Hello again,

It has been over a year since I have last written one of my DVD ops and I had planned writing quite a few so I thought it was about time to get my fingers flexing and right a hardcore review on one of my favourite DVD’s. Well as you’ve probably realised by now, my ops is about Human Traffic.

When I speak to most people about this film and ask them if they have seen it they seem to stare at me blankly probably thinking I’m speaking of some Economics video talking about the problems of traffic. Well I can assure you now this film is not about Economics and people who think it is might be a little disturbed as to what it actually is.

Plot:

I think all good film reviews must start with the plot (however don’t quote me on that because my other reviews probably didn’t) and here it is. It is pretty hard to explain what this film is about but I will try my hardest. To sum it up in one word I would probably say “Drugs”, do not however get put off by this. Although this film is about drugs it is not as graphic and mellow as other films such as Trainspotting for example. It actually had me laughing all the way through and I don’t think anybody could not laugh at some of the parts of this classic.

The story revolves around five main characters, which I will further explain later. They are Jip, Moff, Lulu, Koop and Nina. They are all ecstasy takers and absolutely love it. This film is set in the early nineties when this was one of the most popular drugs if not the most, the raving culture was really booming. The great thing about this film is it spends time focussing on and explaining the characters so by the end you actually feel like you know them.

The whole plot takes place over one weekend and after a hard weeks work they all want to go out, go clubbing and get absolutely off their, which they achieve with flying colours I might add. So they decide to go clubbing and go to a party afterwards. This time Nina’s brother comes along and it is the first time he has taken a pill, but don’t worry he doesn’t collapse or anything as dramatic as that, it isn’t that type of film.

The group goes out to a pub before they move onto the club and there they make up a new national anthem and the whole pub joins in. After a few drinks they move onto a club which in this case is the “Asylum”. Having reached the club Moff realises that he has forgotten Lulu’s ticket so it is down to Jip to get them in. This is one of the biggest “blags” I have ever seen and through pretending to be a writer for Mixmag manages to get himself in without having a ticket. This scene is extremely funny and Jip has to phone his grandmother and pretend she is his photographer (well it made me giggle anyway). After the club they go to the party and this is where I think the film really shines as it does not go out to say that excellent and gives the disadvantages to it which I think is need to make a great well balanced film. Beforehand Nina’s brother in a daydream scene has ecstasy and all its good and bad point points explained to him by a scientist and Jip.

Then at the party Jip explains to the audience what the “come-down” is like and although I don’t need much persuading he put me off. He explains how the person you have been talking to all night is a complete stranger and all that you have in common with him is deep paranoia. By the end of the night Jip and Lulu realise they both love each other and Jip is finally able to conquer his huge problem of “Mr. Floppy” if you know what I mean.

I am sorry if this plot seems thin, I can promise you its not because the film is full of little anecdotes and incidents and so on and it is extremely hard to explain, so you must get it and see it. It includes explanations of what “Spliff-Politics” is, and also an explanation of how the club works by Jeremy Faxman:

“Every club is different but in the asylum it’s the manager. He has a string of home boys dealing the pukka Es to the party people in the club. He makes the most coin out of this enterprise. His homies will make just a couple of quid on each pukka. His homies are also scoping for other dealers on the block. When the homies have an illegitimate pukka E dealer in their website they tell the bouncers. The bouncers grip him, nab his stash and kick him out with a physical warning, give the pukka Es to their homies and they knock out to the kids in the club. What’s your name? What have you had? Reach for the lasers. Safe as f***.” You can imagine how funny this sounds coming from a bloke in a suit walking through the club.

The Characters:

As I said one of this films great strengths is not its great special effects because in that department it is rather limited but it is the way you really get to know the characters.

Jip (John Simms):

He describes himself as the “Prince of Paranoia” and says he is “suffering from the most monumental case of Mr. Floppy. Yes you guessed it he’s impotent and unfortunately he knows why. For some reason every time he gets jiggy all kinds of thoughts enter his head and so he calls himself what he does. Jip lives on his own in his own flat and works in a local clothes shop which also contains an extremely yet nasty seen which involves his boss doing what he does best. He hates his job and every week counts down the days until the weekend when he can really enjoy himself.

