Critical Writing- Crash
CRASH IS A FILM WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY PAUL HAGGIS AND THE STARCAST IS DON CHEADLE, SANDRA BULLOCK, THANDIE NEWTON....
The story has a parallel of 6 six stories. The beginning is that of an accident scene
where the detective Graham and Ria his girlfriend make their first appearance.
1. Graham
Waters- Graham is a sincere man, dedicated to his work and mother and goes out
of the way for them. he is also searching for his brother who has been missing
for a few days. He is a little racist as he tells his mother that he is busy
with a Mexican woman. He replaces the food for his mother overnight when she is
sleeping and she feels that her younger son had come back. He is shown as a very disturbed character as
he keeps smoking at the chances that he gets. He is not truly in love with Ria
as he shows her no gratitude when she goes with him to the morgue.
2. Ria-
the girlfriend of Graham. She is just accompanying him around wherever he goes.
She want to meet his mother, but he blatantly lies saying that she is not
there. She accuses him of not her genealogy. She doesn’t have many dialogues to
say. She is a very caring woman as she goes to the morgue with Graham and his
mother even though she has had a fight with him.
The next scene is that of a Persian buying a gun in a
racist’s shop with his daughter.
3. Farhad-
he is a Persian, who doesn’t trust Americans at all and thus has gone to buy
the gun thinking that it would keep him and his family and shop safe. He gets offended very quickly and starts
getting suspicious of people. He even has an interaction with the lock smith Daniel
who suggests to him to change the door which he doesn’t and gets angry at him
saying that he wants to cheat him. Daniel walks on him without even taking the
money. In the night the store gets robbed and Farhad blames Daniel for this and
goes to kill him but, Daniel is saved by his daughter who jumps in front of him
and saves him. Farhad is awestruck and is left standing in the driveway
thinking that Lara is the angel.
4. Dorri-
she is a very smart woman who knows how to handle herself and her father, who
gets out of control often. She helps the father with the shop and looks after
her family. We just get to see her
character by her mannerisms and behaviour.
We then get introduced to a couple walking on a street and
the wife gets insecure when she sees two “black men” and clutches on to her
husband.
5. Rick
Cabot- he is the local district attorney. His car gets jacked by two black men.
He wants to maintain peace is the district so he doesn’t identify the car sackers
in fear of him being considered racist and he tries to make his wife also
understand not to be racist but she doesn’t listen. He is a caring husband
because in the end when he hears about his wife’s injury he comes there as soon
as he can though he gets angry at her for being careless.
6. Jean-
she is the wife of the district attorney. She is a paranoid woman and feels
that all the bad things would happen to her and in fact because of her actions the
car gets jacked. She wants keeps everything safe and secure but doesn’t manage
to do so. In the end she falls down a flight of stairs and when she calls her
friends for help they are busy and the only one who comes is her servant who is
Hispanic. In the end she realizes that everyone is good and she hugs the servant
and tells her that she is her best friend hence we see a change in her
perception of individuals.
7. Anthony-
he is one of the boys who jacks the car of the attorney as he is angry that
everyone is being racist. He says that even in the coffee shop they don’t get
coffee a second time even if they pay for it.
He likes listening to rap music and puts that in the car after jacking
it. He hits a man while trying to run away with the car. He tries to steal
Cameron’s car by putting a gun to his head but Cameron being in a bad mood
beats him up instead and then when they arouse the suspicion of a police both
get into the car. Cameron tells Anthony
that he embarrasses him and then in the end we see that Anthony finds a car
full of Asian woman whom he goes and leaves in china town and gives them some
money. Thus seeing the change in character where he could have very well sold
them and become rich.
8. Peter-
he is the missing brother of Graham and along with Anthony jacks the attorney’s
car. He is a god fearing boy and carries a voodoo doll everywhere with
him. When the police comes to catch them
he escapes from that sight. He takes a lift from a police officer who has the
same passion for voodoo dolls as him and in the end when he is about to show
him his voodoo doll he gets shot as the officer finds him suspicious and ends
up shooting him.
Daniel is first is seen in the movie in the district
attorney changing the locks where he hears a conversation between Jean and
Rick, where Jean and Rick are having an argument about her being racist. Daniel
just walks out without bothering in the matter.
9. Daniel
Ruiz- he is a Hispanic who is working as a lock smith in that area. He is a
very hardworking man and is very honest. He explains to his daughter not to be
scared and gives her a security blanket which will protect her. He goes for night rounds of completing his
job and goes to Farhad’s shop to fix the lock and suggests to him to fix the
door but Farhad being suspicious fires him and Daniel just walks out on him.
When Farhad’s shop is robbed he goes to Daniel’s house to kill him but Daniel
is saved by his daughter Lara.
10. Lara-
she is a five year old who gets scared in the night by the sound of gun shots.
She very obedient and wants to help her father. She actually runs out to save
her father when she realizes that he gave her his security blanket.
John the police man is first introduced as talking to an
insurance agent very rudely on the phone. He is a racist and when he comes to
know that the lady on the other side of the phone is African- American he just
rattles on.
11. John
Ryan- he is a very short tempered man. He gets very angry for little thing. He
has a good heart. We come to know this as he is very caring for his father and even
when it comes to saving people’s lives he would do everything that he can. He is frustrated as he sexually molests a
woman while her husband is pinned down to the car. Though he does that to the
woman he finally ends up saving her in the end.
12. Tom
Hanson- he is John’s partner. He is very afraid of him ever since he saw him
molest a woman. He asks for a transfer and prefers riding solo. He helps the
man he had pinned down another time to save his life and lets him go with a
harsh warning. He is the one who kills Graham’s bother by mistake since he was
very suspicious and thought that something wrong would befall him.
13. Shaniqua Johnson- she is the insurance
agent that John has a fight with; though she is a caring woman she also like
John has a short temper.
Cameron and his wife Christine are First Street driving
towards their house where they are stopped by the police.
14. Cameron
Thayer- he is a film director and though he “black” doesn’t like the fact that
it is to pronounced. When talks to the officer and apologizes and does not do
anything when his wife is violated, he thinks it was the right thing to do. Though
after that incident he has tough time at his house and walks out on his wife.
He is a very caring man and tells Anthony that he embarrasses him, after the
incident where they try to steal his car.
15. Christine-
she is a very out spoken woman. She is a little drunk when we first get
introduced to her. She is the one who gets sexually molested by the police man.
She has an argument with her husband where he walks out on her. She even goes
to meet him where he just ignores her. On her way back she gets into an
accident where John comes to save her and she lets him touch her on his
pleading that there was no one to rescue her. She finally accepts to husband’s
presence of mind of the night when they get caught. She even calls him in the
end to ask him to come back.
16. Kim Lee-she is the Chinese woman who
we get introduced to first, when we see a crime scene in the beginning when she
makes a racial statement towards another woman. It’s also her husband who is
knocked down by Anthony when he is running away with the car and they are the
ones who are in the business of selling Asian women.
Hence
we see how there are parallel life stories at the same time in the movie.
DHVANI KOTHARI
FLAME SCHOOL OF COMMUNICATION
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