Details

Release year: 2004

Storyline

Racial tensions collide in a collection of intertwined stories involving residents of Los Angeles.

Top credits

Directors

Paul Haggis

Writers

Cast

Don Cheadle — Graham
Sandra Bullock — Jean
Thandiwe Newton — Christine
Karina Arroyave — Elizabeth

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Awards

3 wins & 3 nominations

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Did you know

• Paul Haggis holds the distinction of being the only person ever to write the screenplay for two consecutive Best Picture winners. He also wrote the previous year's Best Picture winner, Million Dollar Baby (2004).

• The film was written 10 years after the infamous Rodney King Beating Video (1991) was released. The tape led to weeks of mass riots around Los Angeles over the lack of justice for its racially motivated police brutality, and director Paul Haggis felt that the public needed to be reminded that the problems with racism were far from over. Another incident that inspired Haggis was when he got mugged by two black teenagers outside a Blockbuster video store. The boys ran off with the videos and some money he gave them, but while thinking about those two characters, he thought, "well, who are they, and what are the other elements of their life? Where do those two guys go?"

• With a budget of only $6.5 million and 32 shooting days for this film, director Paul Haggis had to cut the costs by using his own house and even his own car for some scenes.