Crash [Blu-Ray]

Not to be confused with this years Oscar winning sensation, you can't help but conclude that Crash 2005 must be referencing its older namesake with the opening dialogue... "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." Crash 2005 is a blockbuster on the controversial subject of racial tensions in Los Angeles.Crash 1996 was just plain... controversial. A decade ago the British press ran a series of front page appeals for governmental pressure to ban a new film which they'd described as "Beyond the bounds of depravity." The 1973 J.G Ballard novel, on which the film is based, had long been a favourite of mine but as the controversy raged on throughout the summer of `96' it became apparent that the film may never be shown in the U.K. Crash had already been released in France, so by the time this idiocy hit the point where an audience of paraplegics were invited for a special screening to see if they were offended or not, I had no choice but to leave for Paris where exactly one year later Ballard's `cautionary tale' of car crash celebrity deaths would reach an apotheosis of sorts in an underpass at the Pont D'Alma. Described by its author as "the first pornographic novel about technology" the book is about a group of car crash survivors who, led by deranged T.V scientist Vaughn, see the car crash as a new form of sexual perversion. Vaughn's ultimate fantasy is to die in a head-on collision with the actress Elizabeth Taylor who, throughout the 60's and 70's was the Princess Diana of her day; constantly hounded by the press and ultimately crucified on the beam of her own celebrity. The film adaptation, directed by David Cronenberg, avoids the heavy traffic of `serial bride' Liz's potential legititive clout and instead becomes `a futuristic love story set in the present'. James (James Spader) and Catherine (Deborah Kara-Ungar) are a married couple so filled with inertia that they are desperate for some emotional connection by any means necessary. After a series of extramarital encounters they find themselves attracted to a group of disturbed members of a bizarre car-crash sect who enact famous car crashes for kicks. The pair soon find themselves willing accomplices in a tableaux of violence and desire until finally they attain some provisional approximation of actual love. Kara-Ungar's portrayal of Catherine exemplifies perfectly the icy detachment of a woman who appears to be observing herself from another galaxy. Unfortunately, the film hinges on a moment where the groups leader Vaughn, played by Elias Koteus who explains his philosophy of auto-geddon as a fertilising event rather than a destructive one to his disciple James. Koteus' delivery is addled and Spader (understandably) laughs; blowing the scene and almost the entire film with it. Nevertheless Crash is, above all, a brave attempt to explore an almost un-bearable subject - the death of affect and our unconscious desire for violence. As we're bombarded with pseudo-events and war entertainment - designed to make us consume in ways that are of optimum benefit to multi-national conglomerates who really (forget governments) walk where the power is - Cronenberg's Crash is as much a road sign warning of our impending emotional bankruptcy as it is to the sexual ambiguity of the highway pile up.

First saw this when recovering from an infection that nearly killed me and which had required a few weeks in hospital, an operation during which I was partly conscious, and I'd had some associated halluicinations. The film had been banned in various places so once I was well enough I went to see it, and it was exactly how I had felt in hospital. That will probably only make sense if you've been in similar circumstances. Watched it recently again with my wife who had never seen it.Was pleased that 25 years on the film stills holds it's weird, brutal, seats of the pants, sex-obsessed, scar-tissue-obsessed magic. Never seen anything like it. It's almost a psychologica drama, it hits you like a horror film, it's more satisfyingly pornographic than the smootchy semi-porn crap Hollywood stuffs into everything without being a porn film, it leaves you feeling battered psychologically but elated at the same time. It's like driving mad and doding an accident. And I WANT a big black american 1960s car all over again!Also - I read the book either just before or just after watching this first time round. If you like to book you like the film and vice versa. This is a great film by Cronenberg, if allyou've seen by him is his sci-fi stuff like Shivers, Rabid, Scanners, Videodrome and Existenz then this is quite different - probably nearest Existenz. If you like David Lynch you'll probably like this.

In this review I'm going to focus on my feelings regarding which of the early editions of 'Crash' on bluray the Cronenberg/Ballard collector/enthusiast should go for. As I sadly don't own kit for 4K UHD yet, I'm not going to comment on Arrow's limited 4K UHD edition.As far as I can ascertain, the World First BD of 'Crash was the German Mediabook 2 disc edition which appeared in May 2020. I bought this immediately rather than waiting to see if other editions emerged (even though as a format I don't particularly like the irregular format of mediabooks) because it contained THREE Croneberg shorts. For me, this is was vitally important - a chance to own 'The Nest', 'Camera' and 'At the Suicide of the Last Jew in the World in the Last Cinema in the World' - as I am a Cronenberg completist.I'm also a Ballard completist, so as a result the Arrow BD was essential too, since it includes Ballard's own BBC film '"Crash!" which precedes his novel. Also the Arrow BD includes a superb feature-length interview with Ballard and Cronenberg, which is a total joy.So if you are a total Ballard/Cronenberg nut like me, you need both versions. Additionally, the German mediabook contains a second disc which showcases the shorter 96 minute cut version of the film (the Arrow only has the 100 minute cut, which is also included in the German edition).The other extras are pretty much the same, though my feeling is that the picture quality on the German discs is superior at a glance - although they are the same approved restoration, maybe there;s a production process improvement on the German disc, though this may only be my first impression. Both editions look fantastic on screen.It's a real shame that the Arrow BD does not include 'Camera', especially since it includes the JGB/DC interview and "Crash!".The currently available Arrow limited BD of course comes in a slipcase, book and poster. Nice as these are, it's the hard slipcase that appeals most to me.I'd suggest then that hardcore fans of both icons purchase both editions, but that the Arrow one probably has the edge because of the inclusion of footage of Ballard himself.The film is of course, sublime.