Heavy Traffic (1973)

An "underground" cartoonist contends with life in the inner city, where various unsavory characters serve as inspiration for his artwork.

Director:

Ralph Bakshi

Writer:

Ralph Bakshi

Stars:

Joseph Kaufmann, Beverly Hope Atkinson, Frank DeKova

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Joseph Kaufmann	...	Michael Corleone
Beverly Hope Atkinson	...	Carole
Frank DeKova	...	Angelo "Angie" Corleone (voice)
Terri Haven	...	Ida Corleone (voice)
Mary Dean Lauria	...	Molly (voice)
Jacqueline Mills	...	Rosalyn Schecter (voice)
Lillian Adams	...	Rosa (voice)
Jamie Farr
Robert Easton
Charles Gordone	...	(voice)
Michael Brandon	...	Voice characterization
Morton Lewis	...	(voice)
Bill Striglos	...	(voice)
Jay Lawrence	...	(voice)
Lee Weaver	...	(voice)

Storyline

An animated feature which begins, ends and occasionally combines with, live-action filmed on location. A white dropout struggles to create comics and animated films, drawing inspiration from the harsh, gritty world around him. Still sharing his run-down apartment with his middle-aged parents, an oafish slob of an Italian father and a ditzy nut-case of a Jewish mother, he is ridiculed and looked down upon by his friends, hypocrites who run with violent gangs and the Italian Mafia, and a shallow Black girl who makes her living downtown with the pimps and pushers. This cartoonist gets a chance to pitch a film idea to a movie mogul, but the story proves too outrageous: a far-future Earth, destroyed by war and pollution, where a mutant antihero challenges and kills God. Complications ensue when the cartoonist's parents react in irrational ways to his various involvements.

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Plot Keywords:

cartoonist | jewish mother | jewish | sexual repression | violence against women | 

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Taglines:

Heavy Entertainment!

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Genres:

Animation | Comedy | Drama

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Certificate:

X

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English Italian Yiddish

Release Date:

17 November 1973 (Sweden)

Also Known As:

Flipper City

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cine Camera, Steve Krantz Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

77 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Half way into production as Bakshi was fired (before being re-hired). A different director stepped in and animated a train sequence in which Michael goes to visit his brother-in-law. He is on a subway and witness' a woman sleeping while two men begin to undress her. Michael just watches. As the woman wakes up, she screams "rape" toward Michael. This was in the original script. But was scrapped when Bakshi returned to the project.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Michael: What makes you happy? What makes you happy? Where do you go? Where do you go? Where do you hide? Where do you hide? Who do you see? Who do you see? Who do you trust? Who do you trust? Who do you screw? Who do you screw? What kills the pain? What kills the pain? Game up, game win. Bug around, set it straight. Transaction. Play it hard, hurts so bad. Gotta win. Everyone loses. Everthing loses. Gotta win big. Sick and tired of losing. Where does it all go? Where does it all go? Where ...

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Connections

Features Red Dust (1932)

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Soundtracks

"Maybelline"
Written and Performed by Chuck Berry
Courtesy Chess Records
Courtesy Arc Music

User Reviews

Get out of your Ghetto.

Breathtaking. Get past your own discomfort with relating to racial stereotypes and realize that this film is genius. A love story at heart, and perhaps one of the most profoundly honest and insightful films to date, Heavy Traffic broke the barriers of 'political correctness' before the people who coined that term were even born. If nothing else consider what is being said about settling for the familiar and not venturing outside of your personal neighborhood. Awe inspiring, Ralph Bakshi should be canonized.