Jip has a big problem with his mum and thinks this could also be a reason for his problem with impotence. His dad left them when he was young and his mum took up prostitution, she still does it and she is getting quite old. Jip goes round to visit one day and explains to the audience that he has got used to it, but he sometimes feels like going upstairs and beating up the guy his mum is with. This comes as quite a shock to what was a fast-flowing and humorous film and I think the director is quite clever adding this in. Not only can you sympathise with the character but you can also see a reason why he might be taking drugs. Through all of his problems he still enjoys life to the maximum and tries not to let them get him down. There is nothing better for Jip than meeting up with your mates and getting completely off his face.

Lulu (Lorraine Pilkington):

As soon as you see Lulu you might recognise her from Monarch of the Glen in which she was one of the main actresses. Jip describes her as “an absolute pussy cat”. In the film she has recently broken up with her boyfriend who had been cheating on her. So she decides that she doesn’t need men and she is an independent woman who wears make-up because she wants to and not just because she knows men like it. She is the most together out of the group but still takes ecstasy with the rest of them, she had recently become dropping partners with Jip and that’s how they really got to know each other.

She is best friends with Nina and goes to University where she is a full time student but she still finds time (well that’s a surprise) for clubs, which she completely loves. She is the character in the film, which you least get to know but I think that’s because she doesn’t have the sort of problems, which the rest of them do.

Koop (Shaun Parks):

Koop is definitely best mates with Jip; they’ve known each other for the most time and have been dropping partners for a good part of their relationship. Koop works in a record store and is completely mad about music and loves the DJ scene. He says that you can’t be a DJ unless you can scratch and has fantasies about being a world class DJ, there is a hilarious scene, which accompanies this fantasy but the trouble is Koop can’t scratch to save his life.

Koop too is completely paranoid and like Jip its about girls, it is however different from Jip because Koop is completely paranoid about his girlfriend who by the way is Nina cheating on him with other men. When I say paranoia that is probably a bit of an understatement, he is terrified and thinks she is cheating on him with every man she talks to. He starts to worry that she is having affairs with ex-boyfriends and it drives him absolutely insane. At one point in the club Koop even has an argument with Moff because he thought there was something going on because Moff was talking to her too much.
Again Jip and Koop have another thing in common and this might be one of the reasons why they are such good friends. Koop’s dad is clinically insane and thinks he is an alien sent down to earth to try and complete some kind of mission, so sits infront of the TV all day waiting for messages to be delivered from outer space by his fellow aliens. Again this shocked me and I do think the director thought about this and put it in for a reason. One can see how much Koop worries about his dad and how much it upsets him. I am sure a lot of people can relate to what he is going through. For me this gives some explanation as to why he is taking drugs apart from his complete love of music.

Shaun Parks has made a couple of guest appearances in Soldier Soldier and Casualty but has not had any major roles which I think is a shame because he is a great actor.

Nina (Nicola Reynolds):

Nina probably plays the most minor role out of the five main characters but I don’t want to put her down because she is great but you don’t see her as much as you do the other characters. The director went into the least detail about Nina. It is her brother that comes along with the group to take a pill for the first time and I think this is clever aswell because it shows the audience how people become involved in drugs like this. It does say it was his own choice but the viewer knows that this is not completely the case.

Nina is Koop’s girlfriend and as she puts it is undergoing a sub-life crisis and feels like she is on a constant comedown. At the start of this film you see her getting harassed (not sexually) by the greasiest manager I have ever seen, yes we all know someone like that, may it be in the nearest MacDs or just next-door. Anyway she walks out of this job she hates and starts explaining herself to the viewer. She says that she would have liked to go to college to study philosophy but she messed up the interview and said that she wanted to do the coarse to sort out some of her multiple problems (not orgasms – if you thought of that shame on you). Jip describes her as an “absolute mistress” and this is so true. She is however making problems worse for Koop because she is started to get really annoyed with the way he gets so worried and doesn’t trust her which is completely understandable. Again these problems might go some way into explaining why she is taking the drugs that she is.

Moff (Danny Dyer):

I thought I would save the best until last. Moff is out and out my favourite character and as soon as you see the film you will hopefully understand why. He is the most screwed up out of the group and in my opinion this gives that film that extra edge because it shows even more the bad side of drugs. The acting is extremely strong and immediately you can tell that this was a great actor to choose, and clearly he plays a big part in the humour of the film.

