Hacker Cinema
Crash
1996 · Film · 100 min
Directed by David Cronenberg
A car crash victim inexplicably finds himself aroused by car accidents and becomes involved with an underground subculture of like-minded souls.
3 positive3 negative1 mixed1 neutralfrom 8 commenters
Where to watch
No streaming data for this title.
8 comments on Hacker News
Perhaps his best known work is the novels that were made into movies, “Crash” and “High-Rise”, and neither is science fiction.
There’s also “Empire of the Sun” that was adapted by Steven Spielberg, but it’s autobiographical so doesn’t really count.
His prescience isn't what makes him interesting. In many ways he is writing about the past and the present.
He is unique for his tone. "Ballardian" conveys something immediately recognisable to anyone that's read more than a handful of his short stories and it conveys something that is fairly unique.
The recent craze for "liminal spaces" captures some of the flavour. But it's also intrinsically British and very much a 70s thing. Maybe it's just my memory of Britain in the 70s but the movie of Crash failed to capture the right mood, whereas High Rise did remarkably well.
To be fair I found Crash to be his most boring film, wouldn't watch again, eXistenZ is effing great
If you skip his body horror films (which admittedly is 70+ percent of his oeuvre), and look at Eastern Promises, Maps of the Stars, A Dangerous Method, or a History of Violence, and you'll likely come away with a different view.
Crash, Dead Ringers, and the Fly, while exceptionally interesting films, and well directed, are definitely difficult for a lot of audiences.
I "snuck" in to watch Crash, by Cronenberg, at a con in '96 or '97. I was among the crew/organizers at the con, so "snuck" is an exaggeration. Anyhow. I was 16 or 17 at the time. It was rated 18 in my country at the time. It should've been rated NSFL. :-)
I've never watched a Cronenberg since.
I'm sure he makes good movies, but .. eh, I developed a healthy scare for his movies watching Crash.
"Crash," his 1973 novel, is excellent, as is the 1996 movie adaptation directed by David Cronenberg starring James Spader.
This article reminded me of David Cronenberg film "Crash" based on J.G Ballard book. Its interesting and worth a watch, although it might not be for everyone. There's a few different versions and I think I saw the uncut one.
They're not up to Primer's level of complexity, but for bending your brain a little, try:
eXistenZ (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120907/)
Naked Lunch (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102511/)
(And other David Cronenberg movies. While I'm at it, although it's completely linear, I'm going to plug: "Crash" (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115964/).)
Jacob's Ladder (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099871/) is almost a great brain-bending movie, but for some damn reason at the very end there's a, "Let's explain what really happened!" scene. F'idiots. (I recommend stopping the movie when you get to the scene where the Jacob and his son (played by Macaulay Culkin) dreamily walk up a back-lit stairway together. Let the movie percolate in your brain for a while. Then, start the movie up again and see how they ruined it.)