TRAFFIC (Portuguese/French with subtitles)
A review by Mark R. Leeper in bullet-list form
from the Toronto Internation Film Festival
CAPSULE: A series of story lines told at the same time, not all of which are connected. Each is vaguely whimsical but nothing overwhelmingly funny. If there is a common theme it is class and wealth. Not very entertaining and my showing had many people walking out. Rating: 4 (0 to 10), low 0 (-4 to +4)
- Written and directed by Joao Botelho. - Multiple stories, some connected, some not. - Music from many different style and countries. - Priests decide to close church and sell off the statues. Very funny auction of the John the Baptist. Giving details of John's life and John's virtues as selling points. - Women with dayglow wigs status symbol. - Woman is really unpleasant to her husband than goes back to listening to the song she says she loves, "Stand By Your Man." - Many lascivious middle-aged men and women. - Extended excerpt of all-female production of Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar." Piece about intrigue. One couple gets rich from son playing on the beach and discovering packs of money. - Contrasts of people with old money and the newly rich. - Sequence of junkmen reading children's stories from books found in a landfill. - Priests are obnoxious and thrown out of car while hitchhiking. - Long sequence of wealthy people eating sardines. They use white gloves and pick up sardines in hands. - It is never clear what the film is trying to say and much possible whimsy may have been lost in translation. It is strange.
Mark R. Leeper
mleeper@lucent.com
Copyright 1998 Mark R. Leeper
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