look like them."
- So one of Haggis's goals was to take a look at the knock-on or 'butterfly effect' - *actions* (or words) cause *reactions*, and a reaction is an action in itself, so if we're not careful, a simple thoughtless or inappropriate comment or action can start a disastrous sequence of events, often eventually affecting much more than just the original intended target.
Haggis uses prejudices, stereotypes & fears as the catalyst for the actions & reactions found in 'Crash' because they're universal human conditions. He bases them on race because it's one of the most distinguishable human identifiers - ie: it's one of the first things we notice and classify about someone when we first see them. Instead of race, consider that had Haggis substituted religion, sexual-orientation, class or social status, hair colour (ex:"blondes" or "gingers"), weight, age, physical or mental disabilities/abnormalities, or any number of other stereotypes that exist which might be used as an excuse to pick on, insult, or act differently around those who are different -- the film could still have similar scenes of conflict, ignorance, anger, hatred and intolerance.
As we are conscious of the fact that it's unfair to prejudge or classify people, we often suppress our true feelings. Sometimes though - especially when provoked in a moment of fear, frustration, surprise, or ANGER - we may find ourselves not being able to contain our prejudices. When that happens, we CRASH. If the offended party is INTOLERANT and thus similarly not able to contain his anger & prejudices, a chain reaction of anger may start. But just as most car crashes are avoidable, so are these human 'crashes'.
If you can CONTROL your temper, it's easy to control your actions and reactions. Instead of a natural reaction towards intolerance, perhaps our first reaction should be TOLERANCE. Tolerance does not mean that we have to approve of or condone something, it just means that if we take a deep breath, and think about the situation & our possible reactions before committing to one - instead of raised emotions leading us deeper into confrontation, a cool head can lead us out of it. (Who hasn't ever done or said something in the heat of the moment that we later regret?).
Most of the characters in 'Crash' fail to do this and speak out of anger, not considering or caring about the consequences. It's at this point that their prejudices are revealed, worsening the situation.
Daniel (the locksmith) is one of the few characters who does show restraint, yet his character reveals how ineffective communication can have disastrous consequences. He does not offer the detail Farhad needs in his explanation about the problem with the door & the lock, and Farhad does not ask the questions he needs answering so that he may understand. Miscommunication leads to a misunderstanding.. which leads to frustration, anger, prejudices, accusations, hate and RAGE. Yikes! It could so easily have been avoided!
One of the film's taglines is: (said by Officer Ryan) "You think you know who you are.. you have no idea". The idea here is 2-fold: 1) until you find yourself in any given situation, it's impossible to predict how you will react; 2) We are who we are based on all of the cumulative negative & positive situations we've experienced in life so far, and though we might not be conscious of the affect each individual experience has had on us, collectively, they re-shape us. While it may be clear to others around us that a change has taken place, we're often not aware of it until someone points it out or we take time to reflect.
So the characters & stories in 'Crash' should hopefully prompt you to take a moment *now* to think about who you are, to think about the experiences which have shaped you into the person you are today, to consider how you perceive others and how you might (honestly) be perceived by others, and to reflect on how you have acted & reacted to anger & conflict in the past. You will not only have a better understanding of yourself, but you will be better able to prepare yourself for tomorrow - so that when you see yourself heading for a 'crash', you can take control of your emotions and steer yourself away.