Customer Reviews

Human Trafficking

5 star:		(36)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

I rented the DVD not really knowing what to expect. Having written articles on the subject, I expected a watered down version of a disturbing reality. According to the statistics cited in this excellent movie, over 800,000 people in the US are victims of this form of slavery. It is, thanks to the fact we are the number one consumer of these victims, rapidly outstrippping narcotics in revenues.

What Human Trafficking exposes in an in your face, pull no punches style, is a harsh reality we all need to look at and discuss with our children. Thanks to superbly understated performances by Donald Sutherland and Mira Sorvino, the story itself is allowed to shine.

Unlike other reviewers, I didn't find Sorvino too pretty, but an intelligent, ambitious but very humane woman who approaches Sutherland to let her become a member of ICE. Think Jodie Fosters character which infuses Sorvino's performance. Donald Sutherland plays his role as her boss deftly and with great subtlety.

This movie spares nothing. The treatment of the children and women is raw and very brutal. All the actors portraying the victims offer stellar performances.

Human Trafficking spans several continents in an attempt to show just how these sex slaves are either lured or outtright taken by these monsters in human flesh. There are several subplots interwoven thoughout the movie.

One involves the enticing of young girls from Eastern Bloc countries by offering glitzy modelling contracts in NY. Two of them end up having key roles, both heartbreaking in this disturbing film.

In the Phillipines a hotbed of child flesh peddling, an aging obese pig of an Aussie pimp specializes in very small children, both male and female, who are used until they die of disease or trauma.

Mexico receives women and often the police are active participants in the whole ordeal, many times grabbing the first "taste" of such young tender flesh.

And the United States with its huge consumer base waiting for these very young women and children, is a blot on our republic which stands as a symbol of refuge and hope.

If you have teens, I'd recommend watching it with them, taking the pause between the first and second part to read the real stories and discuss the statistics. Though it is very raw and potent, it may end up saving your starry eyed daughter who wants to be a model, or your children in general from being sucked in by these peddlars in human flesh.

If you are a hide your head in the sand person, who'd rather not know about such things, don't bother watching Human Trafficking. But if you care about the plight of children-children dying from AIDS and other diseases, brought on by being forced to have sex up to 12 or more times a day HERE and abroad, this should be a wake up call to get involved.

This is quite a well done miniseries on the difficult subject matter of human trafficking. The miniseries follows the lives of a few women and children as they become caught up , against their will, within the rutheless international trafficking of sex slaves. In partcular we follow the lives of two young women and one abducted young girl as their lives turn to hell after they become pray of these callous criminals. We also follow the efforts of governemnt agencies and parents as they attempt to liberate the women from the horror that they have fallen into.

The minidrama is very well done. In particular the actresses that play the young eastern eurpoean women are quite amazing. They play their parts very convincingly. They also both have an increadibly authentic eastern european feel, despite both of them being Canadian. All the other actors put in very good performances too. I felt very affected by this drama, as the facts portrayed about human trafficking here are not only true, but probably understated, as in truth women in these situations are treated even worst than shown here. How sad that our society has room for this kind of horrors to thrive, as it is to western customers that the services of these women and children are sold to. A drama for TV that makes one seriously think.

First, be forewarned. There are several movies/documentaries out there with similar titles. This film does NOT deal with the subject of Mexican citizens being smuggled into the U.S. This "Human Trafficking" is an extremely graphic, brutal picture of girls being trapped into prostitution.

I realized a sex slave trade existed, but before seeing this movie, I had no idea the practice was currently so widespread and organized. The phrase "the slave trade" always had a vaguely Victorian, almost comic ring to me. I knew the slave trader mainly as a bogeyman that 19th-century parents scared their daughters with, keeping them from venturing out too far or too freely into the world on their own. But I didn't know it was something that so many modern parents literally might need to guard their children against. According to this film's concluding screen facts and figures, the practice is extensive, and growing - thanks in part to hook-ups facilitated by the computer.

This film shows how young women are recruited. One thinks she has qualified for a modeling job in an exotic location. One thinks she is being courted by the man of her dreams - and flies to meet him for a vacation in another country. As soon as these deluded young women arrive at their destinations - the bars on their lives clang shut. It is difficult for most of them to survive the horrors they face.

Robert Carlyle is chilling here in his role as the head of a multi-national slave trafficking operation. He is a brutal juggernaut of all business-only business - in distinct contrast with the affably entrepreneurial character he played in "The Full Monty."

Mira Sorvino and Donald Sutherland are less well cast as the ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) agents on the trail of traffickers. There is something off about the dynamic between these two. It's the cliché of the female agency rookie who has to prove herself to her crusty unit boss. We've seen it a thousand times in everything from "Silence of the Lambs" down to current CSI episodes. But, there's something a little unnerving about this particular teaming. Unintentionally, I'm sure, there is even a disconcerting shadow of the slave trade dynamic being reenacted between these two. Sorvino is the much younger woman, being handled, managed, overseen, by the much older man. Southerland sits back in cold appraisal of her until the end, when he throws her a crumb of approval - which she might pathetically be led to interpret as affection?

