Crash (David Cronenberg 1996)

In my DVD collection I have two films with the title "Crash." One was directed in 1996 by David Cronenberg, and another directed by Paul Haggis in 2004. I just finished watching the former. I am not saying this is a perfect movie, but I would consider it one of my favorites. The music by Howard Shore definitely adds to the mood of the film, but in some of the most intense scenes there is no music except the sounds of trains and metallic sounds. These sounds to me are very musical. Throughout the movie there is sexual tension and the tension caused by the potential car crashes. The film is filled with accidental car crashes and intentional ones. The film is based on the novel Crash by J.G. Ballard, and one of the main characters, played by James Spader, is named James Ballard. Near the beginning of the movie he is involved in an automobile accident in which a man is killed. He is hurt badly as is the wife of the man who is killed. While in the hospital he enounters her, she is a doctor, Helen Remington played by Holly Hunter, and Vaughan played by Elias Koteas. Vaughan looks intensely at Ballard's wounds, and he seems to be on the verge of having an orgasm. Also while is in the hospital while he is still in bed, Ballard's wife describes the remains of a crash while she masturbates him, under the bed clothes. One of the things that Vaughan does is reenact famous car crashes. The first time, after the scene in the hospital, is at a reenactment of the car crash in which James Dean was killed. Eventually Remington, Ballard, his wife, Vaughan and others gather at the place where Vaughan works on various projects. The first time we see Vaughan and Ballard it is clear that there is an attraction there. Vaughn, standing behind Ballard, comes very close to kissing Ballard's back. When he is almost caught doing this he pretends that this was not his intention. In another scene Ballard and his wife are having sex, and she asks him if he wants to fuck Vaughan. She asks him to describe what he would do, how he would fuck him. She imagines that Vaughan has sex frequently in his car. She asks if his car smells like semen, and Ballard says that it does. There are several sex scenes that take place in or close to cars. There are several sexual pairings and three way sexual play in the movie, between men and women, two men and two women. Of course my favorite is the one between the two men. I will write more about this film later this evening along with some things in my own life that it reminds me of.