The British mini-series Traffik was a critical hit back in its day, earning an International Emmy and three BAFTA and was remade into an excellent Oscar winning film, Traffic. Traffik tells a large scale story about the drugs trade affecting Europe and Pakistan, focusing on three main stories, the first one about the British Home Office Jack Lithgow (Bill Paterson) in charge of British drugs policy and finds out his daughter Caroline (Julia Ormond) is a heroin addict. The second is Hamburg where police offices Ulli (Fritz Müller-Scherz) and Dieter (Tilo Prückner) who are investigating a drug trafficker, Karl Rosshalde (George Kukura) and his English wife Helen (Lindsay Duncan) is forced to take over the business as they debts raise. Finally in Pakistan a poppy farmer Fazal (Jamal Shah) who is forced to move to Karachi where he ends up working for the notorious Tariq Butt (Talat Hussain), a ruthless drug baron supplying heroin to Europe.
Traffik is a brilliant written mini-series looking at the drugs trade from all the angles, the supply and production, the distribution in Europe, the government trying to counter the trade and the effects of addiction. Traffik has a wide scope with its international look and the action interweave perfectly. Writer Steven Moore clearly did his research as he looks at these different factors, making sure there are plenty of facts and sit ensuring there is a compelling drama as he and director Alastair Reid show the world of moral greys. Sometimes the writing does get a little preachy, particularly when talking about the lack of treatment placements for addicts and its justification of the actions of the farmers, trying to whitewash them: but on the whole it is very well written crime series.
Reid ensure there was a plenty of grit with his filming, using muted colours, shooting in less glamorous areas and giving the programme the look of gritty 70s cinema. He was willing to show the violence and horrors of drug addiction, from taking it to withdrawal. Whilst Traffik is about the drugs trade in the 80s (and features an artificial sounding score that was common in the decade), yet it does still have some present day issues, including legal highs.
Traffik does have a strong cast and looks at the corrupting effects on the trade on many people, turn Jack into a colder person when dealing with his daughter before having to find her, Fazal turning from a farmer to a man who is willing to sell his soul when giving the opportunity to work for Tariq and works his way up the ranks and Helen turning from a housewife to a desperate woman trying to save her husband and more importantly her lifestyle as she ends up playing gangster. Even the police officer Ulli becomes more desperate during the course of the programme.
Traffik is very well written programme as it tackles a wide scope of issues in a compelling story. If you are a fan of The Wire and the Steven Soderbergh film then Traffik is worth checking out.
Traffik is a brilliant written mini-series looking at the drugs trade from all the angles, the supply and production, the distribution in Europe, the government trying to counter the trade and the effects of addiction. Traffik has a wide scope with its international look and the action interweave perfectly. Writer Steven Moore clearly did his research as he looks at these different factors, making sure there are plenty of facts and sit ensuring there is a compelling drama as he and director Alastair Reid show the world of moral greys. Sometimes the writing does get a little preachy, particularly when talking about the lack of treatment placements for addicts and its justification of the actions of the farmers, trying to whitewash them: but on the whole it is very well written crime series.
Reid ensure there was a plenty of grit with his filming, using muted colours, shooting in less glamorous areas and giving the programme the look of gritty 70s cinema. He was willing to show the violence and horrors of drug addiction, from taking it to withdrawal. Whilst Traffik is about the drugs trade in the 80s (and features an artificial sounding score that was common in the decade), yet it does still have some present day issues, including legal highs.
Traffik does have a strong cast and looks at the corrupting effects on the trade on many people, turn Jack into a colder person when dealing with his daughter before having to find her, Fazal turning from a farmer to a man who is willing to sell his soul when giving the opportunity to work for Tariq and works his way up the ranks and Helen turning from a housewife to a desperate woman trying to save her husband and more importantly her lifestyle as she ends up playing gangster. Even the police officer Ulli becomes more desperate during the course of the programme.
Traffik is very well written programme as it tackles a wide scope of issues in a compelling story. If you are a fan of The Wire and the Steven Soderbergh film then Traffik is worth checking out.