From the outset you really can see that the drugs have taken their toll on Moff. He talks to himself and to you the view with incredible energy, the trouble is he talks absolute tripe, but it is still hilarious none the less. Moff thinks that having a girlfriend would be alright but the dating game would be far too much hassle and who needs girlfriends when you are having “sex with music” (he said it not me). He lives at home with his parents and this is the funny part, his dad is the superintendent of the local police force. The situation gets even more comical as Muff is not only the biggest “pill-monster” but also deals to a reasonable sized group of people.

Moff met Jip in a warehouse party three years before the film was set and they have been friends ever since. Of coarse he doesn’t have a job, but still he loves life and doesn’t think there are enough hours in the day to have one. I think the contrast between Moff and Lulu is extremely clever and shows both sides of taking ecstasy. Moff I think is the best character and is a joy to watch, for me Moff brings the whole film together and really adds the humour. You will understand what I mean when you watch the scene where Moff is in the Taxi talking about Peter Andre. Unfortunately I can’t expand on this because it’s slightly rude and I wouldn’t want to offend.

The DVD:

Apart from the film the DVD is packed with loads of features, which include:

Directing Traffic – Cast and Crew Video interviews – I don’t usually watch this part of the DVD but there was something about this film that made me want to and they are surprisingly interesting.

Theatrical Trailer – Pretty obvious what this is, but for those you don’t know it is what would have been shown at the cinema to advertise the film.

2 x TV spots

Cast and Crew Filmographies – This tells you what other films the actors have been in and what other films the director has directed.

Animated Menus

Music Video – Always a joy to listen to.

Random Music Selector on Menu Screens – This feature is quite nifty and just randomly selects a track from the film.

The extra features are 4:3 Full frame and the film is in 5:1 Dolby digital surround, I have surround sound and this film sound awesome with it. The disc is single layered and single sided. The video aspect ratio is 16:9 Anamorphic.

The film lasts approximately 95mins

Directed by Justin Kerrigan and is a Fruit Salad Film.

The Soundtrack:

Well you can probably guess what the soundtrack would be like on this sort of film and you are right. I am not usually a fan of this type of raving/clubbing music but I think it worked well with the film and I do find myself enjoying the music. First of all the soundtrack is mixed by Pete Tong – if you haven’t heard of him you should be asking yourself why not (lol) and includes various artists such as. Cj Bolland, Fat Boy Slim, Armand van Helden, Orbital, Underworld (they did “Born Slippy” on trainspotting), Primal Scream and last but not least Carl Cox.

I haven’t heard this soundtrack on CD but only with the film but from a lover of Ska Punk I have to say I do like it with the film. If you like this sort of thing then you should definitely go out and buy the soundtrack.

To Sum Up:

If I haven’t bored you too much I think its about time to sum this bad boy up and sum up I will. Having not been involved with this generation I don’t know if the film makers got it right, but from talking with people who have seen the film it seems like they have it spot on which is always encouraging. It doesn’t seem like the directors are scared of tackling some of the problems head on and they haven’t gone out of their way to make the film as politically correct as possible which quite frankly I am fed up with.

I really like the way that the film offers both positive and negative factors about the drug and it becomes an extremely well written and well balanced film because of the addition of a few simple scenes. I do think that maybe the film plays the drug in too good a light, although I respect this I also think the director could have played down the good sides a little but this probably made it a better film (hence the title). I also liked the way the film explained reasons why people might take the drug; as a way out for example.

The Guardian says: “The last great film of the nineties.”

I thought perhaps because I am talking about an extremely controversial drug I should leave you with this:

The Comedown Sermon:

“What goes up must come down and down and down. Everyone feels ill at the end of the night. We’ve all lost the power of speech. Desperately avoiding eye contact. Your new soul mate that you’ve been talking to for hours about the story of creation or the 4th Star Wars film is now a complete stranger. You can’t even look him in the eye. The only thing you’ve got in common now is paranoia, it’s coming through the walls man. The children of ecstasy aren’t safe anymore. We’re no longer all together as one, but separate mental patients that yearn to be ejected out of this poisoned atmosphere to a warm bed and friendly therapist. Reality’s on her way. Where am I? What have I done? Was it worth it? And by the way what the f*** happened here? All you have to look forward to is unconsciousness. But you can never sleep.”

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Thanks Cortex101