Brahm_K wrote:
While I don't think Crash was that good, and indeed, it did go way over the top (ie: when the bitchy lady falls down the stairs at the end- pointless nonsense). I enjoyed the fact that you can't necessarily sympathise with all the characters... give me a grey character over a white or black one anyday. As for Babel, while the acting was indeed good, stuff like the gun linking everything is not subtle; rather, its a hamhanded and last minute attempt to force a theme down the audience's throat when it otherwise doesn't apply to the movie... "Look everyone, the gun was from there, everything's connected somehow, we all just can't communi-blah blah blah." Its like trying to make a movie about why birthday parties are bad, and proving your point by having someone blow up the party- not relevant (yes, that was a dumb analogy).
I found that Crash was too black and white - you either liked them (spanish locksmith guy, the arab's daughter) or you didn't (the racist cop, the
Arab dad). It's not so much people in a situation (-> Babel) as it is an imaginary idea of what might happen as a result of racism. And it was far too gimmicky (OMG! she didn't buy real bullets! OMG! The kid's magic blanket saved the dad!). I found Babel for the tragic realism (dead kids!) alone the superior film. I don't see how you can't, really, when all you're saying against it is that the gun bit's a bit tagged on, and I agree, but they don't push it that much - by going deeper into the Mexican woman's life, for example, you forget about the gun and it becomes a minor part of it all rather than the huge all-encompassing link you're making it out to be. Still, no accounting for taste, eh?
In fact, there was a line in the film where the dad character specifically complained about how people assumed they were Arabs, when they weren't. Tut tut!
but it was a cosy counterpoint to the arab kid.
