Steven Soderbergh
Traffic

Fight against drugs. This is the main slogan of Traffic, a film that won multiple Oscars in 2001. Soderbergh's movie tells the intertwined stories of three characters: a Mexican cop involved against his will (Benicio Del Toro), the head of American anti-drug forces (Michael Douglas), and the descent into hell of the sixteen-year-old Caroline (the debutante Erika Christensen).

All those who are traffickers or have anything to do with drugs are the enemies. Enemies must be fought, they must be defeated. Drugs are dissected from every possible perspective. From the detached and accusatory perspective of those whose life mission is to fight against it. It's shown in all its "importance" within the shady Mexican dealings. It's presented to the viewer with all its devastating power on the young drug addict.

The only certainty, however, are those "packages" crossing the border without issues, while the other two perspectives are quite uncertain in their realization. What is most frightening about Soderbergh's film is above all the constant and relentless pursuit of notoriety, of pleasure. The head of the anti-drug force wants at all costs to win this battle to demonstrate his skills to the politicians. The Mexican cop tries to improve his working conditions without considering the difficulties of his actions. The girl surrenders to pleasure, indifferent to her family and herself. All of this is shown through a hallucinated and hallucinating montage, enhanced by an absolutely perfect cinematography. Whenever the scene takes place in Mexico, amidst the real drugs, everything is brown, warm, torrid, blurred, and oppressive. In the daily calm of the courts, however, the atmosphere is glassy, subdued, and undefined.

Drugs, therefore, represent the backbone of the film, but in return, also what our society is based on. Their use makes them too appealing to "power," especially due to the significant profits that derive from them. Their "destruction" is therefore impossible due to their very nature.

By fully dissecting Soderbergh's most successful work, one realizes, however, that this continuous and frenetic alternation of sequences ultimately tires the viewer, who finds themselves, unfortunately, having to watch an ending that, frankly, given the importance and difficulty of the themes addressed, was not expected. The work as a whole remains, however, an interesting snapshot of the reality of narcotics and their consequences in our world. A film that unmasks the hypocrisies of the masses, which for their part do nothing to drive the drug problem out of society.