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Heavy Traffic
An "underground" cartoonist contends with life in the inner city, where various unsavory characters serve as inspiration for his artwork.
Release : | 1973 |
Rating : | 6.5 |
Studio : | Steve Krantz Productions, American International Pictures, Cine Camera, |
Crew : | Title Designer, Cinematography, |
Cast : | Frank De Kova Mary Dean Lauria Lillian Adams Jamie Farr Robert Easton |
Genre : | Animation Drama Comedy |
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Reviews
Very best movie i ever watch
Highly Overrated But Still Good
Good concept, poorly executed.
By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.
An "underground" cartoonist contends with life in the inner city, where various unsavory characters serve as inspiration for his artwork.Another reviewer said that people who review this film poorly are either offended by the nudity or just do not get it. The nudity (and blood) do not bother me in the slightest -- fill the screen with as many animated sex organs as you feel necessary, for all I care. On the second point, it is possible I do not get it.While I understand the animation was innovative for its time and that the film shows urban decay -- both with cartoons and actual locations -- I cannot help but think that it just has not aged very well. Some scenes I found excellent (such as the God segment), while others were completely forgettable. It balanced out to be average at best.The New York Times called it the "most original American film of the year." Could they look back now and say that again? I am not so sure.
Rated R for Graphic Violence,Nudity,Language and Brief Drug Use Heavy Traffic is another adult animated film from Ralph Bakshi.I have seen plenty of Bakshi films.I first got interested in Bakshi when I saw Fritz The Cat.I really enjoyed that movie and it is still Bakshi's best in my opinion.Coonskin was good but nowhere near as good as Fritz.Hey Good Lookin is another great Bakshi film as well.I plan on viewing American Pop next(if I can find it) and then Bakshi's fantasy films like Wizards,Lord Of The Rings and Fire and Ice.Heavy Traffic has a decent enough story and some funny scenes. and if you like Bakshi's other films, you should check this one out.The film is about Michael, a pinball playing virgin with an Italian father and a Jewish mother.His mother and father are always fighting and trying to kill each other.Michael is friends with a black bartender named Carol who gives him drinks in return for his sketches.After Carol gets fired, she stays at Michael's place where his father dislikes carol.So Michael and Carol leave and Carol becomes a prostitute.They end up robbing and killing a man for cash and then Michael gets shot.The film mixes live action and animation.The ending is fairly weird and does not make much sense but Heavy Traffic is a fun animated film that you should check out if you can find it.
Ralph Bakshi's Heavy Traffic almost manages to beat his earlier 'Fritz the Cat' with its downbeat, very dark urban look and outrageous humor about different sides of life. It combines animation of different techniques and real-life footage with snippets of pop art, comics, advertisements and classic old movies. The result is simply a firework of a film. The main character Michael gets to know some hard facts of life while pin-balling between crazy home life and even crazier city life. The takes on sex, religion, race issues etc. may partly be a little dated in their early 70's ways but some deeper points and especially the humor still works in a timeless way. Bakshi's handling of the rather short but winding story and his technical ability to create memorable adult animation deserves repeated viewings in my eyes.
This film is one you'll pretty much love or hate. I think to those who don't like it . . . either you're sensitive to the nudity, issues it covers, or other content material, or maybe you just don't understand it.Sometimes confusion can lead to hatred. But the film is without a doubt visually stimulating. IMDB voters are giving it crap ratings, yet I agree with the people who give out star ratings, for this piece got 3.5 stars out of 4. And it deserves it. It's groundbreaking, and such a perfect posterchild for the 70s in terms of seedy animation and urban decay.Well done Bakshi, well done.