Heavy Traffic
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Beverly Hope Atkinson, Candy Candido, Frank DeKova, Lillian Adams, Michael BrandonBrand: TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language); Italian (Original Language); Yiddish (Original Language)
Format: Animated, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 76 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2000-09-05
Audience Rating: X (Mature Audiences Only)
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Movie Reviews of Heavy Traffic
Movie Review: Worth viewing as an animation oddity, nothing more, unless its nostalgia speaks to you.
Summary: 2 Stars
After the success of "Fritz the Cat", celebrated animation director Ralph Bakshi turned his adult-oriented animation style to something a bit more personal with 1973's "Heavy Traffic". The film follows Michael Corleone, a young, underachieving cartoonist living with his violently battling parents in a rough part of the city. When he is at home, he must put up with his Italian mob-involved father and his coddling Jewish mother literally attempting to kill each other, so he spends a lot of time wandering the streets and getting into odd situations by hanging out with seedy people at seedy bars and being harassed by locals about his virginity. When he takes up with an attractive black girl who has been fired from one of those clubs, his racist father puts a contract out on his life for shaming the family. While that seems like it could be a solid plot on paper though, it doesn't play out into very much onscreen. There is little added to the story than what I've just told you. No real twists, nothing really interesting besides Bakshi's expected bizarre visuals, which are really what Bakshi's more doodly films, like this, are worth watching for I suppose. Though, personally, the clashing of Bakshi's far too doodly animated characters with real world imagery comes out looking far too messy for my tastes. We're not talking "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" here.
Of course, the film is clearly a look at the ugly, gritty, dark side of urban life. How hard and violent it is, how you get bounced around (there is a big pinball machine metaphor played out with live-action footage that weaves in and around the animation), how much hatred there is between groups of people and how some folks struggle (apparently unsuccessfully) to rise above it. It shows both a nostalgic love and a disdain for urban life, which is truly portrayed without pulling any punches (be prepared for racially offensive language and generally offensive visuals). It's all best seen as a work of pop art reflecting its time and source, not just in its unique look but over all. It works in that sense, though still is not my cup of tea, but I don't really feel it works as a movie. I can appreciate a simple story, but this one still didn't really seem like a sufficient story as I watched it, I've never really been a fan of Bakshi's wild and unnecessarily raunchy or violent doodles that seem to serve little purpose or be too over the top to be effective when they are making a point, and the whole live-action wraparound only made the film's story more confusing, leaving one wondering if it was all imagined by the live-action Michael or if it was a vision of things to come, or what. Bottom line, it works as a work of art, but not as a piece of storytelling, and since it seems to be trying to be both, I would only consider it partially successful and not appealing to my personal tastes at all really.
Regardless, it's good to see this one on DVD, as I personally feel everything should be available on DVD. It is only in fullscreen though, and there is only one extra, but it's a good one. The extra is the theatrical trailer, and theatrical trailers for this kind of film from this era are very interesting to watch. Despite the low number of stars I'm giving this film (sorry, it just didn't do much for me except as an animation oddity), I would recommend it for true animation aficionados to have in their collections since it is a part of animation history. But, if you don't care about that sort of thing, don't bother with it unless you just like raunchy, wild animation.
Summary of Heavy Traffic
"Heavy images, crazy violence, insanity verging on insecurity and brilliance" (Films & Filming)! Heavy Traffic, the second feature from writer/director Ralph Bakshi (Fritz the Cat), combines a quick-edit pace, a frenetic story line and an array of eye-popping animation and live-action styles. "Powerful, raw and valid" (Los Angeles Times), this "remarkable blend" of filmic styles is a "hypnotic, life-giving experience" (The Hollywood Reporter)! Michael, a young artist who lives with his neurotic mother and two-timing father, escapes the absurd and often ugly side of life on New York's tough streets by satirizing its rich yet wacky characters in wildly entertaining cartoons. From the gruff homeless and wisecracking prostitutes to gun-toting gangsters and corrupt cops, Michael's world becomes an outlandish kaleidoscope of shocking images and horrifying events that are either a testament of his wild imagination or a reminder of the strangeness of reality.Heavy Traffic is writer-director Ralph Bakshi's follow-up to Fritz the Cat, so if you're looking for a little something to watch with the kids, you might want to search elsewhere. It's an odd little movie, one that seems to both condemn and celebrate depravity at the same time. The hero is Michael, an artist who still lives with his battling parents. Michael is far too sensitive for the cruel city, though he sure seems to draw an awful lot of pictures of it. Michael hooks up with cool bartender Carole and the two of them set off to... well, they plan to do something. More engaging than the story are Bakshi's visual techniques, which include blending animated and live-action sequences and layering old film clips into cartoon backgrounds. Though interesting as a piece of animation, Heavy Traffic is difficult to recommend. There is a running thread of misogyny that makes the film off-putting, to say the least. Yes, all of the characters are unpleasant and yes, most of the violence is over-the-top enough to make a case for it being comic. It is the constant, casual misogyny that's unsettling--at one point Michael backhands Carole across the face and everyone, including Carole, seems to be fine with that. Keep an ear out for Jamie Farr and watch it for the animation, not the plot. --Ali Davis
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