Human Traffic (1999)

Five friends spend one lost weekend in a mix of music, love and club culture.

Director:

Justin Kerrigan

Writer:

Justin Kerrigan

Stars:

John Simm, Lorraine Pilkington, Shaun Parkes

9 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
John Simm	...	Jip
Lorraine Pilkington	...	Lulu
Shaun Parkes	...	Koop
Nicola Reynolds	...	Nina
Danny Dyer	...	Moff
Dean Davies	...	Lee
Peter Albert	...	Lulu's Uncle Eric
Jan Anderson	...	Karen Benson
Terence Beesley	...	Moff's Father
Sarah Blackburn	...	Jip's Ex #2
Anne Bowen	...	Moff's Grandmother
Neil Bowens	...	Asylum Doorman
Peter Bramhill	...	Matt
Jo Brand	...	Reality (voice)
Stephanie Brooks	...	Fleur

Storyline

The Cardiff club scene in the 90's: five best friends deal with their relationships and their personal demons during a weekend. Jip calls himself a sexual paranoid, afraid he's impotent. Lulu, Jip's mate, doesn't find much to fancy in men. Nina hates her job at a fast food joint, and her man, Koop, who dreams of being a great hip-hop d.j., is prone to fits of un-provoked jealousy. The fifth is Moff, whose family is down on his behavior. Starting Friday afternoon, with preparations for clubbing, we follow the five from Ecstacy-induced fun through a booze-laden come-down early Saturday morning followed by the weekend's aftermath. It's breakthrough time for at least three of them.

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Plot Keywords:

techno rave | weekend | friend | friday | hip hop | 

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Taglines:

You won't know what hit you.

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Genres:

Comedy | Music

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for pervasive drug content and language, and for some strong sexuality

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

UK Ireland

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 May 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

B oтрыв!

Filming Locations:

Cardiff, South Glamorgan, Wales, UK

Box Office

Budget:

£2,200,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£434,261 (United Kingdom), 6 June 1999, Limited Release

Opening Weekend USA:

$10,595, 7 May 2000, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$104,257, 21 May 2000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Irish Screen, Fruit Salad Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When Jip first picks up Koop in his car you here the radio broadcast of BBC's Radio One. The MC is Pete Tong, who is the movie's Music Supervisor. Pete Tong actually did have a weekly radio show on Radio One.

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Goofs

When Jip is driving home from work, his right foot - his accelerator foot - is tapping along to the music yet the car still drives smoothly.

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Quotes

Jip: [after discussing the huge phonebill Moff ran up after a drunken phone-sex session] How many times have I told ya, get your own fucking flat. Get your own flat man, you need your own flat. It's a piece of piss, you can get it on the social.
Moff: [sighs] Where am I gonna go for fuck sake?
Jip: I dunno. What the fuck do you care?
[gestures a wanking hand]
Jip: As long as it's got a fucking phone-line you're all right ain't ya
Moff: [laughs] Fuck off you cunt.

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Alternate Versions

The US version was edited to remove certain cultural references that it was felt Stateside audiences would be unable to identify with. Notable amongst the changes was the removal of the "Summer of Love", late 80s/early 90s flashback sequence - complete with dummies, glowsticks, et al. Apparently this - and other refences - were thought to have been confusing for American youths whose similar "old school rave" period came rather more recently.

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Connections

References Taxi Driver (1976)

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Soundtracks

Atlanta
Written by Pete Heller
Published by Copyright Control
Performed by Pete Heller
Licensed courtesy of London Records 90 Ltd.

User Reviews

Watching this film just makes you want to go out clubbing!!

Every time I watch this film, it just really makes me wanna go out and have a good night! My mate uses "the weekend has landed" speech to psyche himself up before going out! and so do I...sometimes.

This film is a great debut for the writer/director - well done mate!

The acting is great, all the characters are believable and are larger than life! The 'weird' scenes are a joy to watch, Jip's running Mr floppy flashbacks/explanations/visualizations are all great! The scene in the huuuuuuuge pub when everyone stands up and starts singing the mock national anthem is a laugh too. There's loads of comedy here - Howard Marks' 'spliff politics' speech is hilarious!

Oh god, you just need to see this. Mind you, I felt the film did somewhat glorify the use of ecstacy, but hey, that's the truth of the matter eh? At least the film doesn't shy away from this fact. I suppose the film does carry a decent message to it as well - don't take life TOO seriously, you have to let you hair down sometime. And of course the chat in the pub when Moff tries to explain to his mates that he's coming off the drugs is a sure reminder that when the come down's out-way the good times, you know the party's over!

This is at times a very clever film in it's use of the camera, lighting, etc. It was a realised piece of cinema, and a great feel-good tale of mates, love, clubs, and drugs.

Get outta the 'rat race' people!!!

8/10

Enjoy!