David Cronenberg's Crash was one of those "dirty" movies I more than likely wasn't supposed to rent let alone watch when the NC-17 cut first came into existence on video (and, if anything, the film was more than an eye-opener in my young teen state, going even further than I had seen at the time with Boogie Nights or Kids). But I didn't pay quite as much attention to the story as I should've, aside from the James Dean subplot (as I remembered it anyway, with Elias Koteas's character),and from the very dark atmosphere. It was almost TOO dark at the time, and I stayed away until recently when it was shown on TV late one night. Seeing it now I'm much more absorbed into the wretchedly but totally, sensually charged work by the actors and the crew, and Cronenberg's utmost trust and professionalism with both. It certainly has that effect on a first viewing of veering way too close into the soft-core boundaries, and even seems like the kind of thing that I used to see in that 'scandalous' section of mainstream adult films as a kid like Last Tango in Paris. But the psychology behind the characters ends up being more striking than anything, and like many of Cronenberg's films, the duality of man (and woman, apparently) comes strongly into play, and the merging of the two as usually becomes the case.

James Spader is in one of his very best performances- albeit only somewhat removed from the sexual deviants of Sex Lies & Videotape and Secretary (maybe closer to the latter, however without any of that film's outright satire)- as Ballard, also the author this film is based upon. He gets in a car accident, a horrible one, that kills a doctor and leaves his wife (Holly Hunter) injured both physically and psychologically. But Ballard and his wife (Deborah Kara Unger, very good as well) get brought into this strange world that's been built around Vaughn (Koteas, perhaps in one of his top 3 best pieces of work, very creepy but somehow convincing early on, at least to his new arrivals). He is a man who is completely enveloped into his psyche of car-crash sex, and how history ends up adding a mystique to it all (hence the James Dean references, which are very amusingly pathological). But this all becomes very dangerous, if only on some subversive level, when Ballard, his wife, and Hunter's Helen Remington get involved in this underground cult.

Seeing the film again, I'm a lot more struck this time after seeing other Cronenberg work how the style slips so amazingly into the content of the picture. The first time around, the style almost seemed to be just another side to the content, that it was obvious to have such a wild yet controlled technique, particularly for the sex &/or car crash scenes. This is as much a credit to Cronenberg's poetic touches to the material as it is to DP Peter Suschitzky and Howard Shore's music, which somehow rises above being too pornographic to being really touching. In fact, after seeing it again very late at night and not remembering the entire film, I may even need to see it again to let it all sink in. But really this won't be the case for all- the NC-17 rating isn't too unwarranted in this case, even if it's more a rating for the nature of the sexual contact and aggressiveness of the fetishism as opposed to something like the Dreamers where there was blatant nudity a lot of the time. I wouldn't dare recommend the R-rated version, however, as the whole point is to see it all in its un-tarnished view. It's a harsh vision painted here of people reaching out for some kind of connection through the most destructive way imaginable. One thing's for certain, once you've seen it there's no mistaking this from Paul Haggis's Crash (and, for me, this beats out Haggis's contrived good-intention machine any day).

The producer James Ballard (James Spader) and his sexy wife Catherine Ballard (Deborah Kara Unger) have an open relationship with fantasies and extra conjugal affairs that they tell to each other to increase their sexual drive. When James has a car accident where the other driver dies, he changes his behavior and becomes obsessed for car-crash victims. The lame James befriends the widow of his victim, Helen Remington (Holly Hunter),and the sick maniac for accidents Vaughan (Elias Koteas) and he joins a world of people that feels pleasure watching and provoking car accidents, dragging Catherine with him.

"Crash" is one of the sickest and weirdest movies I have ever seen. In the 90's, when I saw it for the first time on VHS, I liked it more than now. I have just watched again on a high-quality DVD and I found this time a pointless erotic story with an unbelievable plot that has the only intention of shocking. There is no message, no nothing but sick people having kinky sex related to car crashes. Deborah Kara Unger is extremely sexy and hot in one of her first works and the choreography of the accidents is quite perfect. My vote is four.

Title (Brazil): "Crash – Estranhos Prazeres" ("Crash – Weird Pleasures")

David Cronenberg is for me one of the most interesting and unlike any other out there directors (even if not quite one of my personal favourites),despite being known for body horror and originating it his films are much more than that. They are incredibly well made, and as well as being unsettling some have a dark yet subtle wit or a poignant emotional core. All these are the reasons for my admiration and appreciation for him.

Of all his films, 'Crash' (not to be confused with the film that, undeservedly in my opinion, won the Best Picture Oscar in its year, over the infinitely superior 'Brokeback Mountain', but that's another story) is his most controversial, causing a stir in Britain at the time. One can totally see why, with its uncompromising and difficult subject matter being portrayed unsettlingly and uniquely, something that fascinated and disturbed many yet sickened and perplexed just as many others. When it comes to me and my perception of 'Crash', it is a bit of a tricky one and not an easy film to rate and review. Do not consider it a misunderstood masterpiece or one of his best, at the same it's far from being on my worst films ever list and doesn't crash and burn. It's certainly an interesting and well made film, but other Cronenberg films connected with me far more emotionally and had me gripped more. Especially 'Dead Ringers' and 'The Fly'.

Contrary to what those who hated 'Crash' say, those who say that there are no redeeming qualities whatsoever (personally can never say that about any lesser Cronenberg),there is a lot to admire. As with all Cronenberg films, 'Crash' looks great, with photography that is both beautiful, almost dream-like in places, and harrowing, when at its most harrowing it really hits hard. Absolutely loved the opening credits sequence, Cronenberg always delivers in this aspect. A lot of effort clearly went into the design of it visually, it is beautiful to watch while also being very creepy. Howard Shore's score does add quite a bit, it is truly haunting stuff that also brings shivers down the spine when necessary. Cronenberg's style is unmistakable, if more purposefully clinical than usual.

He does admirably adhere close to the detached nature of the source material, which accounts for why viewers were and still are left cold and why his direction is more clinical. What is most interesting about the film and why it is controversial is its depiction of sex and violence, there is a lot of both, very daring and shocking at the time (still is) and both had seldom been depicted in this way before. The violence is uncompromising and does churn the stomach, even those who have seen a lot of violent films (myself included) will find themselves deeply disturbed. The sex scenes are beautifully choreographed and filmed while also being a mix of explicit, sensual, strange and ominous. When they merge, the depiction is vividly graphic, and for quite a large number it was/is hard to take, to me it was harrowing but in a way it intrigued. The film also made me think. Despite never getting to know the characters (Vaughan is the most interesting) or care for them, that doesn't stop Cronenberg from drawing great performances from a gifted cast. Found the standouts to be Elias Koteas, quite frightening here, and Deborah Kara Unger, who is equally astonishing.

On the other hand, it is very easy to see why anybody would say 'Crash' is a challenging film and hard to like. While appreciating what it set out and tried to do, the emotional investment wasn't there for me, things that were there in 'Dead Ringers' and 'The Fly', and there were times where the intentional coldness was overdone. Likewise with the bizarre factor, especially later on where things increasingly stop making sense until an ending that leaves one dumbfounded-ly scratching their heads.

While some of 'Crash' was thought-provoking, it was not always easy understanding what the point of it was and what it was trying to say. It also became repetitive with the sexual acts and violence becoming more frequent and in some cases not necessary, some of the film was pretty uneventful dramatically, the pace was very sluggish and the film could have been 20-25 minutes shorter because there was not enough plot, which was fairly slight structurally to begin with, to sustain the film's length.

In summary, didn't bowl me over and the controversy is more than understandable, but do highly appreciate the effort and can't be too hard on it. 6/10