Luke
stu-kicks
Tash Jayasinghe
CibbuanoTraffic
January 13th 2007 11:14
Meticulously researched, and filmed in a striking yet unobstrusive doco-style, 'Traffic' offers a multi-layered and thorough view of the 'war on the drugs' as fought in the U.S. and Mexico. Through the inspired use of different coloured filters we're presented the home front (Washington), the front line (the Mexico-U.S. border) and the other side (Mexico) in this 'war', and a varied array of characters and plot strands are concisely and expertly interwoven to present as full a picture as any film could possibly get on a subject as complicated as the drugs trade.
The aforementioned doco-style helps reinforce the equal importance placed on each of the 'sub'-plots - the newly appointed Drugs Minister and his coming face-to-face with drugs in his own home, the wife of a drug baron learning of her husband's business, a Mexican cop descending into the corrupt world of his superiors, and the capture and protection of a potential informant by two American police officers. The various threads cross over as the film progresses, and, don't fret, a satisfactory degree of closure is given by the film's end despite the subject matter's seemingly unsolvable problems.
Director Steve Soderbergh is in fine form, using minimal music and clear hand-held camera work to ensure we're never too distracted from the story. There's a war motif that runs right through the story, but it's refined just enough to not become annoying. Sure, the film is obviously subjective in it's views on drugs, and some have criticised it for this. Whilst I don't think it ever descends into 'preachiness' (it's made clear that Catherine Zeta-Jones' character's choices are made for the sake of her children) it's impossible for anything to be subjective, so it's somewhat stupid to bash a film for having a discernible stance on something.
The cast is good, as expected, especially Benicio Del Toro as the only honest cop in Mexico, and Erika Christensen as the senator's daughter. It was good to see Don Cheadle and Luis Guzman re-teamed after 'Boogie Nights' as partners in policework, and the various character actors who flesh out the smaller parts (Miguel Ferrer, et al) are all bright enough to draw our attention whenever they appear.
Usually I sum up how I feel about a film at the end of my review, but I kinda did it at the beginning this time. There are only so many times I can say 'this is good' before I feel like I'm really starting to repeat myself, so just go watch it if you haven’t already seen it, alright?
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