Crash was a self-described “passion piece” for writer and director Paul Haggis. Inspired by a carjacking he experienced in 1991, Haggis turned over the idea for years, and then finally began writing Crash soon after 9/11. Before delving into feature filmmaking, Haggis had an established career as a television writer, working on series such as L.A. Law and Due South. He gained significant recognition for his work in 2004 on his first feature film, Million Dollar Baby. After Million Dollar Baby’s success, Haggis continued to work on Crash. For his work on these two films, Haggis became the first person to write Best Picture Oscar winners in two consecutive years.
Haggis’ career as a television writer significantly influenced Crash’s unique narrative structure. The story unfolds at a rapid pace, and each scene appears in spurts that last no longer than a minute. Haggis keeps his audience on their toes, as we are left to piece together the story through interspersed segments.
In interviews, Haggis has cited both Jean-Luc Godard and Alfred Hitchcock as influences. It's easy to see resemblances between Haggis' films and the work of these two auteurs. In Vivre Sa Vie which is also an episodic narrative, Godard dramatically manipulates lighting to capture the heartache and sadness of the female protagonist. Similarly, Haggis uses lighting to enhance the emotions of his characters. Perhaps the most dramatic use of lighting appears in the scene in which Farhad confronts Daniel. As Lara watches from her home’s window, a warm, glowy light paints the scene in a celestial hue, adding to the scene’s religious undertones.
Additionally, Haggis incorporates numerous Hitchcockian elements into Crash. Like Hitchcock, Haggis chooses to increase tension by restricting the actions in the plot to a single setting. In this regard, the metropolitan setting of Los Angeles is essential to the film’s significance. Further, Haggis depicts the police authority as incompetent, a theme that repeats throughout numerous Hitchcock films. Finally, Haggis uses Waters’s mother to demonstrate the “domineering” matriarchal presence that often appears in Hitchcock’s collection.
Finally, Haggis uses a series of close shots in order to intensify his character’s emotions. This technique mirrors the myopic perspective with which the story unfolds. Firstly, close shots allow us to become entirely engulfed in the strong emotions of the characters. Secondly, in focusing on the facial expressions of each specific character, we become detached from the events and the setting beyond the frame. In this way, we mimic the self-absorbed actions of the characters and become oblivious to the outside world—we are so focused on what is in front of us that we fail to notice the interconnectedness of the other stories.
