It’s hard to argue that one of the most shocking Academy Award upsets of all time happened close to a decade ago, when Crash took home Best Picture over Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain (and three other nominated films hailed as more deserving) at the 2006 Oscars. Considering that many were even surprised to see the movie nominated in that category in the first place, its win outraged film fans everywhere.
In a new interview with HitFix, writer/director of the film Paul Haggis, who also garnered an Oscar that night for Best Original Screenplay, admits that even he wouldn’t have picked Crash for the coveted award.
Haggis was asked about the criticism directed at the film, to which he replied, “Was it the best film of the year? I don’t think so. There were great films that year. Good Night, and Good Luck, amazing film. Capote, terrific film. Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain, great film. And Spielberg’s Munich. I mean please, what a year. Crash for some reason affected people, it touched people. And you can’t judge these films like that. I’m very glad to have those Oscars. They’re lovely things. But you shouldn’t ask me what the best film of the year was because I wouldn’t be voting for Crash, only because I saw the artistry that was in the other films.”
He ended his answer to the question by saying, “Is it a great film? I don’t know.”
The 2005 film starred Sandra Bullock, Don Cheadle, Michael Peña, Thandie Newton, Ryan Phillippe, Matt Dillon, Brendan Fraser and Terrence Howard.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL18yMRIfoszEaHYNDTy5C-cH9Oa2gN5ng&v=8k_v0cVxqEY
Originally published August 12, 2015. Updated April 13, 2018.
