Trade - Les trafiquants de l'ombre

The plight of innocent victims of human trafficking for sex has moved filmmakers enough to make movies addressing the issue. The last two in recent memory that I've watch are Your Name is Justine, and Lilya-4ever, both which put the spotlight specifically on the characters created, highlighting the abuse they receive and exposing some of the tricks that the conmen exploit in order to target and thereafter control their prey. Given that the viewpoint of the entire unfortunate ordeal from the perspective of the victims have been portrayed, and is easy and turning the same wheel if done again, Trade takes on a more macroscopic look, while still maintaining a finger in a more personalized tale, in order to ramp up the human drama and emotions.

While the other two movies mentioned take place primarily in Europe, Trade highlights a more international network involved in the supply chain, where increasing amounts of money get exchanged for women and children to feed the demand by perverts and paedophiles. While having its premise for the demand set in USA, it goes to show that the unfortunate victims come from all over the world, and suggests the use of Mexico as the proxy to get into the USA illegally, no doubt with the help of corrupted authorities. From then on, it's an established hush-hush protocol of transfers and transactions that take place in the most unseeming of places, and naturally technology comes to play in anonymous bidding on the internet.

Primarily, this story is a race against time, following a young Mexican boy, Jorge (Cesar Raoms), in his chase to rescue his sister Adriana (Paulina Gaitan) as she gets abducted randomly off the streets - being a young child, she is set to obtain record prices should she be auctioned off to be deflowered. While Adriana gets to enter USA through already established methods by the syndicate, Jorge has to rely on his street smarts, and unwittingly gets hooked up with US cop Ray Sheridan, played by Kevin Kline, who assists in Jorge's quest under moral circumstances rather than deporting Jorge straightaway for being a stray.

Like a buddy cop movie, Trade also looks at the unlikely partnership between street delinquent and tough nose cop with the heart of gold, as they try and penetrate the system, while leaving room for some clash of cultures and slightly comedic instances. The unfortunate circumstance of the victims are again getting a shiner in order to be subdued, and of course the weapon of choice, rape. And the movie results in you silently cursing the worst for those involved in the trade, and never sympathizing an iota with them when they receive their dues.

Technical wise, someone should tell the filmmakers that password fields are always asterisk, never in clear text, even the dumbest website programmer won't make that mistake. One of my other peeves here was the decision not to mount the camera on a tripod. While it's not the extreme kind of shaky cam like Cloverfield's, it did bring on some queasiness given the very minor movements, all of the time. I don't see the need for this, and wondered if it's because it might look cool and edgy with the fast cuts and all that the tripod was junked, wrongly.

Based on a New York Times Magazine article published on 25 Jan 2004 written by Peter Landesman, Trade offers to strike a balance between painting a picture of sympathy for the victims and disgust for the perpetrators. Unlike the other movies which has come before, Trade managed to spin a somewhat refreshing look at the worldwide sex slavery problem.

Trade is not really the kind of thrilling crime movie that I was expecting, it's about something I thought I might have heard about quite a lot yet actually never really felt: trafficking children and women from the third world to be sold for forced sex. Trade exposes the whole chain of the business with great genuineness.

For a subject like this it's handy to come up with much more gore and sex to attract some eyeballs, but not with Trade, there is nothing gratuitous here. At several gut-wrenching scenes, at the edge of my seat I longed to see some resistance or retribution, I didn't, but when I sat back and cleared my thought, I knew that was what would happen in the real world. Nevertheless although there are many broken hearts, twisted minds and lost souls in the movie, and even the last scene gave me a groan, I am not left with despair in the end.

Quite a few characters have been developed into some depth, while supported by first-class performance(excellent casting!) this doesn't cause confusion or dilution, but rather delivers me the feeling of the whole big picture. It does feel a bit dragged at the beginning, I guess it is needed to expose all the details of the business chain, the storyline flows naturally and keeps me hooked for 2 hours.

Overall this is a well-made untypical crime film with not so much easy entertainment in it, but if you want something genuine that will linger in your head, go see it and you won't be disappointed.

I had never heard of this movie and just stumbled on to it by accident. The story was very powerful and meaningful. The acting was absolutely awesome, especially by the two major stars playing the parts of brother and sister, more of the younger girl, but that is not to take anything away from the part of her brother Jorge. He was outstanding. Also, the part of Veronica was superb. She made her scenes gripping. Especially one, and you'll know which one I mean just by watching the movie. Your jaw will drop just like mine did and it will stay with you even after the movie. This is a must see. It is in subtitle and English, so it it easy to follow. Oh yeah, Kevin Kline was an excellent surprise.

1 Border patrol does not put Polish people back into Mexico! 2 people do not call in Mexico with 4 digits. 3 there is no web page with such info as shown in movie, 4 Iam tired of idiots who don't portray the real world then no one learns of issue of great importance

5 someone does not get kidnapped in front of police and a page,

6 collect calls to Poland do not happen,

7 I have never seen such stupid acting, stupid direction

this movie was a waste of money.

the scenery was great, but there are freeways even in Mexico and freeways in the USA, that are not depicted. I've never seen such a juvenile story line.

Based on an article written by Peter Landesman, who also wrote the story and co-wrote the screenplay with Jose Rivera ('The Motorcycle Diaries'), TRADE literally forces us to experience the cruel, vicious international market for sex slaves. It is brutally captured on film by director Marco Kreuzpaintner ('Summer Storm') in a manner that spares nothing to unveil the atrocities created by the many people form all countries who ply this trade. It is a tough film to watch, but it is also an important film to see: the public MUST be made aware of this criminal activity that robs the lives of children and adults around the globe.

The setting is Mexico City and in the poor sector lives a fatherless family supported by the oldest son Jorge (Cesar Ramos) whose 'occupation' is petty crime that allows him to bring in money for his mother and his beloved sister Adriana (Paulina Gaitan). We see the abduction of a beautiful young Polish girl Weronica (Alicja Bachleda-Curus) in the Russian sector of the city. Soon after Adriana, trying out her newest bicycle gift from Jorge, is likewise abducted. The girls (and boys) are kept in filthy apartments awaiting border crossings into the US where they will be shipped to New Jersey for sale after being advertised for auction on the Internet. Jorge discovers the absence of his sister, traces her to the Russian sector where he sees the filth in which the victims are kept, but where he also encounters a Texas policeman Ray Sheridan (Kevin Kline) who is continuing his years long search for his daughter. The two 'meet' and join in the chase for the lost girls. And it is the manner in which Jorge and Ray gradually become friends and the clever way in which they cooperate that forms the rest of the story.

Yes, the film is overlong and borders a bit too closely on soap opera techniques, but the acting is so committed and the story is news so important that any flaw in the film can be forgiven because it opens the door to a crime that is all too unfamiliar to most citizens. It is a true story and therein lies the terror. It should be seen. Grady Harp