Discuss the closing 5 minute sequence of "Crash". To what extent does the ending ensure a sense of closure to the film?

Discuss the closing 5-10 minutes of one of the films from the list, in terms of story, plot and style. To what extent does the ending ensure a sense of closure to the film?

Director Paul Haggis’ successful debut Crash (2005) tells the individual stories of a seemingly unrelated group of individuals in the story space of two days; it immediately begins with the result of a car crash, but the story stems from the shift back in time to the day before the incident. By doing this Crash skilfully and deliberately reaches beyond the conventions of narrative film, as it does not begin with a balanced equilibrium; it is this and numerous stylistic effects that makes for an increased sense of closure as each interweaving story is summed up individually yet also in the wider context of the film and the issues it presents. In this short period of time in fast paced Los Angeles and through the chance encounters of the characters- for example, when a racist police officer is forced to save the life of a white woman whom he had previously black mailed and violated out of racial discrimination- the film’s underlying morals and themes come to the fore. As the film takes the audience slightly back in time, we engage with the almost parallel lives of the characters and their problems encountered out of bigotry and fear, and it is as these interweaving stories become connected that the pace of the film slows down and closure hinted at.

Through plot- which is defined by Bordwell and Thompson as all the events that are directly presented to the viewer in a narrative film- for example in its parallelisms and through stylistic effects, particularly in the closing five minutes which I will focus on, Crash successfully brings its narrative to a subdued close and reveals the underlying key themes. The ending is satisfying to the viewer in that individual stories are resolved- not necessarily within themselves but in the wider context of the film- thus ending with an emphatic moral note as opposed to a stable situation and “happy ending”.

This closing five minute sequence offers insight into the lives of the characters once they have “crashed” into each other one way or another, as the camera watches over them individually at a distance. Through style- notably non-diegetic sound which plays throughout the whole sequence and ties together the various lives of the characters- the audience is presented movingly with each of the characters’ reflections in hindsight to their actions and their experiences. The audience is thus encouraged to identify with characters and understand the story and its underlying messages.

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The sequence begins with the story of Jean Cabot (Sandra Bullock): the audience sees her embracing her house-keeper as she says: do you know what? You’re the best friend I’ve got. This marks her poignant revelation of her unfulfilled and unhappy life, which had been for so long masked by lavish lifestyle and her career-obsessed husband. Complete focus is on her character as a close up of her face in the centre of the frame begins the sequence; as the slow non-diegetic sound slowly builds up, the camera slowly tracks into her face, allowing for extreme close up. The combination of the reflecting music, the slow tracking of the camera and the intimate close up of her face gently reinforces her emotion and signifies, almost dramatically the turning-point in her life. As the close up focuses on her sad emotional state, the touching music (“In the deep”, by Kathleen York)- which happens to eventually cosmically relate all the intertwining stories- begins on the line thought you had all the answers. This serves again to emphasise her disillusionment with life, resulting in this emotive realisation, thus in many ways closure to her character. Mise-en-scene here is working as part of the plot as it signifies and mostly heightens the significant realization of this named character.

After a relatively long take, the camera jump cuts to the story of another character and an establishing shot of Officer Tom Hansen (Ryan Phillipe) burning the car -where out of subconscious racial discrimination he fatally shot an innocent teenager (Larenz Tate). We see him at a distance angrily throwing rubble onto the fire out of grief; the distance the camera allows for emphasises his helpless state at a significant time in the story, conveying the underlying consequences of his racial prejudice. Again by using an establishing shot here the audience now has a sense of time and space, as they have already been introduced to this storyline through plot. The jump shot might usually serve to create a disjointed or abrupt change in plot, yet through continuation of the same slow non-diegetic sound- which completely takes over synchronous sound- it almost seems to act as reflection, to sum up the story line rather than to expand on it. A balanced, almost symmetrical frame follows as the camera cuts to a medium close up of Officer Tom Hansen now in the middle of it. As the camera remains static however he walks slowly forward and to the right of the frame; this allows the balance to be disrupted, thus subtly emphasises his vulnerability in the frame. This relates to his weakness in the story, as his position in the frame becomes vulnerable at a time in the story when his previous position of power and success has been substituted for a position of regret, reflection and shame. By showing his character in this way, the tone of the scene is extremely toned-down and as the story allows for the characters’ reflection, so the mood and mise-en-scene allows for audience reflection of racial prejudice.

