Crash movie

The movie Crash is a fairly good representation of the novel by J.G. Ballard. There are parts that are surprising, even apart from the obvious and necessary differences that are inevitable when changing a written work into a visual one. My first indication of the differences between movie and book was the realization that the characters were driving on the left side of the car. This led me to realize that their accents were not British. Following this, I noticed that their license plates were Canadian. The setting of the novel is so important and distinct that the shift from London to Canada was quite obvious and a bit unsettling. Why Canada? How much more difficult would it have been to find British actors and film in England? While the movie is an "adaptation," and as such, is subject to changes, this is a crucial part of the original story that should have remained intact. That said, the more specific locations were portrayed extremely well and what seemed like in keeping with the book. The road settings were similar to how they were described in the book, and Seagrave's home was as unclean and unsophisticated as I imagined. The hospital ward was as I had pictured, as was the apartment. The attention to detail in these settings, while changing the location of the book, was interesting. It was also fascinating that the film was actually less graphic than the book. This is particularly interesting because the movie is visual, while the book is only words. Ballard's descriptions of the sexual acts in the book were far more detailed and descriptive than the visual counterpart. While probably better for finding an audience, this drastically changed the movie from the book.