11/26/2023 0 Comments Traffic movie titlesAnd the fact that Soderbergh, as his own cameraman and cinematographer, has employed natural light, doesn't make Traffic any less visually da ring. Soderbergh describes Traffic as his $49 million Dogme movie, and certainly the hand-held style pushes the post-Blair Witch boundaries of mainstream moviemaking, but with the multiple storylines and delicately poised moral ambiguity, Traffic is closest in feel to a feature-length episode of NYPD Blue - indeed, it's no coincidence that Gaghan won an Emmy for his work on the revolutionary cop show. It's like a documentary with all the boring bits taken out. But what we are dealing with here is economy: Soderbergh's signature cutting, always to the chase, establishes a breathless rhythm which is more real than real. Just as his imaginative framing of a seduction reinvigorated the traditional love scene in 1998's Out Of Sight, Soderbergh works similar wonders with his largest canvas yet: two countries, three distinct storylines, well over 100 speaking parts. to a new plane is Soderbergh's storytelling skills. What elevates this company - drug dealers, corrupt cops, informants etc. Not much in Traffic's screenplay is entirely new- painstakingly researched and full of inside detail, certainly, but we have been here before (especially if you caught the original Channel 4 mini-series, Traffik, upon which Stephen Gaghan based his script). Welcome to Steven Soderbergh's 'run and gun' movie. Then a plane lands overhead and the movement starts in the form of constant running, camera slung loose over a shoulder, which doesn't let up for two and a half hours. Inside, two Spanish men talk in their native tongue about dreams. We open on a car parked in the desert, suffused with sun-bleached light. If you can laugh with your whole heart, head, and soul though, then start digging and you will find much of the best ever made.Watching Traffic, it's a while before you realise you're watching a movie made in America. not of the shallow sitcom style in any case. these are all true actors that are also capable of character studies and can deliver such a punch that it flies right over many people's heads. oh heck, just look up movies with Pierre Richard, Jean Rochefort, the unknown to Americans (because he would have put Hollywwod to such shame to kill their business in comedy) all time unforgettable Louis De Funes, Fernandel, Mireille Darc, Yves Montand, Jean Paul Belmondo (one of his movies is an obvious blueprint for Indiana Jones). Other great French comedies would be the original versions of "The Tall Blonde With The Red (Black) Shoe", ie "Le Grand blond avec une chaussure noire" (note that the original odd shoe was black, not red), "Birdcage", ie "La Cage Aux Folles", the German title of which was much closer to the actual "A Cage Of Fools". I remember being in stitches when I last saw it, and that was after seeing it several times already. It is a neat feature about most Tati films. "Shtick" with brains, a piece of visual art that might hang in a modern art gallery, were it not a movie, self contained, intelligent, funny. What makes this movie, just like the other Tati movies so remarkable, is that one does not need to speak or understand French and can still watch it in its original sound track, because the camera does all the work. I disagree with the inability of the French to laugh at themselves - but one needs to realize that the humor involved is very deep and tongue in cheek, but is just about even more stinging because it is not so superficial. In passing, or rather sitting, through the summery vacation road chaos this Tati movie slaps everything from drivers' behaviors and quirks that are border less, to general human characteristics, and even matters of national pride. "Trafic" is a wonderful stab at modern life and our infatuation with cars that is more up to date than ever, with traffic jams at an all time high. But just as there are many styles in US cinema, so are there many styles in other countries. Unlike the previous reviewer, I have to say that the French made many great comedies.
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