As the Officer walks forward in a few more frames of the shot, it is also noteworthy to point out the objective camera angle. By employing this camera angle the audience happens to look in as opposed to involving themselves in the action. This distances the audience somewhat and forces them to empathise with this character.

Lighting works together to connote sadness; the predominant darkness and orange filter used suggests that all the light comes from the background fire, thus selectively lighting parts of the character’s face and not much else. This slightly dappled light falling onto the character’s face remains even throughout this shot and so slight changes in his harrowing expression of emotion are easily registered by the viewer; this again serves to emphasize his emotional state over actions or setting. And so the almost sombre tone of the scene is intensified. Through subdued lighting his emotional state is heightened to the audience who can now build an identification with him in his sadness. The plot merely shows the Officer walking away from the scene of the crime, yet through non-diegetic sound- connoting sadness and a poignant atmosphere- , through intimate close ups of his face and also through shallow depth of field created- by selectively focusing entirely on his face- the plot infers successfully his feeling of remorse and realisation.

As the non-diegetic music and the calm paced shot length continues into the next sequence- as it were into other final accounts of the characters stories- the audience is able to relate the characters, thus identify feeling of sadness and a sense of closure in all the accounts. After several shots of these various characters in their states of reflection in the closing five minutes of the plot the music begins to slow to a close; as it does this the audience sees Anthony (“Ludacris”) letting the Chinese immigrants go, after previously agreeing to sell them. This part in the plot signifies his revelation in looking beyond money for the greater cause. Yet, it is at this exact point of the music ending that we hear him say to one of the immigrants: “dopey fucking Chinaman”. Here- mainly through the combining of sound and plot- the film’s message and story is presented effectively; that “moving at the speed of life” even after having “crashed” into one another the issue of prejudice will always haunt in the world today…bla bla bla.

In the closing sequence of the plot the audience is again encouraged to relate the different characters, thus bringing messages of the film to the fore; it shows that our actions although they may seem insignificant, actually relate to the wider context and serve to affect others in undesirable ways. This is also possible through the rhythmic relationship of the shots in the sequence; although this sequence employs numerous jump shots to signify a change in sub-plot, through continuity editing and continuation of the non-diegetic sound, the viewer is not left disorientated, but instead is able to follow the interweaving plot. Through continuity editing- particularly continuation of asynchronous music and rhythmic relations of shot length in this sequence- the individual stories of the various characters come together and form the wider narrative of the film. By doing this the audience is able to understand the plot in its successful attempt to relate each individual to its wider context, and show the often subconscious effects of racism on society as a whole.

As the sequence comes to an end and as the individual stories of the characters are given room for contemplation and reflection by the characters and the viewer, the mood of the scene becomes much more upbeat; with jerky guitar riffs contrasting with the previous sombre piano sound. By doing this the viewer can at this point look beyond the emotional stories of the individual characters and think more closely about the messages presented in the film. It allows a less serious light to be shone onto the subject, but at the same time leaves it in our minds for contemplation, as the scene closes with a car crash resulting in one of the driver’s saying what the hell is wrong with you people? As the various drivers are left on the road fighting with each other, the camera slowly pans out of the action, leaving a birds- eye shot angle looking down on it. This remarkable angle combined with lively yet reflective music- as it reads these little black clouds keep walking round me- humorously presents the audience with a finality to the story, yet keeps the actual issues unresolved. It realistically produces closure to the plot and story, as it has successfully addressed various issues so that they are understood by the audience; yet it is presented as an ongoing problem- as the narrative goes full-circle- thus leaving the audience with room for reflection themselves.

By looking at the closing five minutes of Crash, through style and plot the story and essential issues of post 9/11 America are presented unflinchingly to the audience. To reveal the wider issues in the story, Crash has effectively depicted the every day life of a diverse group of characters, who as it turns out have more in common with each other than they initially thought. By the interaction of mainly sound and editing with the plot, Paul Haggis’ story is told with force, allowing the audience to contemplate and reflect on various issues- namely racial prejudice in the world today- along with the narrative characters.