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Crash

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A film about racism in the city of Los Angeles, Crash is the kind of cinema that leaves a mark.

It unveils disturbing and universal truths about social prejudice and racial discrimination.

The movie - which won Best Film at the Oscars in March - is the directorial debut of Paul Haggis, the writer of Clint Eastwood's award-winning Million Dollar Baby.

The story revolves around 11 characters from different racial and economic backgrounds, whose lives unexpectedly collide one day.

One thing unites them - anger. 'I'm angry all the time and I don't know why,' says Sandra Bullock's character after she and her husband (Brendan Fraser), a district attorney, are robbed by two black thugs in their car at gunpoint.

The rage of the characters makes the first 30 minutes of Crash a hellish snapshot of racially-divided life in Los Angeles.

Among many ugly incidents, we witness a well-educated black couple (Terrence Howard and Thandie Newton) being harassed by a racist white cop (Matt Dillon) and an owner of a gun store insulting an Iranian shopkeeper and his daughter.

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