Crash – (1996) Though it shares the same title, this is not the Academy Award-winning film of 2005. The theme song for this David Cronenberg vehicle might have been The Dave Matthews Band’s song “Crash into Me”:  

“You wear nothing but you

Wear it so well

Tied up and twisted

The way I’d like to be

For you, for me, come crash

Into me.”

In the driver’s seat, writer/director Cronenberg takes us on an unnerving cruise careening through heavy traffic until he swerves off the edge of the road, leaving us mangled. Not for anyone who may be offended by kinky or unusual sexual orientations, this film gives new meaning to “auto-erotic.” Based on J.G. Ballard’s novel, the DVD comes in two versions: NC-17 or R-rated. TV director James Ballard (James Spader) loses control of his car and collides head on into another automobile. The other driver, hurled through the windshield and killed (obviously not wearing a seatbelt), is the husband of Dr Helen Remington (Holly Hunter).

While in the hospital recovering, Ballard, whose leg has been badly injured, briefly meets Helen in the hallway, who seems to want to use her cane on him. However, they meet again where James has gone to see the wrecked remains of his car. He drives her to the airport where they make love inside the car in the parking garage. She confesses to having had sex with several other men in cars, fantasizing having a traffic accident with them. Together they attend a re-enactment of the fatal crash of James Dean with two stunt drivers and Vaughan (Elias Koteas), whose next project is to recreate Jayne Mansfield’s death in an automobile accident.

Initially Vaughan – whose body has been badly scarred, looking like the crash car he prefers driving – explains to Ballard his mission as a “reshaping of the human body by modern technology” but later – after James, his wife Catherine (Deborah Kara Unger), and Helen become members of his cult – reveals his real goal of fertilization via fender bending, “liberating sexual energy” through car crashes. Controversial to say the least, I found it both fascinating and appalling, like slowly passing and gawking at a horrible car crash.

Click here for links to places to buy or rent this movie in video and/or DVD format, or to buy the soundtrack, posters, books, even used videos, games, electronics and lots of other stuff. I suggest you shop at least two of these places before buying anything. Prices seem to vary continuously. For more information on this film, click on this link to The Internet Movie Database. Type in the name of the movie in the search box and press enter. You will be able to find background information on the film, the actors, and links to much more information.

Copyright © 2007 Patrick Ivers. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.

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