JG Ballard defends sex and cars film

The controversial film Crash was defended by the novelist JG Ballard, on whose book it is based, and by the director, David Cronenberg.

A stylised portrayal of car accidents as erotic, it is to be distributed in Britain by Columbia TriStar if passed for viewing.

Mr Cronenberg defended the film as a "metaphor". Mr Ballard said: "In many ways the film goes even further than the book I wrote. If you read the book there is clearly an attempt going on to justify the extraordinary events being described." David Lister