Human Traffic

Production Information:
A British independent film written and directed by welsh filmmaker Justin Kerrigan

Synopsis:
The film explores themes of coming of age, drug and club cultures, as well as relationships. It includes scenes provoking social commentary and the use of archive footage to provide political commentary. The plot of the film revolves around five twenty- something friends and their wider work and social circle, the latter devotees of the club scene, taking place over the course of a drug-culled weekend in Cardiff, Wales.

A Central feature is the avoidance of moralising about the impact of 1990s dance life style; instead the film concentrates on recreating the 'vibe, the venues and the mood' of the dance movement from the 1991 'summer of love' to the films release in 1999.

1) How can Human Traffic be considered a social realist film?
They are trying to present British youth culture and reflect realistic life and social issues.

2)How does the youth culture depicted resist or subvert mainstream society?
The youth are shown as not really caring about the law, just looking for a good time and a 'wild' night. This is a very stereotypical view of youth and isn't necessarily how youth actually behave

3) What values or morals are present in the film?
There are a lack of morals in the youth at first but by the end there is realisation/moralisation. The adults are quite strict and value morals rules. It shows a stereotypical view of how teenagers see adults.

4) How can you consider the film to be British?
British Cast, Crew, Director and Characters etc.

5) At about 42minuets in to the film a high angle shot is used when one of the main characters is talking to the owner of the night club. This shows the power of position the business owner is in and this effects the audience by showing them that one of the main characters, although may be 'big' amongst his friends, actually isn't very powerful in the society around him. This high angle shot also shows that the character is possibly in a risky situation as he has a lot less power than the business owner. This links to society because it portrays youth as being in a lower position to adults or businesses as they don't have as much or know as much. They are just childish druggies with little power compared to the wise adults