#151: SODERBERGH, Steven: Traffic (2000)

SODERBERGH, Steven (United States)

Traffic [2000]

Spine #151
DVD

Traffic examines the effect of drugs as politics, business, and lifestyle. Acting as his own director of photography, Steven Soderbergh employs an innovative, color-coded cinematic treatment to distinguish the interwoven stories of a newly appointed drug czar and his family, a West Coast kingpin's wife, a key informant, and cops on both sides of the U.S.-Mexican border. Rarely has a film so energetic and suspenseful presented a more complex and nuanced view of an issue of such international importance. Instantly recognized as a classic, Traffic appeared on more than 200 critics' ten-best lists, and earned five Academy Award nominations.

147 minutes

Color

Stereo

in English and Spanish

1:85:1 aspect ratio

Criterion Release 2002

Director/Writer

Screenplay by Stephen Gaghan.

Steven Soderbergh was 37 when he directed Traffic.

Other Soderbergh films in the Collection:

#938: Sex, Lies, And Videotape (1989)
#698: King Of The Hill (1993)
#199: Schizopolis (1996)
#618: Gray's Anatomy (2000)

#496: Che (2008)
#617: And Everything Is Going To Be Fine (2010)

The Film

Film Rating (0-60):

60

The Extras

The Booklet

Eight-page wraparound featuring an essay by Manohla Dargis.

Commentary

1. Director Soderbergh and writer Gaghan.

2. Producers Edward Zwick, Marshall Herskovitz, and Laura Bickford.

3. Composer Cliff Martinez (featuring two music cues not included in the final film).

Twenty-five

Deleted scenes, featuring commentary by Soderbergh and Gaghan.

Film processing demonstration

Achieving the look of the Mexico sequences.

Editing demonstration

With commentary by editor Stephen Mirrione.

Dialogue editing demonstration

With sound editor Larry Blake.

Thirty minutes

Of additional footage, featuring multiple angles from the scenes of the El Paso Intelligence Center and the cocktail party where U.S. senators, major politicians, lobbyists, and others express their views on the drug war.

Theatrical and television trailers

U.S. Customs trading cards of the K-9 squad used in the detection of narcotics and illegal substances

Extras Rating (0-40):

39

60 + 39 =

99

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