The film "Crash" and students' opinions on it

"Crash" is a 2005 American drama film co-written, produced, and directed by Paul Haggis. The film is about racial and social tensions in Los Angeles, California. A self-described "passion piece" for Haggis,

Crash was inspired by a real life incident in which his Porsche was carjacked outside a video store on Wilshire Boulevard in 1991. It won three Oscars: Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay and Best Editing in 2005 at the 78th Academy Awards.

Several characters' stories interweave during two days in Los Angeles; a black LAPD detective estranged from his mother, his criminal younger brother and gang associate, the white District Attorney and his irritated and pampered wife, a racist white police officer who disgusts his more idealistic younger partner, an African American Hollywood director and his wife who must deal with the officer, a Persian-immigrant father who is wary of others, and a Hispanic locksmith and his young daughter.

STUDENTS' OPINIONS ON THE FILM:

In my opinion the film was very good. In this film we see what the world is like and it shows us the racial problems that we face everyday. We watched many different people's lives. They were all affected by racial problems and they had to learn how to deal with them. "Crash" is a film that teaches us and makes us aware of our own way of seeing the world.

Ana Catarina nº2 11º C

I think the movie is important to show the present racism in our society. Through this movie we can understand many and different aspects of racism, the relations between people and we can see strong things that can change the life of a person. The movie makes us change our minds if we are racist and makes us think about what we can do or what we have to do to solve these problems.

Carlos Santos nº7 11ºC

This film is very up-to-date. It makes us think about important things such as racism and human dignity. The characters are forced to test their limits and it shows us what we could possibly do if we were in the same situation - we can choose to do the things or we can be selfish and not see the real problems.

Ana Rita 11ºC

I think "Crash" is a good film that shows us the reality of America. It brings us closer to the real problems that are happening while we are completely out of the issue. I like the film because it involves different lives, putting them together; it shows us what really happens without being much sentimental. It shows that every step we take can change what is around us.
Isaura Pinto nº17 11ºC

The movie gave me a whole new perspective about racism problems that affect the world and especially the United States. "Crash" showed me that we can´t think about people of other races as our inferiors and that we must try to redeem our actions and just try to make it better the best as we can.
André nº5 11ºC

I liked the film very much because it shows all the problems about racism in America. I think that the best part of the film is when all of the movie's characters learn that everyone deserves to be treated as a "normal" person.
Francisca nº15 11ºC

This movie is the truth! Nowadays racism and racist people are still here, even closer than we think. The movie makes us think about the life coloured people have and what they still suffer. And more important, it shows that coloured people are also racist, sometimes even more than white people.
Carlos Barbosa nº8 11ºC

The film was very inspiring, yet I think we should get to see the detective catch the brother's murderer. I liked the way the mivie started (by the end) and then developed so we could understand why the movie began like that. I found the little girl scene particularly hilarious.
Rui Moura n~31 11ºC

I think the film "Crash" portraits really well the racism we live nowadays. I wasn't aware that racism was so present in our society. The film makes us aware of our world, which isn't so perfect as we think and many people are neglected and the cause of it is racism.
Ana Rafael Teixeira nº3 11ºC

The movie was all about racism and objection to other races and cultures. It was a very nice film, because we learnt with it; we learnt that we can't judge anybody just because he or she is from a different race. The people in this movie learnt with their mistakes and learnt to be nicer human beings and to do the right thing without being evil and mean to others.
Luís André nº29 11ºC

After watching the film "Crash" we look at the problems of racism in another perspective. The film is about how people feel about different people. Everyone learns a lesson about racism.
Flávia Martins nº14  11ºC

This film transmits the reality of present times. It's like a mixture os emotions and sensations from different points of view. Unfortunately racism is a big problem, sometimes an involuntary attitude, almost a natural instinct.
Liliana Martins nº24 11ºC

In my opinion the film "Crash" is real, because it shows society nowadays. It is ridiculous to differentiate black people, hispanic, chinese and other people in the world. People are irracional, impulsive, bad and selfish. The mentality of the people has to change radically.
Rafaela Vieira 11ºC

I think this film is interesting. It is about racism, a very common theme in our society. Sometimes people are unfairly discriminated against. We live in a very prejudiced society.
José Carlos nº23 11ºC

The film "Crash" is about racism in our society. It shows people can change. The film shows diferent people with different lives.
Eduardo Rodrigues nº13 11ºC

This film shows that our actions have consequences and that we are equal. It has some black humour and it is about people from different origins that are somehow connected in the USA. My favourite part was when the little girl was shot and didn't have any injury.
Jorge Neto nº21 11ºC

The film "Crash" shows the racial problems in our society. White people don't like black people. The film shows different lives of different people and all of different races. The story of each person connects to the other. The movie shows that people can change in stressful moments.
Albertino Vieira nº1 11ºC

The film shows us the real problems of society and racist people. The people involved in the story in the course of the movie keep changing their attitude because of the situations that they are facing.
Carina Aires nº6 11ºC

The movie is very interesting. It's about racism and the people in this movie learn about their mistakes and learn to be better people.
Carlos Teixeira nº9 11ºC

The film was very interesting. It is about racism and the wrong judgement that people make about the appearance of other people.
Cristiano Alves nº11 11ºC

While watching the film we find out about the problems of racism. We are confronted with how people feel for being racist targets. It makes people aware of the different acts of racism towards other races.
Cátia Cunha nº10 11ºC

The film is about racism, discrimination and other problems in America. By watchin the film we can understand better the problems of black people.
Pedro Xavier nº27 11ºC