Crash (1996)

Director:

David Cronenberg

Writers:

J.G. Ballard (novel)
David Cronenberg (written by)

Release Date:

21 March 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

The most controversial film you will ever see.

Plot:

After getting into a serious car accident, a TV director discovers an underground sub-culture of scarred, omnisexual car-crash victims who use car accidents and the raw sexual energy they produce to try to rejuvenate his sex life with his wife.

Plot Keywords:

Car | Car Accident | Car Crash | Sex | Semen

Awards:

8 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

James Spader	...	James Ballard
Holly Hunter	...	Helen Remington
Elias Koteas	...	Vaughan
Deborah Kara Unger	...	Catherine Ballard
Rosanna Arquette	...	Gabrielle
Peter MacNeill	...	Colin Seagrave
Yolande Julian	...	Airport Hooker
Cheryl Swarts	...	Vera Seagrave
Judah Katz	...	Salesman
Nicky Guadagni	...	Tattooist
Ronn Sarosiak	...	A.D.
Boyd Banks	...	Grip
Markus Parilo	...	Man in Hanger
Alice Poon	...	Camera Girl
John Stoneham Jr.	...	Trask
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
David Cronenberg	...	Auto Wreck Salesman (voice) (uncredited)
Jordan-Patrick Marcantonio	...	Man in Tattoo Parlor (uncredited)

Directed by
David Cronenberg

Writing credits
J.G. Ballard		(novel "Crash")
David Cronenberg		(written by)

Produced by
Chris Auty	....	co-executive producer
David Cronenberg	....	producer
Andras Hamori	....	co-executive producer
Robert Lantos	....	executive producer
Stéphane Reichel	....	co-producer (as Stephane Reichel)
Marilyn Stonehouse	....	co-producer
Jeremy Thomas	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Howard Shore

Cinematography by
Peter Suschitzky		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Ronald Sanders

Casting by
Deirdre Bowen

Production Design by
Carol Spier

Art Direction by
Tamara Deverell

Set Decoration by
Elinor Rose Galbraith

Costume Design by
Denise Cronenberg

Makeup Department
Mary-Lou Green-Benvenuti	....	key hair stylist
Shonagh Jabour	....	key makeup artist
Katherine James	....	makeup artist (as Kathrine James)
Carol Marinoff	....	assistant hair stylist
Frances Mathias	....	hair stylist
Leslie Ann Sebert	....	assistant makeup artist (as Leslie Sebert)

Production Management
Marilyn Stonehouse	....	production manager
Sandra Tucker	....	post-production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Cassandra Cronenberg	....	trainee assistant director
Tom Quinn	....	second assistant director
Michele Rakich	....	third assistant director
David J. Webb	....	first assistant director

Art Department
John Bannister	....	scenic artist (as S. John Bannister)
Gordon Becker	....	carpenter
David Orin Charles	....	set dresser
Joe Curtin	....	construction coordinator
Nick Fischer	....	on-set dresser
Danielle Fleury	....	assistant set decorator
John Flynn	....	stand-by painter
Ian Fraser	....	head carpenter
Christopher Geggie	....	property master
Arvinder Grewal	....	third assistant art director
Jacqui Hemingway	....	assistant head painter
John Keenan	....	carpenter
Sabri Lariani	....	assistant head carpenter
Melissa Morgan	....	head painter
Peter P. Nicolakakos	....	lead set dresser
Sheri O'Rourke	....	assistant props
Denis Perrier	....	assistant head carpenter
Andrew M. Stearn	....	first assistant art director
Robert H. Steiner	....	construction accountant (as Robert Steiner)

Sound Department
Denis Bellingham	....	boom operator
Tom Bjelic	....	sound effects editor
Steph Carrier	....	control room operator
Christian T. Cooke	....	adr recordist
Chris Czopnik	....	assistant sound effects editor
David Evans	....	sound effects supervisor
James A. Gore	....	foley assistant
Wayne Griffin	....	supervising dialogue editor
Bill Hermans	....	second engineer
Bradford L. Hohle	....	consultant: Dolby
Joe Lafontaine	....	assistant dialogue editor
John Laing	....	dialogue editor
David Lee	....	sound mixer
Andy Malcolm	....	foley artist
Dino Pigat	....	sound re-recording mixer
Ian Rankin	....	control room operator
James Robb	....	assistant dialogue editor
David Rose	....	control room operator (as Dave Rose)
Dale Sheldrake	....	dialogue editor
John Douglas Smith	....	sound effects editor
Lou Solakofski	....	sound re-recording mixer
Orest Sushko	....	sound re-recording mixer
Clive Turner	....	assistant sound effects editor
Tony Van den Akker	....	foley recordist
Randy Wilson	....	control room operator
Ryan Fraser	....	post-production engineer (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Warren Appleby	....	special effects assistant
Stephan Dupuis	....	special effects makeup
Michael Kavanagh	....	special effects coordinator
Dennis Pawlik	....	special effects assistant
Dawn Rivard	....	special effects
Trevor Cripps	....	special effects technician (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Dave McGhie	....	digital artist (uncredited)

