Film Review: Traffic

``HOW DO we fight our own family?'' asks the specially appointed DEA Robert Wakefield (Michael Douglas) in the Academy Award winning ``Traffic''. That kind of sums up the state of affairs in the U.S., which has been long fighting a `war on drugs'. The film, incidentally, was inspired by a television series of the same name. Director Steven Soderbergh brilliantly puts together three seemingly unconnected stories of people who are in some way or the other connected with drugs. Interestingly, the protagonists never come face to face with each other at any point.

There's the Mexican cop, Javier Rodriguez (Benicio Del Toro, who took home a Best Supporting Actor Oscar), who tries to steer clear of the drug lords and wants to finish them all. Then, there's Helena (a pregnant Catherine Zeta-Jones), who suddenly discovers that her husband is a drug cartel boss and is willing to go to any length to protect her children, even take up her husband's business. And finally, there's the new anti-drug czar Robert Wakefield, chosen by the President, who is almost losing a teenaged daughter to drugs.

It is Soderbergh's film all the way, and his Oscar for Best Director is well-deserved. Though he sends home a message, he is not didactic about it. At the end of the film your are left asking yourself what you can do to help society, instead of being offered solutions.

The `yellow' tinted scenes for Mexico, sepia for San Diego and blue for America clearly distinguish the place of action. The hand-held camera gives the film a documentary feel, and at times, you feel you are encroaching on the intimate lives of the characters.

Though Del Toro won the Oscar for his understated performance, the film belongs to all the characters. It's an ensemble performance. No single character dominates, yet each of them has a vital part to play. Zeta-Jones is powerful, as is Erika Christensen, as Douglas's drug addict daughter.

Yes, the pace is slow, and at times, nothing seems to happen. But ultimately watching the film is quite a satisfying and thought- provoking experience. Of the Oscar crop of that year, ``Traffic'' is surely one of the more intelligent films.

SAVITHA GAUTAM

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