Product Description

The real story of youth in the nineties is this: chemicals, clubs, bars, pubs, mobile phones, trainers, combats, care-less, monged, mashed, sorted, safe.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7005 in DVD
• Released on: 2003-04-14
• Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Anamorphic, PAL, Widescreen, Colour
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 95 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Five best friends, 48 hours and a bucketload of ecstasy pills make for an enjoyably lightweight slice of pop-cultural ephemera from debut director Justin Kerrigan. Cardiff is the city, and hardcore partying, clubbing and pubbing is on the menu as Jip (John Simm) and his renegade band of McJobbers clock off and head out for a weekend of debauchery. Among Jip's hedonistic posse are the cheeky cockney drug-dealer Moff (Danny Dyer), the terminally jealous boyfriend Koop (Shaun Parkes) and the bad-boy magnet Lulu (Lorraine Pilkington).

And that's pretty much it. Our heroes meet in a pub, get drunk, take drugs, go to a club, then to a party, then home and then meet up in another pub, just in time for the closing credits. Along the way there's a shamefully lethargic attempt to establish character back-story: Jip is temporarily sexually impotent because his mother's a prostitute; Koop's father is institutionalised; Lulu has nasty boyfriends; and Moff has conservative parents. But generally Human Traffic is happier at the heart of the party, celebrating the intoxication of club culture--which it does in style. Kerrigan pulls out all the formal stops with an energetic melange of jump cuts, slo-mo, and speeded-up "smudge" motion camerawork. There's also direct addresses to camera, fantasy sequences and some self-conscious cameos from DJ Carl Cox and former-drug dealer Howard Marks, author of Mr Nice. Wall-to-wall music from the likes of Fatboy Slim, William Orbit and even Primal Scream help paste over the occasional cracks in the veneer, which include some particularly duff lines ("We're gonna get more spaced than Neil Armstrong ever did!") and a drawn analysis of drug references in Star Wars, a nod to the films of Kevin Smith, such as Clerks, Mallrats and Chasing Amy. And if the whole project already feels dated and empty, well that's because it perfectly captures an essentially 1990s moment, and one gloriously empty weekend. --Kevin Maher

Synopsis
The Ecstasy-fuelled youth culture of England is examined in this buoyant, good-natured film from 25-year-old newcomer, Justin Kerrigan. A group of young Welsh revellers, including Jip (John Simm), Lulu (Lorrain Piliongon), and Koop (Shaun Parkes) endure their mundane jobs all week, and then cut loose on a typically wild Friday night of dancing, drinking, drugging, shagging, and then recovering in order to deal with their parents come Sunday. The film's guileless pro-drug stance may prove off-putting to more jaded and conservative audiences, but as a "peak" at England's thriving 1990s counterculture, it's a fun, fascinating document, and a cheery companion to TRAINSPOTTING (which was obviously a huge inspiration). Kerrigan fills the film with lots of surreal and fantastical digressions, direct addresses to the camera, and quote-worthy bits of slang. Energetic electronica pulses throughout for a dynamite score, which combines with the high-spirited performances of the cast and makes for good time, whatever your "buzz" may be. Its honesty about the good, great, and not-so-great aspects of the lifestyle should ring true to those familiar with the scene, and provide others with a thrilling, propaganda-free glimpse into club-kid nightlife.

From the Back Cover
The real story of youth in the nineties is this: chemicals, clubs, bars, pubs, pushing the vinyl, blagging the guest list, mobile phones, trainers, combats, caer-less, monged, mashed, sorted, safe. And here it is in all its pupil-dialted, teeth-grinding, club-hopping glory. The weekend has well and truly landed.

Customer Reviews

The best beats about..!
Having not seen the 'Non Special Edition' of this film, I don't know what they've done to it to make it 'Special' but it certainly did it for me.
The music has you out of your seat and in your own virtual club whilst the characters (who are so different from each other in their background culture but are brought to the same level by E's and their love of music) make you want to join them in the film.
I actually watched this film twice in one night because of the music and now I'm awaiting the soundtrack CD, which i hope won't disappoint me..
Quite simply, buy this film for the music, buy it for the culture and buy it for the sheer enjoyment it will provide you with.

The weekend has landed
I decided to buy this as I've worn the old VHS copy out. Plus, I'm a sucker for 'remixes!' There are a few extra scenes and some of the music has been updated in the club. There are also one or two scenes that have been cut. Moff visits his dealer for one.

Not much in the way of features. A 'making of' documentary, a couple of short films from his student days & some more deleted scenes. My favourite is the car journey. Its only trivial, but they are driving along and the tape jams in the cassette player. A total, chemically induced, over the top reaction follows, threatening the interruption of the buzz! Only one thing you can do in that situation.. Sing up! It might be lost on some people but others will know what I mean. Its this attention to detail that makes the film special.

I'm totally convinced that Justin Kerrigan was part of the scene, as you don't get such close parallels without living it for real. If anything the acting is a little too good, right down to the dilated pupils. I think the cast really did their homework on this. In fact may still have been doing it whilst filming... Only kidding ;)

Energetic first half, with a blinding soundtrack. System F - Out of the Blue, remains my favourite dance track of all time. A slower more uncomfortable feel to the second half, maybe to balance the equation, albeit light-heartedly & show us that ecstasy isn't all empathy n skittles.

I think it's a pretty fine debut from Kerrigan, who clearly put a lot of effort into this. It makes me a little sad when I hear stories about it being locked in distribution battles & burning him out before he's even begun. Maybe that's why we haven't heard anything from him since? Shame, as he clearly has talent.

We risk sanity
for moments of temporary enlightenment.
So many ideas, so little memory.
The last thought
killed by the anticipation of the next.
We embrace an overwhelming feeling
of love. We flow in unison.
We're together.
I wish this was real

A True Insight To Clubbing In The 90's
"The weekend has landed. All that exists now is clubs, drugs, pubs and parties. I've got 48 hours off from the world, man. I'm gonna blow steam outa my head like a screaming kettle and talk codshit to strangers all night. I'm gonna lose the plot on the dance floor; the free radicals inside me are freaking man! Tonight I'm Jip Travolta, I'm Peter Popper - I'm going to Never Never Land with my chosen family man. We're gonna get more spaced out than Neil Armstrong ever did. Anything could happen tonight ya know! This could be the best night of my life! I've 73 quid in my back burner, I'm gonna wax the lot, the Milky Bars are on. Yeah!" So exclaims Jip, one of five central characters of the films that accurately and comprehensively sums up club life in Britain throughout the Nineties. This is the real deal, charting as it controversially does (for some people), the use of Ecstasy, Cocaine and a good few spliffs as merely components of a blinding weekend's partying! Forget the likes of the squeaky clean, "nice" images of Britain as portrayed by the likes of "Four Weddings" or "Notting Hill" - these are real club people and this is what it's like. Thanks to Radio One's Pete Tong acting as musical advisor even the soundtrack is bang on the button and features contributions from Orbital, Fat Boy Slim, Carl Cox, Underworld, and Armand Van Helden amongst others. Dead accurate and scorchingly hilarious much of the time, this is an absolutely essential ninety minutes of era-charting brilliance delivered with aplomb by a cast of virtually unknown actors. Totally recommended.