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 | f word | ketamine | kissing | methadone | 

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Taglines:

The Weekend has Landed!

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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:

GBP2,200,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$104,257

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$104,257

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

'Pablo Hassan', the owner of Asylum (the nightclub they visit) is played by well known international DJ Carl Cox.

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Goofs

When the gang are in the pub and Jip realizes he fancies Lulu, he looks over and she lights her cigarette and has a puff. But then it switches to a wider shot and you can see Lulu lights her cigarette again.

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Quotes

Jip: Once more, I'm a "fuck"ioning human being.

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Alternate Versions

A special edition, Human Traffic Remixed, is available on DVD. This is re-cut with new scenes, new CGI effects, and new tracks.

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Connections

References One Night Stand: Bill Hicks (1991)

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Soundtracks

College of Dreams
Written by John Beltran
Published by Peace Frog Music
Performed by John Beltran
Licensed courtesy of Peace Frog Records

User Reviews

You really need to be able to relate or else it will just frustrate you

As the weekend approaches, the working days come to a close and the weekend of partying and forgetting everything else approaches. We follow a group of friends from their jobs to their Friday night highs. Jip is having erection problems, Koop mistrusts his girlfriend, Lu has just split from her most recent boyfriend and Nina is preparing to let her brother take E for the first time. They all hate their jobs, but the weekend gives them an opportunity to get away.

When this came out it got both horrible reviews and good reviews, so I didn't know totally what to expect, but I expected to hate it because it marked itself out from the very start as one of those very self-aware 'youf' movies. However, although that's exactly what it is, I did actually enjoy it nonetheless. There is not a plot so much as a weekend experience and it does struggle at times without a frame of any sort. However while it is hitting the spot and being energetic and funny it doesn't matter. The odd time it tries to give the characters specific issues or lives it tends to hurt itself but for the majority it works.

The script is funny with nice imaginative touches blended with real life club/drug culture/pub culture references and settings to make it identifiable and interesting. I suppose it very much depends on who you are. If you are not part of that scene or have no knowledge of it then it may just seem like a big pointless waste of time. For me, much of it was recognisable regardless of what I have done or have not done. While some of it was unknown to me, I still found it funny and was able to relate to much of it. It is very clear about it's stance on drugs (with a not-so-subtle clip of Bill Hicks just to ram the point home) but at least it shows the immediate bad side if not the longer lasting effects; the comedown/hangover scenes are pretty much fair and balanced, as are the scenes of enjoyment and fun brought by drugs. However to compare this film to Trainspotting is a joke! The latter was very clearly showing a balanced view of drugs, whereas this film is less balanced, and is more about the pleasure, being aimed at the user market.

The cast are young and lively and deal well with the material without ever impressing. Parkes seems the most comfortable with his role, although Davies convinces in a speeded up dealer performance. Simm is lumbered with the narration but does OK but there are no really good female characters compared to the men.

Overall this is worth seeing if you can relate to it and get laughs from seeing people you recognise in the characters. However if, after 10 minutes you can't see what the point of the whole thing is and it just seems noisy and stupid then it's likely not aimed at you and you're better off without it. Either way it isn't great but if you get it, it is energetic and funny enough to watch.