Sex Traffic

After seeing this 2 parter on CBC this weekend, I must confess complete and utter ignorance of this issue. For a while I thought we had learned from the mistakes of the past, only to find we in the 21st Century are no different from those of the 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th centuries in regard to the buying and selling of human flesh.

Who are buying these women ? What makes this trade work ? Is it us men ? Is it our partners for withholding sex to get what they want ? What a screwed up world we live in. These are the questions I am faced with after seeing this program.

This mini series portrays the sex slave industry is its gory details. Two young sisters, in an effort for a better life, are sold and moved through eastern to western Europe and eventually find themselves in London. How they make the journey is by the far the most scariest thing a human could ever experience.

My one beef is that the CBC left in the violence, rape scenes and beatings and edited out the F word every time - bizarre.

I expected this movie to have won the BAFTA award only for showing a controversial subject and being a Romanian co-production, like a sympathy vote for our lesser movies. I was completely blown away after seeing it. It was a film where international actors (american, British, Romanian being the most) created realistic scenes, completely believable and inspiring. Great script, directing and acting.

What is this movie about? It's about the ultimate feeling of helplessness. The characters all feel it at some time or the other and certainly the viewers do. As young girls are hauled away through Eastern and Western Europe, the viewer is raped as they are in that comfy belief that human society is nice, modern and evolved.

It is one of those few movies that make you feel sick inside, without being gory or too graphic. Is it a global conspiracy to blame for the evil depicted in the film? No, it's simple human nature. I can only compare this movie with Das Experiment, a movie that I recently saw, or with the more classic Cannibal Holocaust. It does feel a bit lengthy at times, but that's because you can't believe what you are seeing. You do believe it, but you don't want to.

A great performance from our Romanian actors. I loved the girls and the fat policeman. A great performance from the other actors as well, but in the end, they just fade away in front of the script and directing. Great job! I want more. Actually, I don't. I want a bit less. I am still shook up.

I guess we just haven't been out of our caves long enough if these depraved specimens of human kind still walk among us. Whereas I could happily watch the traffickers neck deep in an ant nest there was one aspect that seemed a little odd. The price paid for these women seemed way low considering the ROI. I am naive enough to hope for some black ops assassin squad to clean up some of these slavers and at least put some mortal fear into the rest. Shame is that, as usual, those in power are usually enmeshed in this disgusting tapestry. An excellent film that is unfortunately wasted on the likes of us. We will be appalled then dismayed to the point of tears then look for the nearest comedy.

I came across this film while flicking through the TV channels one late evening. Funnily enough, my wife and I thought that we might have a night of romance before watching this film. However, after nearly thirty minutes of watching the terror unleashed on the women in this film, any thoughts of sex quickly disappeared from our minds. The film portrayed the truly tragic story of young east European women sold into the sex trade. After living in England for many years, there were some chilling reminders for me, such as the brothel in a normal residential street, and the east European gangs that operate in London's underground stations - all of which I have seen with my own eyes! Perhaps the most terrifying detail in this film was the level of sophistication of the gangs, resident in almost every European country, with far reaching contacts in the community. I would advise everyone to watch this film, as it is chilling reminder of the level of double standards in this world, and how corporations in war torn countries operate with total impunity, under the premise of "we're helping them with their reconstruction".

This is what director David Yates was doing before the last Harry Poter and I believe that he is worth being looked attentively, because this is a very different kind of movie and he is doing very well. This is a docu-drama about a very serious social and human problem for the countries in Eastern Europe and for the West as well, the human trafficking and sexual slavery that throws each year thousands of young girls aspiring to a better life in the hands of prostitution rings all over the 'civilized' world.

The script is well written, with a credible story, even if the big corporation involvement part was a little too conventional. Acting is clean and efficient, and the mix of nationalities and languages is very credible. Directing is made with a sure hand, locations are well and realistically filmed and this TV movie makes a strong and moving case for a problem that should not be ignored.