Carcrash
Directed by David Caesar
Chauvel Cinema, Sydney, from August 17
Reviewed by Kath Gelber
People "drive the way they would like to live their lives", claims this new documentary by David Caesar. They substitute for alienation and a lack of control in their own lives by control over a powerful machine.
The film opens with people talking about what cars mean to them. The men use language like "power", "invincible", "tool", "status", "aggression" and even "manipulation". To women, cars symbolise something altogether different — "freedom" and a feeling of being "scared".
The film doesn't miss many of the ways in which the culture of the car has impinged on our consciousness, invaded our unconscious and taken on a life of its own. Cars are virtually worshipped in our society. We escape in them, have speed chases in them and have sex in them. One man claims, "I reckon you can find your true self in a car".
The second half of the film is much more disturbing, and concentrates on the "crash" half of the title. Vivid visuals accompany the testimonies of survivors and the families of those who didn't make it. The viewer forms an impression of incredible vulnerability, bloody destruction and the physical and social costs of the car mentality.
This is a well-constructed documentary which leaves a lasting impression. It is critical of the way in which we have "happily" traded off our air, land and lives for this icon of contemporary life. Yet it fails to look beyond the existence of this mentality to ask why — and point the finger at car companies, advertising and the way that our dependence on the motor vehicle has been manufactured. Perhaps I am asking too much.
Nevertheless, it's worth seeing. You will identify with some characters, be (justifiably) horrified at others and probably never drive as nonchalantly again.