Traffik is better than Traffic
I had chance to watch this 5 hours+ mini series over Christmas (not that I care much about Christmas, but it just inspired me to watch a very long film). In short is Traffik better than Traffic. Here are a couple of reasons why.
Reason 1: A good part of Traffik is filmed in Pakistan to tell a story in Pakistan. The story in Pakistan is a story of the production side. Traffik focuses on heroin, and the heroin in Traffik is produced in Pakistan. It is certainly debatable how accurate the film really, but the production side of the story is a very big part of Traffik, and it enables Traffik to tell a big picture of the drug trafficking. Traffic simply does not cover the production side of the story at all. Traffic tells a story about cocaine, but the film does not tell how it is produced or where it is produced. Consequently, the film fails to tell a big picture of the drug trafficking.
Reason 1.2: Traffik highlights three problems in the use of drugs today; individual's problem (inability to copy with the society at large), the society's inability to create such an environment that everyone wants to live in and participate in and economical problem, in particular, economical problem in developing countries where drugs are produced and economical problem is created in relation to developed countries. Traffic primarily focused on individual's problem. It is certainly a very serious problem, but it is not the only problem. Consequently, the story of Traffic lacks depth.
Reason 1.3: Traffik tells three stories and they are all connected. One story takes place in England, one story takes place in Germany and one story takes place in Pakistan. Drug trafficking is a global activity, and Traffik does a good job portraying how it works. Traffic tells stories in U.S. and Mexico; two countries are not only geographically connected but also they are closely connected politically and economically. Consequently, the story in Traffic becomes almost domestic. The film fails to tell that the drug trafficking is a global activity.
Reason 2: Traffik is 5 hours+ long, so the film covers many stories and many details. Traffic is too short; it does not cover many stories or many details. Rather obvious, but it is what it is.
Reason 3: Traffic is actually more stylistic and its cinematography is much cleaner and polished. Though Traffik includes good pictures, Traffic is better filmed in terms of cinematography. However, Traffik clearly focuses more on its story and the story is well written. Traffik not only covers a lot of materials but also the film organizes all information so well; it has good tempo and rhythm so that it captures the audience the whole time. Traffic also has good tempo and rhythm, but the story itself lacks details. It lacks emotions and depth. The film also looks like that the film is made to make it look good rather than to tell a good story. Once the film loses its story, the film becomes not worth much, and that is what happens in Traffic unfortunately.
Reason 1: A good part of Traffik is filmed in Pakistan to tell a story in Pakistan. The story in Pakistan is a story of the production side. Traffik focuses on heroin, and the heroin in Traffik is produced in Pakistan. It is certainly debatable how accurate the film really, but the production side of the story is a very big part of Traffik, and it enables Traffik to tell a big picture of the drug trafficking. Traffic simply does not cover the production side of the story at all. Traffic tells a story about cocaine, but the film does not tell how it is produced or where it is produced. Consequently, the film fails to tell a big picture of the drug trafficking.
Reason 1.2: Traffik highlights three problems in the use of drugs today; individual's problem (inability to copy with the society at large), the society's inability to create such an environment that everyone wants to live in and participate in and economical problem, in particular, economical problem in developing countries where drugs are produced and economical problem is created in relation to developed countries. Traffic primarily focused on individual's problem. It is certainly a very serious problem, but it is not the only problem. Consequently, the story of Traffic lacks depth.
Reason 1.3: Traffik tells three stories and they are all connected. One story takes place in England, one story takes place in Germany and one story takes place in Pakistan. Drug trafficking is a global activity, and Traffik does a good job portraying how it works. Traffic tells stories in U.S. and Mexico; two countries are not only geographically connected but also they are closely connected politically and economically. Consequently, the story in Traffic becomes almost domestic. The film fails to tell that the drug trafficking is a global activity.
Reason 2: Traffik is 5 hours+ long, so the film covers many stories and many details. Traffic is too short; it does not cover many stories or many details. Rather obvious, but it is what it is.
Reason 3: Traffic is actually more stylistic and its cinematography is much cleaner and polished. Though Traffik includes good pictures, Traffic is better filmed in terms of cinematography. However, Traffik clearly focuses more on its story and the story is well written. Traffik not only covers a lot of materials but also the film organizes all information so well; it has good tempo and rhythm so that it captures the audience the whole time. Traffic also has good tempo and rhythm, but the story itself lacks details. It lacks emotions and depth. The film also looks like that the film is made to make it look good rather than to tell a good story. Once the film loses its story, the film becomes not worth much, and that is what happens in Traffic unfortunately.
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