Stunts
Lloyd Adams	....	stunt driver
Marco Bianco	....	stunt driver
Phil Chiu	....	stunt driver
Shelley Cook	....	stunt driver
Tony Cordeiro	....	stunt driver
Peter Ellery	....	stunt driver
Ted Hanlan	....	stunt coordinator
Danny Lima	....	stunts
Steve Lucescu	....	stunt driver
D. McLean	....	stunt driver
Rick Parker	....	stunt driver
Branko Racki	....	stunt driver
Bryan Renfro	....	stunt driver
Paul Rutledge	....	stunt driver
Peter Szkoda	....	stunt driver
Tye Tyukodi	....	stunt driver
Ron Vanhart	....	stunt driver
Curt Bonn	....	stunt rigger (uncredited)
John Stead	....	stunt performer (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Scotty Allan	....	gaffer
Michael Anderson	....	electrician
Allan Angus	....	generator operator
Russel Bowie	....	first assistant camera: "b" camera
Russel Bowie	....	second assistant camera
Sandy Cooper	....	second assistant camera: "b" camera
Candide Franklyn	....	dolly grip
Michael Gibson	....	still photographer
Neil Gover	....	generator operator
Rich Green	....	camera trainee
Joel Guthro	....	camera operator: "b" camera
Michael Hall	....	first assistant camera
Delroy P. Jarrett	....	electrician
Mike Kirilenko	....	key grip (as Michael Kirilenko)
Steve Klys	....	grip
Jim MacCammon	....	electrician
Steven Morrisson	....	best boy electric
Andrew W. Peart	....	video playback operator
Jacqueline Pelle	....	camera trainee
Peter Suschitzky	....	camera operator
Samuel Turturici	....	grip
Jonathan Wenk	....	still photographer
Ron Yolevsky	....	best boy grip

Casting Department
Donna Dupere	....	extras casting
Aric Dupere	....	extras casting assistant (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Sylvie Bonniere	....	wardrobe assistant/seamstress
Brenda Gilles	....	costume supervisor
Ann Henshaw	....	costume coordinator
Ann Henshaw	....	assistant costume designer (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Kathleen Cummins	....	editing intern
Kevin Downer	....	post-production assistant
Samantha Dubiel	....	post-production coordinator
Ricardo Olivero	....	color timer
Tad Seaborn	....	first assistant editor: avid
Peter Watson	....	first assistant editor: film
Aaron Woodley	....	editing intern
Bill Holley	....	colorist (uncredited)

Music Department
Holly Carroll	....	music preparation
Robert Cotnoir	....	music coordinator
Simon Franglen	....	electronic music preparation
Gary Gray	....	music scoring engineer
Tod Holcomb	....	associate music editor
Suzana Peric	....	music editor
Peter Schenkman	....	music contractor
Howard Shore	....	conductor
Howard Shore	....	orchestrator
Ben Tucker	....	second assistant music editor

Transportation Department
John Cocks	....	driver
Walter Di Bacco	....	driver
Robert Geeves	....	driver
Jazz Helie	....	transportation coordinator
Tim Hilts	....	driver captain
Bill Leeking	....	picture car captain
Doug Perry	....	driver
Brian M. Travers	....	driver: set dressing department
Grant Volkers	....	driver
Dean Wittaum	....	head driver
Ted Nobles	....	driver: transportation department (uncredited)
Duane Shearer	....	driver (uncredited)

Other crew
Mark Adams	....	stand-in: Mr. Spader
Nicolette Beasley	....	deliveries coordinator
Debra Beers	....	location manager
Shelley A. Boylen	....	pre-production coordinator
Francie Brown	....	dialect coach
Tracey Dodokin	....	assistant: Mr. Reichel
Leslie Druker	....	script supervisor
Stephan Dupuis	....	prosthetics designer
Prudence Emery	....	publicist
Chris Gibson	....	stand-in: Mr. Koteas
Joanne Jackson	....	production accountant
Jamie Jones	....	MotoCam operator
Beverley Kolbe	....	location production assistant
Jeff Krebs	....	technical consultant: avid (as Jeffrey Krebs)
Glace W. Lawrence	....	line producer's intern
Mark Logan	....	assistant location manager
Christine Manning	....	stand-in: Ms. Unger
Ramona Ng	....	assistant: Mr. Reichel
Susan Phillips	....	production coordinator
Matthew Rawley	....	assistant accountant (as Matthew J. Rawley)
Matthew Rawley	....	post-production accountant (as Matthew J. Rawley)
Dawn Rivard	....	shop coordinator
Linda Terrio	....	stand-in: Ms. Hunter
Jeremy Thomas	....	presenter
Phillip L. Tomalin Jr.	....	assistant: Mr. Spader (as Phillip Tomalin)
Abigail Tucker	....	assistant production coordinator
Sandra Tucker	....	assistant: Mr. Cronenberg
Loretta Vanhart	....	assistant accountant
Danny White	....	technician
Andrea Wood	....	business and legal affairs
G. Michael Currie	....	production assistant (uncredited)
Stephan Mallmann	....	business affairs: Recorded Picture Company (uncredited)
David Porter	....	craft service (uncredited)
Judy Sharinger	....	legal delivery supervisor (uncredited)
Ian Thompson	....	production assistant (uncredited) (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Alliance Communications Corporation
• Movie Network, The (TMN)
• Recorded Picture Company (RPC)
• Téléfilm Canada

