Film Review: Traffic (2000)

about 1 year ago

(source: tmdb.org)

Drug abuse and illegal business that supports it have been often covered in films and television, but rarely in its entirety. They were either shown from the perspective of heroic law enforcement trying to stop illegal trade or from the perspective of addicts. It was rarely seen in a way that offers multiple perspectives or the entirety of the process. One of rare exceptions was Traffik, 1989 British television miniseries that shown the link between growing poppies in Pakistan and its final product being injected in the veins of British youth. The series left such good impression that US remake was inevitable and it finally happened with Traffic, 2000 feature film directed by Steven Soderbergh, which is today considered to be among the best pieces of his filmography.

Script by Stephen Gaghan has changed the setting from the original, but it maintained most other details, including the narrative structure that consists of three seemingly unconnected stories. The first story is set in Tijuana, Mexican city on the US border, and deals with two local policemen – Javier Rodriguez (played by Benicio del Toro) and Manolo Sanchez (played by Jacob Vargas) – who supplement their meagre salaries by working on the both sides of the law before being noticed by General Arturo Salazar (played by Tomas Milian), powerful Mexican Army commander who decides to recruit them for his own secret operation against one of country’s drug smuggling cartels. On the other side of the border, in San Diego, two DEA agents – Montel Gordon (played by Don Cheadle) and Ray Castro (played by Luis Guzman) – manage to arrest major drug smuggler Felix Ruiz (played by Miguel Ferrer) who, in exchange for immunity, agrees to testify against his boss Carlos Ayala (played by Stephen Bauer). Ayala’s pregnant wife Helena (played by Catherine Zeta-Jones) was until that time convinced that her husband was legitimate businessman; now she is forced to seek assistance of his attorney Arnie Metzger (played by Dennis Quaid) to restart drug smuggling operation from scratch in order to get him out of prison and protect her family from husband’s rivals. At the other side of the country, conservative Ohio Supreme Court judge Robert Wakefield (played by Michael Douglas) has just been appointed by President to head federal Office of National Drug Control Policy. He goes to Washington to prepare for his post and inquire about policies he would take, unaware that his 16-year old daughter Caroline (played by Erika Christensen) has started to consume heroin and crack.

Steven Soderbergh was the right choice for directing this film. As a film maker able both to woo critics with his “quirky” arthouse films and audience with more mainstream content, he knew how to approach the complex issue and demanding narrative structure. His talent for cinematography also played important role. He has directed scenes that belong to different subplots in different styles, thus helping audience to avoid confusion in the film that feature dozens of different locations and large number of characters. For example, scenes that show corrupt Mexico are shown with yellow overtones; scenes that show cold and cynical Washington D.C. are shown with the use of blue colour; only the scenes that show ordinary lives of American middle and upper class are shot in regular way. Soderbergh also insisted on the use of handheld cameras in order to tell his story in most naturalistic way.

Like in many of his films, Soderbergh was fortunate to have diverse and very talented cast. Some actors did better job than others, though. Benicio del Toro and Miguel Ferrer are doing much better job than overhyped Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Erika Christensen with her ordinary and un-Hollywood looks also helps make Traffic look convincing and not just another of Hollywood’s ambitious award-grabbing films. Some of the actors even help create sympathy for characters that would otherwise look like despicable villain in more conventional Hollywood films dealing with illegal drug trade, and that is especially the case with Ferrer.

Another thing that makes Traffic stand out from other Hollywood films dealing with the same theme is its undeniably pessimistic and heretical view on the War on Drugs. Until Traffic, most Hollywood film makers, even those who considered themselves to be liberals, were following official government line and portrayed drug business as absolute evil that must taken out even at the expense of constitutional liberties or international law. Gaghan’s script, on the other hand, claims that the War on Drugs can’t be won, at least not in the way it was fought for decades. Demand for the drugs in USA and other rich Western countries is so strong that drug smugglers and dealers consider large profits worth the risk; globalisation, modern means of transport and disappearance of national borders also made smuggling much easier; even customs and law enforcement officials who refuse temptation of bribe have their hands tied with increasing bureaucracy; if they manage to eliminate one drug lord, another will simply take his place. Soderbergh paints this dark and depressive picture with semi-documentary segments in which top US senators and other politicians play themselves and warn naive idealistic Wakefield not to expect much from his mission. Realistic approach is further underlined with the subplot dealing with General Salazar being inspired by real life case of Mexican general Jesus Gutierrez Rebollo who was arrested over links with cartel few years before production of Traffic. Gaghan’s script, on the other hand, isn’t preachy nor it gives firm answers how to deal with the issue – both those who demand complete decriminalisation of drugs and those who advocate harsher measures against drug lords will found arguments for their views in the film.

Traffic is very good but also an imperfect film. Its main flaw becomes apparent in comparison with the original miniseries. Feature film, even with two and half hours of running time, is perhaps not the best form for such stories, but Gaghan could have kept one of the crucial subplots from the British miniseries – the one dealing with producers, those impoverished peasants in Third World countries who grow poppy and coca and without which drug trade couldn’t have existed. If did that, Soderbergh’s film would have asked why USA and the West haven’t done more to give proper alternatives to those people. Answer was perhaps too uncomfortable even for smug USA at zenith of its power. Instead, Traffic took the easy route of showing neighbouring Mexico with violence and corruption as source of America’s drug problems and did so by bordering on ethnic and cultural stereotypes. However, despite those flaws, Traffic is a very good film. Soderbergh deservedly won Oscar for Best Direction, just as Del Toro won Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, while Gaghan’s Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay might be a matter of debate. It still represents a valuable and thoughtful treatment of serious problem and it paved the way for television shows like Breaking Bad and Narcos.

RATING: 7/10 (+++)