Traffic

Starring: Benicio Del Toro, Jacob Vargas Director: Steven Soderbergh Original UK Premiere: 2001 Dvd Release: 23rd July, 2001 Number Of Discs: 1 Format: PAL, Region 2 Encoding

Article Index: [Background Info] [DVD Review] [Biographies] [Articles/Resources] [Link To This Article] Looking To Buy? Buy This DVD Here

Traffic is a film directed by Steven Soderbergh that explores the intricacies of the illegal drug trade from a number of perspectives: user, enforcer, politician & trafficker. The three main intersecting plot lines center around characters played by Michael Douglas, Benicio Del Toro & Catherine Zeta-Jones. There is a large supporting ensemble cast. a decision described by the magazine Total Film as the 5th dumbest decision in movie history. Based loosely around the British Channel 4 television series Traffik, the film avoids sanctimony & was responsible for renewed discussion of drug issues in the United States. In 2004, USA Network ran a miniseries based around the movie. Soderbergh won an Academy Award for Directing for the film. Del Toro won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. This was notable in that the majority of his dialogue was in Spanish.

Featuring a huge cast of characters, the ambitious & breathtaking Traffic is a tapestry of three separate stories woven together by a common theme: the war on drugs. Bold in scope, it 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. Utilising the no-frills techniques of the Dogme 95 school, Soderbergh enhances his handheld filming with imaginative editing & film-stock manipulation that eerily captures the atmosphere of each location: a washed-out, grainy Mexico; a blue & chilly Ohio; a sleek, sun-dappled San Diego. But Traffic is more than a film school exercise. Soderbergh & screenwriter Stephen Gaghan seamlessly weave the threads of each separate plotline into one solid tale, with the actions of one plot having quiet repercussions on the connected narratives. 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 Benecio Del Toro as the conflicted moral conscience of the film. Traffic registered eight Oscar nominations .

Benicio Del Toro is an actor. He was born in San German, Puerto Rico & grew up in Santurce, a district of San Juan, Puerto Rico. His parents, Gustavo Del Toro & Fausta Sanchez-Del Toro, were both lawyers. Benicios mother died of hepatitis when he was nine years old. Benicio attended Academia del Perpetuo Socorro, a Catholic school in Miramar, Puerto Rico. At age 13, he moved to Mercersburg, Pennsylvania & attended Mercersburg Academy, a boarding school. He received a best supporting actor Oscar for his role in Traffic. Posters Of Benicio Del Toro

Editors Choice: Traffic, The Hunted, The Pledge, The Way Of The Gun, Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas, Excess Baggage, View DVDology

Steven Soderbergh is an American film director. Soderberghs first film, Sex, Lies & Videotape which he both wrote & directed, won the prestigious Palme dOr at the Cannes Film Festival & became a worldwide commercial success. He was at the time the youngest ever filmmaker to receive that award. In 2001 he received an Academy Award for Best Director for Traffic, while another of his films Erin Brockovich featuring Julia Roberts, was also nominated in the same category. His subsequent two films Oceans Eleven & Full Frontal, also had a role for Roberts. Other regular actors to work with Soderbergh are Luis Guzmán, Don Cheadle, Catherine Keener & George Clooney, with whom he co-owns the production company Section Eight Productions that produced films including Far From Heaven, Insomnia & Clooneys directing debut Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. Soderbergh often works as his own director of photography under the alias of Peter Andrews. In March 2002, Soderbergh was elected First Vice President of the Directors Guild of America. Posters Of Oceans Eleven

Editors Choice: Oceans Eleven, Full Frontal, Traffic, Erin Brockovich, Solaris, The Limey, Schizopolis, Out Of Sight, View DVDology

©2004-2008 DVDArk.co.uk