Watched CRASH (the movie) today…and we,yani the ‘pseudo-intel’ junta out here might reopen the debate that oscar should have gone to Brokeback mountain.

We’ve got a shortage of topics here – indian politics is not controversial anymore, cricket is in the 5 day game mode for atleast another two weeks,US might not cruise into IRAN soon,there isnt much to crib about office space and yeah,the one with the specks is married and the smoker is committed.(committed it seems…f)

…..so while Visionary,Abrupt,pragmatic pahadi and me are drinking some wine and biding our time we might reopen the case for brokeback (might as well decide to call up academy in the morning if we are up the inebriation climb)

….neways the case is, It was a shocker when Jack Nicholson cried out ‘….and its ‘CRASH” in the KODAK theatre.March 5th now seems like a long time ago – around two weeks,but still, I share Ang Lee’s frustration after the best picture was announced,Fox said he was pissed off back stage – i dont share this cause i’m totally against pissing in revered places. I had seen about twenty minutes of CRASH on the D-day and was pretty sure they wouldnt make it (thought best screenplay was consolation prize)….Munich was just another action movie,liked the way the story was said but when the actual theme of personal fear and personal loss came up,the movie faltered a bit and never recovered.Good night and good luck was…i’ve no idea what and finally …..it was down to Brokeback and Crash.

Philosophising on movies ,we can look at a winner movie in two ways,

1. An actual potrayal of a human state with all its inherent complexities,nuances and stark verity. (Life is beautiful,A beautiful mind,Forrest Gump,Kramer Vs Kramer,Aviator,English Patient,Apur Sansar,Rashomon to name a few)

Brokeback wins by a landslide here.its not just a story of two gay cowboys,its about the turbulence individuals go through when they break out of the comfort of conformism and to make things worse – deep within them they have the feeling of wrongdoing.its about passions that are impossible to explain,and still you dont know how to quit it.

Jack says ‘I wish I knew how to quit you’….dhoode…that was ripping,wrenching stuff. see this piece,

Jack says –Tell you what, we coulda had a good life together! Fuckin’ real good life! Had us a place of our own. But you didn’t want it, Ennis! So what we got now is Brokeback Mountain! Everything’s built on that! That’s all we got, boy, fuckin’ all. So I hope you know that, even if you don’t never know the rest! You count the damn few times we have been together in nearly twenty years and you measure the short fucking leash you keep me on – and then you ask me about Mexico and tell me you’ll kill me for needing somethin’ I don’t hardly never get. You have no idea how bad it gets! I’m not you… I can’t make it on a coupla high-altitude fucks once or twice a year! You are too much for me Ennis, you sonofawhoreson bitch! I wish I could quit you.

the last few minutes of the movie after Jack gets killed are beyond comparison.silence has never been so vocal in recent movies.

2.Crying out to individuals or society at large.stating a message and more importantly,making you disturbed and making you think long after the credits roll. (Hotel Rwanda,Schindler’s List,Gandhi,Apocalypse Now)

There is a tie here.

Crash sends a message – racism is devoid of truth,its the same humanity everywhere.Brokeback remains silent – didnt justify gays nor made them into infidels.

Crash tells us there is no good race or rotten ones,its all about individuals.And there too everyone has a reason for their likes and dislikes.its a feel good movie and a modern one.editing and camera are awesome,it was done on a shoe string budget and was sold with passion.

Brokeback remained silent,but it tiggered an avalanche of discussions on gay rights and conservative stands.surprisingly most of these were very positive in nature,even the southern states welcomed the movie,people watched the movie and sympathized with those poor chaps.what one hundred litigations and east coast activism couldnt acheieve ,brokeback acheived.

Crash interweaves some lives in a time reference of around two days.its done in a spectacular way and has some very dark humor too.But a bit of artificiality comes into the movie when they try to make the parallely running lives collide…rather CRASH.we can see the script writer forcibly sitting in the field of the camera at times – I’m ok without that.

today I’ve watched Crash and I’m casting my final vote for Brokeback.