Setting of Crash

Setting

In any work of literature, setting is more than just a background. A well depicted setting helps create the world of the film, a world we enter into to become involved in the characters and their struggles. In a good text the setting works with character and other aspects to convey the themes or ideas. In a film because it is a visual text, setting is particularly important and has a symbolic function. It can also create mood, atmosphere and emotion, heightening our emotional connection to plot and character.


Crash is set in the real world, in modern LA. It is a realistic yet also symbolic setting, as the city is imbued with meaning and many shots draw back to the birds eye view to give us an eye of God perspective on the isolation of individuals and the collision between them in an impersonal city.

Haggis refused to shoot the film in a cheaper location. This is a strength of the film because it is grounded in the real LA, using various identifiable parts of the city, notably Ventura Boulevard, which is mentioned by name, as are Westwood and Studio City. By grounding his film about racism and division in a real place, he has made the social problems more concrete and recognisable. We can then absorb his message better and transfer it to our own world or universalise the message.

You could also say that the city is a character. Graham's opening words inform us that this is so.

Moreover, LA, home of Hollywood is not unknown to us. We see it as a an extreme example of Western materialism and will certainly be aware of racial tensions there since the Rodney King fiasco of 1992, especially.

Rodney Glen King is an African-American taxi driver who was violently arrested by officers of the LAPD The event was videotaped by a bystander. The incident raised a public outcry among those who believed it was a racially motivated and gratuitous attack. In an environment of growing tensions between the black community and the LAPD (as well as increasing anger over police brutality and more general civic issues such as unemployment, racial tensions, and poverty in the black community of South Central Los Angeles) the acquittal in a state court of the four defendants, charged with using excessive force, provided the spark that led to the 1992 Los Angeles riots. (Wikipedia)

One motif of the setting (repeated image) is the barren land by the motorway outside the city where the Graham and Ria have an accident and Peter's body is found. Several times at beginning and end we go there. Wide shots of the lonely area with the lights of the city in view establish a bleak and foreboding atmosphere for the consequences of all the crashes or racial collisions that have occurred in the film. This is teamed with close ups of Graham's face as he looks at his brother shoe and helicopter shots giving us a wide perspective of the area.

Other shots which establish the setting as recognisably LA and establish atmosphere are those of suburban streets with their ubiquitous palm trees and Spanish style houses such as when Cameron gets into conflict with the police and Farhad confronts the Mexican locksmith. That it is a rather cheesy American society is established by the American flag flying in the street and all the ostentatious Christmas decorations like the inflated Santas and reindeer and so on which decorate the streets for the Xmas season.

Haggis used LA locations wisely. Shots of 'City Hall' are taken in a spectacular old building whose elegant corridors seem to symbolise the gap between the life of the poor in LA and the world of the rich and powerful. It also acts as an ironic counterpoint to the corruption that occurs there where people will cover up crimes with bribes and blackmail.

The time of the setting is also important. It is close to Christmas. This gives Haggis a chance to use the irony of the happy Xmas decorations and ti use snow as a possible symbol of blessing. As the director says, "If it can snow in LA, then there's hope for all of us."

It is contemporary as can be seen by the references to 9/11. "Yo Osama. Plan the jihad on your own time."

The social setting is of a racial melting pot which boils over frequently into violent confrontations. A setting where fear and ignorance poisons people's perceptions of others.


All in all, the setting in this film is one of its best features. It has a firmly local LA identity that gives it a good foundation in reality and an excellent springboard from which to look at multicultural matters in the wider world today, especially the world post 9/11.