Entries tagged 'drugs'

traffik is the 1989 british television miniseries that steven soderbergh’s film traffic was derived from, along with the more recent usa network version of the miniseries, also called traffic.

the miniseries shares two of its three major story arcs with the film version, and naturally is set in britain (and pakistan), rather than the united states. at the time, the series was remarkable for showing the drug trade at such different levels, and what motivated the participants beyond a simple good/evil distinction. i think that has been done better since then, such as in the wire, but traffik deserves credit for breaking the ground.

this story has one of the most brilliant quotes i’ve ever seen in a news article: “It didn’t happen overnight. You don’t take a drug and go ‘Mmm, rabbits’.”

traffic is a most excellent film. the storyline featuring michael douglas is the weakest of the bunch (and the benicio del toro one the strongest). the acting is top-notch, and steven soderbergh is genius. go see it.