M - Crash represents different people’s attitude towards different cultures. Many characters appear to be prejudiced against another race. Mise en scene is used in each storyline to create an abrupt visual break when cutting between characters and arcs* Crash uses a variety of shots, Long shots and point of view shots, the camera often pans when moving from one scene to another. Blurred shots are also used, where the camera focuses on the object a while later. The film uses parallel music – instrumentals. Most characters dress in accordance to the way they are presented. I.e. Rick (district attorney) and his wife Jean dress smartly due to the fact that Rick is a politician and needs to have a good appearance as does his wife. Anthony and Peter who steal cars for their boss dress in casual clothes as they are represented as youths

I - Lions Gate Entertainment, directed by Paul Haggis

G - Crash belongs to the crime/drama genre, as the film uses multiple story lines which include a car jacking, murder, car crash. However Crash also has Sub Genres which include: Crime,political,gangs, Racism and revenge.


R - Representations of the cast are mixed as they all come from different backgrounds and minorities. Some characters appear to be wealthier than others i.e. the District Attorney and his wife

A - 18 +Liberal minded audience both male and female, as this film deals with the racial tensions and issues within a contemporary society. However the director may also want to educate people about racism in America, as in some part of America racism is common. Also the director aims to show us how people respond to racist slur.

I – can be seen as patriarchal, but there is also role reversal. Where sometimes the female is taking the lead. E.g. when being molested by a white cop Christine’s (Thandie Newton) husband fails to defend her. Also a feminist ideology is shown as Christine appears to be the more dominant and stronger person in the relationship. Also a heterosexual ideology is shown as there are relationships between characters. Another ideology that is presented is the political ideology - as throughout out the film Rick(district attorney) worries about his political career i.e. when him and his wife are carjacked by two black men he worries about how this incident will affect his career

N – Use of binary oppositions (Levi Strauss), black and white, victim and aggressor.In addition to Strauss, Propp can also be applied to Crash. The villain would be Officer John Ryan as he molested a black woman during a routine stop that can later be seen as a hero as he saves her from a car crash
The helper would be Officer Tom Hansen as he helps to stop a confrontation that could have got some one killed.
By assigning ‘character roles’ the audience is able to understand why this character is prejudiced and their affect on other characters


*arcs – story arcs and characters intersect indirectly and subtly. Events in one story arc affect other story lines or characters

Crash also uses Hyperlink Cinema – this is a film style of using multiple interconnected storylines