Distributors

• Fine Line Features (1997) (USA) (theatrical)
• Atlantis Entertainment (1998) (Czechoslovakia) (theatrical)
• Bac Films (1996) (France) (theatrical)
• Concorde Film (1997) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Finnkino (1996) (Finland) (theatrical)
• José Frade Producciones Cinematográficas S.A. (????) (Spain) (theatrical)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (1998) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• Columbia TriStar (????) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Columbia TriStar (UK)
• Criterion Collection, The (1997) (USA) (laserdisc)
• DNC Home Entertainment (2007) (Italy) (DVD)
• Home Video Hellas (HVH) (1997) (Greece) (VHS)
• Indies Home Entertainment (2003) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Mainostelevisio (MTV3) (2007) (Finland) (TV)
• Nelonen (2003) (2004) (Finland) (TV)
• New Line Home Video (????) (USA) (DVD)
• Nordisk Film Home Entertainment (1997) (Finland) (VHS)
• StudioCanal (2012) (Germany) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Avid Film Composer  edited on
• Casablanca Sound Services  adr recorded at
• Casablanca Sound Services  re-recording facilities
• Casablanca Sound Services  sound editing
• Casablanca Sound Services  sound transfers
• DeLuxe Toronto  foley recorded at
• Dolby Laboratories  sound post-production
• Donna Dupere Casting  extras casting
• Film Effects  end title design
• Film Effects  opening title sequence
• Film Finances Canada  completion guaranty provided by
• Francont Film  negative cutting
• Magnetic North, The  video transfer
• Manta Eastern Sound Ltd.  music recording
• Meespierson Royalty Management and Collection, B.V.  world revenues collected and distributed by
• Numbers  edge coding
• Panavision  grip and lighting equipment provided by
• Payments Plus  payroll services
• Royal Bank of Canada  production financing provided by
• Starcraft Services  craft service
• Studio Film Catering  catering

Also Known As:

MPAA:

Rated NC-17 for numerous explicit sex scenes

Runtime:

100 min | 90 min (R-rated version)

Country:

Canada | UK

Language:

English | Swedish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby | SDDS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:R | Canada:R | Chile:18 | Finland:K-16 | France:-16 | Germany:18 | Hong Kong:III | Ireland:18 | Italy:VM18 | Japan:R-18 | Norway:18 | Portugal:M/18 | South Korea:(Banned) (original rating) | South Korea:18 (cut) | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:NC-17 (certificate #34312) | USA:R (video rating) (cut) | Iceland:16 | Hungary:18 | Netherlands:16 | Canada:18+ (Quebec) | Brazil:18

Filming Locations:

North York, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Company:

Alliance Communications Corporation

Trivia:

Michael Hutchence was offered the role of Vaughan.

Goofs:

Continuity: After Vaughan repeatedly crashes the left front bumper of his Lincoln into a junker James Ballard is sitting in, causing major damage to the bumper and the lights, Vaughan is soon shown driving on the highway with no damage to the bumper and both left lights operational.

Quotes:

Vaughan:Seagrave? You couldn't wait for me? You did the Jayne Mansfield crash without me? And the dog... the dog is beautiful!

Movie Connections:

Featured in This Film Is Not Yet Rated (2006)

Driving around in cars, with sex

David Cronenburg's interesting but flawed film 'Crash', adapted from James Ballard's novel (Ballard also gives his name to the leading character), attracted huge amounts of controversy on its release and has one of the most striking voting profiles on IMDB that I have seen - also equal returns for every number from 1 to 10. In fact, there's a lot of admire in this sweaty, atmospheric adaptation that perfectly captures the sense of heightened alienation that charactersises much of Ballard's prose. While among the cast, Deborah Kara Unger is sexy as always, Elias Koteas is suitably creepy and even James Spader is kind-of OK, if you don't mind him doing that "lost little college boy grown up to be a pervert" thing that he first perfected as Graham in 'Sex, Lies, and Videotape', a role he basically reprises here.

But - and let's get real for a minute - this is a film about people who are turned on by car crashes! Now, what the hell is that all about? If you ask me, the film is trying to say something about the need for transgression in an age with no real taboos - so its characters push at an endlessly receding door, until in the end only death itself can offer a way out. The problem is that the film suffers from the same problems as the world it portrays - these people have no moral rules, so their actions carry no implications beyond themselves - which leaves us with an idea, with happenings, but no narrative "drive" as such. Without anything to set against their nihilistic desires, 'Crash' coveys no sense of tragedy; just driving around in cars, with sex.