Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)Human Trafficking is a bold and ambitious project; Lifetime is to be congratulated for exposing a part of society most people would prefer to ignore, and doing so in a mature, serious fashion. Originally designed as a mini-series, it is presented here in its entirety, with convenient breaks. This is helpful, at three hours it may be too much for the average viewer to assimilate all at once. Even the jaded appetite will find Human Trafficking upsetting.
One must wonder about those who claim ignorance of sexual slavery as it is practiced around the world. This appalling behavior is more than merely time-honored; it is codified and woven into the fabric of society itself. What is surprising, and what Human Trafficking gets right, is that sexual slavery is alive, well, and lucrative. Like drugs and weapons, a filthy business like this can only exist where there is powerful market demand, and that demand is chillingly close to home.
Human Trafficking benefits from good directing, (Christian Duguay), and some splendid performances. Leading the way is the lovable Scot from The Full Monty, (Robert Carlyle), who plays the Eastern block criminal mastermind behind the sophisticated sexual gulag. His accent is impeccable, and his character well realized. Sergei Karpovich is no Cold War ham-fisted brute. He is smart, computer-savvy, and thoroughly ruthless. (Like so many inner-city drug dealers, under different circumstances he probably would have been a captain of legitimate industry.)
After Carlyle, the showcase performance here belongs to Isabella Blais, (Helena), one of the women whose decent into sexual slavery is tracked. Helena is certainly not stupid, but she is vulnerable, and we watch in horror as one bad decision lures her into an unimaginable nightmare. We also see some of the ingenious techniques used to ensure cooperation. This is where Human Trafficking really shines. It's never sensational, licentious, or titillating. On the contrary, it exposes the complete banality of evil, the disturbing ordinariness of it in flat details that do not manipulate emotions.
There are two problems with Human Trafficking. At times it gets preachy, explaining the story rather than telling it. (With subject matter this explosive, that is completely unnecessary.) The other is the casting of Mira Sorvino. Sorvino is a fine actress, (her performance here is fine), but she is simply too pretty and adorable for the part. One scene attempts to show why she would take on the hideous assignment of catching these vermin, but it's not enough. Making her character female was an interesting decision, but to work, it should have been someone with more edge and less curve. Donald Sutherland, as her boss, excels.
We imagine our society to be advanced, sophisticated, refined. Thanks to the folks at Lifetime for shedding some light on the difficult truth.
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Nominated for Two Golden Globes - Best Actress and Best Actor in a TV Miniseries; Lifetime Television's most-watched miniseries of 2005. Featuring Emmy and Golden Globe Award winner Donald Sutherland (The Italian Job), Academy Award and Golden Globe Award winner Mira Sorvino (Mighty Aphrodite) and Trainspotting's Robert Carlyle, Human Trafficking is at once a gripping thriller, a cautionary tale, and one of the most fundamentally important stories of our time. DVD Features include: Interviews with Mira Sorvino and Robert Carlyle, Behind the Scenes with the cast and crew, and A "Take Action" Guide to shop human trafficking now!
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