Traffic (The Criterion Collection)
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Andrew Chavez, Benicio Del Toro, Jacob Vargas, Michael Saucedo, Tomas MilianDVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, DVD, NTSC, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 147 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2002-11-05
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Universal Studios
Movie Reviews of Traffic (The Criterion Collection)
Movie Review: Soderbergh's masterpiece
Summary: 5 Stars
By the time he made Traffic, Steven Soderbergh was at the zenith of his popularity having just come off the crowd pleaser, yet socially conscious Erin Brockovich, with an even more powerful critique on a problem that plagues the United States - the war on drugs. He depicts it on a macro and micro level with a masterful command of craft. Soderbergh does it in a way that isn't preachy, making a movie that simultaneously entertains and has something to say.
Each story illustrates the futility of trying to win this so-called war on drugs. The Mexico story shows how an honest lawman like Javier walks a dangerous line where he tries to make a difference while avoiding angering his corrupt superiors who would kill him if he doesn't do what he's told. The D.C. story shows how deeply drugs have infiltrated our society when an affluent politician's daughter becomes a drug addict, going to the poor slums to get high. How can he win the war on drugs when he can't even keep his own daughter away from it? The San Diego storyline shows how those at the top of the drug food chain are untouchable because they have the money to maintain a respectable façade and can afford the best lawyers money can buy to make any charges brought against them go away.
While it's true that Traffic doesn't really say anything new about the war on drugs, it does reinforce how prevalent drugs are in our society and show how clueless our government is in their attempts to stop it. The problem is that the infrastructure that is in place is dysfunctional so that even when honest men like Javier or Wakefield come along with the best of intentions, they become ensnarled in bureaucratic red tape. Traffic seems to suggest that the best that these men can do is make a difference in their own small pocket of the world, whether it is Javier brokering a deal so that his town gets baseball field and the ability to play games at night, or Wakefield finally making a personal connection with his daughter in a meaningful way. The drug problem will never go away no matter how much money and manpower our government throws at it.
On the first disc are three audio commentaries, the first being with director Steven Soderbergh and the film's screenwriter Stephen Gaghan. Soderbergh, with his trademark dry, sardonic wit, touches upon how he achieved the various looks of the movie. Not surprisingly, Soderbergh dominates the track with some amusing anecdotes about filming in this commentary jam-packed with smart observations.
The second commentary track features producers Edward Zwick, Marshall Horskovitz and Laura Bickford and consultants Tim Golden and Craig Chretien. Golden talks about how the film's opening drug bust in Mexico was based on an actual event told to him by a Mexican police officer. Bickford and the other producers tend to speak about the film's production history. Chretien was a high-ranking federal agent for the DEA and talks about the authenticity of the bungled San Diego bust scene. This is a very informative track with the consultants providing the most fascinating material.
The last commentary track is by the film's composer Cliff Martinez who talks about his score in between the isolated tracks of music.
The second disc starts off with 25 deleted scenes with optional commentary by Soderbergh and Gaghan. The two men do an excellent job putting this footage in the context of the movie and explain why it was cut. Dennis Quaid and Catherine Zeta-Jones' characters suffered the most in the editing but a lot of this stuff was cut for reasons of time.
"Film Processing Demonstration" takes us through, step-by-step, how the filmmakers achieved the distinctive look of the Mexico sequences. Not surprisingly, digital technology was used to help achieve this look.
"Editing Demonstration" has the film's editor Stephen Mirrione take us through four scenes and show how they were put together with editing. This is fascinating insight into the process.
"Dialogue Editing Demonstration" features the film's sound editor Larry Blake giving us a crash course in this craft. For example, in one scene a radio could be heard in the background and so Blake had to edit it out and yet keep the dialogue that was recorded at the time - not as easy as one might think.
"Additional Footage" includes four scenes in their unedited form. You can watch these scenes from multiple angles. Most interesting of them all is the cocktail party scene in which Michael Douglas interacted with actual politicians, keeping in character while they were allowed to adlib.
Also included are two trailers and five T.V. spots.
Finally, there is a collection of rare, drug-detecting dogs trading cards. A cute, if somewhat frivolous extra.
Summary of Traffic (The Criterion Collection)
Traffic examines the effect of drugs as politics, business, and lifestyle. Acting as his own director of photography, Steven Soderbergh employs an innovative, color-coded cinematic trea tment to distinguish the interwoven stories of a newly appointed drug czar and his family, a West Co ast kingpin's wife, a key informant, and cops on both sides of the U.S./Mexican border. Rarely has a film so energetic and suspenseful presented a more complex and nuanced view of an issue of such int ernational importance. Instantly recognized as a classic, Traffic appeared on more than 200 c ritics' ten-best lists, and earned 5 Academy Award® nominations.Featuring a huge cast of characters, the ambitious and breathtakingTraffic is a tapestry of three separate stories woven together by a common theme: the war on drugs. In Ohio, there's the newly appointed government drug czar (Michael Douglas) who realizes after he's accepted the job that he may have gotten into a no-win situation. Not only that, his teenage daughter (Erika Christensen) is herself quietly developing a nasty addiction problem. In San Diego, a drug kingpin (Steven Bauer) is arrested on information provided by an informant (Miguel Ferrer) who was nabbed by two undercover detectives (Don Cheadle and Luis Guzmán). The kingpin's wife (Catherine Zeta-Jones), heretofore ignorant of where her husband's wealth comes from, gets a crash course in the drug business and its nasty side effects. And south of the border, a Mexican cop (Benicio Del Toro) finds himself caught between both his home country and the U.S., as corrupt government officials duke it out with the drug cartel for control of trafficking various drugs back and forth across the border.
Bold in scope, Traffic showcases Steven Soderbergh at the top of his game, directing a peerless ensemble cast in a gritty, multifaceted tale that will captivate you from beginning to end. Utilizing the no-frills techniques of the Dogme 95 school, Soderbergh enhances his hand-held filming with imaginative editing and film-stock manipulation that eerily captures the atmosphere of each location: a washed-out, grainy Mexico; a blue and chilly Ohio; and a sleek, sun-dappled San Diego. But Traffic is more than a film-school exercise. Soderbergh and screenwriter Stephen Gaghan (adapting the British TV miniseries Traffik to the U.S.) seamlessly weave the threads of each separate plotline into one solid tale, with the actions of one plot having quiet repercussions on the other two. And if you needed more proof that Soderbergh takes unparalleled care with his actors, practically all the members of this cast turn in their best work ever, the standout being an Oscar-worthy Del Toro as the conflicted moral conscience of the film. While no story is fully resolved in the film, you'll be haunted by these characters days after you've seen the film. By far one of the best movies of 2000. --Mark Englehart
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