Traffik

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Traffik is a 1989 television miniseries about illegal drug trade. Its three stories are interwoven, with arcs told from the perspectives of Pakistani growers and manufacturers, German dealers, and British users.

[edit] Background

The six-part series was produced by Britain's Channel 4, written by Simon Moore, and directed by Alastair Reid. In the United States it was first aired on Masterpiece Theatre in 1990.

The film starred:

• Bill Paterson as Jack Lithgow, the father of a heroin addict whose job is Home Office minister in the UK government with responsibilities for combating drug use and importation.
• Julia Ormond as his addicted daughter, in her national television debut
• Lindsay Duncan as the wife of a German drug smuggler, Karl Rosshalde (played by George Kukura), whose life is changed forever after her husband's arrest
• Fritz Müller-Scherz and Tilo Prückner as the German detectives aiming to bring down Rosshalde with the help of informer Jacques Ledesert (Peter Lakenmacher)
• Jamal Shah as innocent opium poppy grower Fazal, who is evicted from his land thanks to the policies encouraged by Lithgow's government, and as a result seeks a new job (and inevitable corruption) in Karachi
• Talat Hussain as Pakistani drug lord Tariq Butt, the supplier of Rosshalde's European heroin network, who hires the former poppy grower

[edit] Reviews

"Traffik" is lauded not only for the quality of its script, its complex, interleaving plots, the brilliant performances of its ensemble cast, and its subtle pacing, but also its bold and dispassionate look at the global drugs trade. It does not demonise or oversentimentalise the victims of heroin - the poor growers of "harmless" opium, the mules, or the addicts. It manages to humanise the "evil-doers" - the gangsters and pushers - in a way which makes the heroin problem seem part of the fabric of society, not some extra-societal force of people committed to "evil". Traditional political solutions to heroin trafficking and use are shown in all their ineffectualness. The overall message of the series is that the production and supply of drugs like heroin cannot be stopped, and that innocent people get hurt by the drug trade.

All these qualities were recognised when Traffik was nominated for six BAFTA Awards, winning three. It also won an International Emmy Award for best drama.

The plot of Traffik was used as a basis for the 2000 film Traffic.

The film is available on DVD and VHS.

[edit] External link

• Traffik at the Internet Movie Database