Mixing and inter-twining six separate viewpoints on the world of drugs, it
gives a fantastic insight into the complexity of the drugs' issue whilst
managing to steer well clear of patronising moralisation.
There are morals to be found, but they are presented matter of factly. Almost
all aspects of the drug culture are observed from both sides of the fence; it
is a film which neither takes sides, condemns nor applauds drugs. It tells it
pretty much like it is.
Douglas plays an excellant part as Robert Wakefield, the newly appointed drug
tzar. Determined to stamp out the flow of drugs over the border and get to the
root of the problem.
His daughter, however, like many teenagers, is experimenting with drugs, like
her mother beforehand, and is hooked on heroin and crack.
South of the border, the cartels exist in a corrupt state where the chief of
police is coming down hard on one gang, to make sure that the gang he's being
paid by win the spoils of the war.
North of the border we have the fine upstanding defenders of justice, on the
street, fighting the daily slog to bring those involved in trafficking to
justice and to convict the Mister Bigs of the underground.
Their equivalents on the South are trapped in the corruptness but are looking
for a way out.
To round it all off, we have the American importers of the drugs. An everyday
family whose buisinessman head has something to hide.
The story weaves between its threads in a strange meandering fashion but is
well paced and tightly edited. The subtle, and not so subtle at times, hues
give each strand of the story its own life and integrates the whole well.
The filming is particularly strange, and a little difficult to get to grips
with if you've an eye for direction or film making. Shot in many places using
hand-held cameras, the shots are deliberately wrong; shot too high, too low
and slightly off centre from the action.
It is hard to get to grips with at first, but it does give the film its down
to earth investigative documentary feel. Badly framed mid-to-long shots, with
tops of heads cut off, show that all the no-no's of film school can be
abandoned with glee when you're a master of your craft.
On the surface of this horrendously long, nearly two and a half hour, film,
there would appear to be nothing new; drugs barons, drugs tzars, morally just
plus corrupt police officers, with the addicts and their dealers stuck in the
middle.
But it has a captivation which makes the time almost slip away. The characters
are all deeply rooted and explored well. This isn't a film where any one person
has a role and that role is it. There is real life and fire behind their eyes
and their wholeness is explored in depth.
Doglas's inaugral speech as the new drug tzar is powerful and brilliant. One
of the best performances he has delivered.
The situations are realistic, the settings equally so. As is the message.
Where others have tried to simplify the drugs battle as being between the good
and the evil, this film goes beyond that, to show that nothing is ever black
and white.
It has its set piece dialogues, from all its players, which taken at face value
are monologues of justification for their role in the film. Combined, they
provide a balanced perspective.
The only flaw in the screenplay is Zeta-Jones' transformation from happy,
upper-middle class housewife to drug baroness. Such a speedy and efficient
conversion clashed badly with the other, cleverly crafted sub-plots.
If Traffic can be accused of being skewed in anyway, it is in its subtle
revelations that the drugs battle cannot be won by dogma and rhetoric.
Government promises to wage war on drugs are effectively hollow, and do little
to actually solve the problem.
This may appear to be a shocking claim to make, but it is undoubtedly true as
more people turn to drugs, especially teenagers. Governments may throw more
money and resources at stopping drugs, but they still keep getting through.
People still keep taking them. The misery, for producers, suppliers and users
continue.
In these terms, the film will make many people, who have taken the, "Drugs are
bad. Just say no", mantra as their own, without exploring the subject in any
more depth, perhaps think more deeply about the real problems.
The brief discourse on the effects of thousands of white folks descending on
the black neighbourhoods to buy drugs, leading to the black folks seizing the
opportunity to make their money that way, rather than pulling themselves up
to the elevated social positions which they could undoubtedly achieve, may have
given others a clearer understanding of the economics of the drug culture. It
is not fair to say that the winners in this game are never the losers.
Whilst this film has a point to make, it doesn't make it by disregarding or
curtailing other points of views. It is a full-bodied exploration of the world
of drugs, and an extremely worthy piece of film making.