Also, the blondness that Sorvino has affected in recent pictures is so at odds with her natural brunette beauty - that she in her own way appears to be tricked out for sale. We see strands of her Paris Hilton hairdo straggling out of her ICE cap as she pursues the bad guys. In order to keep this film from slipping dangerously close to being an exploitation of its sensationalism subject matter, it might have been better to cast a professional-looking woman working with her ICE colleagues as a true equal. After the horrors of Carlyle's sex trade, viewers need a place of relief and refuge - a place where we feel the values of proper human relations are being upheld. We don't quite get that here though.

This movie is depressing and jarring throughout. It will awaken viewers to a growing problem. I hope it doesn't just stop at galvanizing celebrity problem-of-the-month fundraisers though. I hope it might provoke a deeper consideration of the factors in human nature that make this kind of slave trade so hugely, perennially profitable.

Imagine thinking you're watching an excellent drama series, although disturbingly realistic, you convince yourself it's only a good script. As the movie plays on and takes you deeper and deeper into the dark and horrid world of human trafficing, you can't do anything but feel helpless, scared, and horrified. This is as shocking as it comes and for those ignorant to the subject, as I was, this movie will open your eyes and will start you asking how safe are you really and how safe are the innocent children around you. They could be gone tomorrow. All for money. Get it. Watch it. Pass it on to people you know. And talk about it. Light must be shed on the darkest reaches of this world if we are to ever stop the monstrous actions found in Human Trafficing. This should have received a thousand awards just for being made in the first place and it should be shown on TV every chance it can be. My prayers will always go out to those who are in a dark place. Hold on. Hold on.

This has been by far my favorite Lifetime movie. Every actor took on his or her role very well. What else was so fantastic about this movie was by placing one of the girl's father into this world to save his daughter. This movie though frightening in many of its elements was still heartwarming. Though this is a fictious miniseries it still takes on a subject that exists today whether you believe it or not. This movie is perfect for teens who love watching lifetime movies because it explains the subject of human trafficking that effects people of their age group. The girls who get trafficked range from 6 year olds to 30 years and this movie is really eye opening. If you can only see one lifetime movie see this one.

This movie is a highly intense movie. It is very disturbing in a very educational way. When I watched it the 1st time, my whole body shook, and I was affected by the nature of the movie for a few days afterwards. It is a must see for those who can watch a very graphic portrayal of child sex trafficking.

Many people are unaware of the atrocitities of this world. This movie highlights one of them and forces those who view it to think deeply about how they ought to be and how they must educate those for whom they have responsibility to ensure that their choice are wise.

I cannot believe anyone would have any complaints whatsoever about this movie. One exception: the current data is more that 800,000 women and children are trafficked over the Mexico/US border each year (the actual number runs more than a million), that's over the US border--usually into the US, not worldwide. Worldwide trafficking is staggering. The topic/issue remains contemporary and, tragically, the numbers are growing--while the average age of victims is getting younger.

The acting was top-notch and both US stars were up for Emmys. All the actors did a solid job--I could not make one complaint and I'm a fairly picky movie viewer--I don't like my time wasted. It wasn't. I have to say I was glued and drawn the entire time. Solid story, plot, very fluid, believable writing, set, etc., and, again, a top-notch Director (catch the bonus features after the movie: you'll hear Donald Sutherland go into detail about this director).

It's a movie (actually a miniseries) to keep in your collection--especially if you like the history of the fundamental root cause of the escalating Human Rights' violations/abuses, predation, sadism and torture that is as contemporary today as it was during the Holocaust. It is the contemporary Holocaust that must not be neglected.

This movie is 180 minutes long, and yes, there are definitely storylines and pieces that could have been cut out to make it shorter. However, I understand some of the reasoning behind showing all the little substories they did. It gives viewers a wider scope of how different people are affected by this horrific business.

Helena, Nadia, Annie, and Kate have vastly different backgrounds, but they all become intricately affected by Sergei Karpovich's gigantic sex slave empire. Kate throws all her effort into shutting Karpovich down, while Annie, Helena, and Nadia experience first hand the horrors and pains brought forth by a mixture of greed, power-addiction, and lust.

I wondered why this movie wasn't rated. I would say it is strongly PG-13. It's not a feel-good movie, but it is powerful and it has a message: Modern Day Slavery is alive and well in all its ugly glory. Nothing horrific is shown in all its gritty detail, but there's definitely enough there that you know exactly what's going on. This would be an excellent movie to watch for a discussion group.