Collision
In the city, timing is everything...
One of the nice things about running a site such as this is that every now and the I come across a film that is well written, well acted, well directed – in short, an unquestionably good film. Sharyn Chen’s Collision is just such a film.
The film revolves around 15-year-old Malia (Tracy Perez) who, following an argument with her boyfriend, finds herself with nowhere to live but unwilling to admit to herself just how dire are the straits she’s in.
As she picks up her possessions she collides with Elias (Tom Monahan), a mentally ill homeless man who takes a liking to her bright orange school folder. Given that the rest of Malia’s few belongings are scattered on the street around her it’s not really surprising that she doesn’t have enough fight in her for the moment to rescue a folder that she doesn’t expect to need again any time soon.
The third character in this film is Zeke (Franklin Ojeda Smith), an elderly homeless man trying to straighten himself out and effect a reconciliation with his estranged daughter.
The film proceeds as a series of vignettes involving these three characters, their struggles to survive and their encounters with each other and the population of the city at large. These vignettes link together to explore the way in which we are all affected by our random interactions with friends and strangers and the way in which we all come to depend on the social solidarity of the people around us whether we are aware of it or not.
And this is where the good writing comes in. For a film that is largely dependent on a series of coincidences to keep it moving forward, Collision feels wonderfully unforced. The gentle pace of the film probably helps here, as does the fact that the setting is a relatively small part of New York, but the main element is that the characters are so well conceived and so rounded that the randomness and coincidence feels like an inevitable part of their lives.
The acting is superb throughout and all three of the main cast members do an incredible job of drawing you into their characters’ worlds, engaging your interest and ensuring that you really do find yourself caring about what happens to these people.
Collision is a superb film in which the script, the characterisation, the acting and the direction all come together wonderfully and which delivers an ending which is both understated and powerful.
Thursday 22 Mar 2007 | Paul Pritchard | Drama
