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Heavy Traffic

Heavy Traffic

1973
Comedy, Drama
1h 17m
Michael, a Jewish-Italian cartoonist with a black girlfriend tries to make it in New York City. (imdb)
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Heavy Traffic

1973
Comedy, Drama
1h 17m
Your probable score
Avg Percentile 52.5% from 148 total ratings

Ratings & Reviews

(148)
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Rated 09 Nov 2011
55
32nd
Animated feature about the struggles facing an underground artist in New York in the early 70s. It's a pretty loosely connected series of vignettes, only about half of which are very interesting, and all of which are sure to offend someone. The quality of the animation varies wildly, and the live action framing device makes no sense at all.
Rated 16 Feb 2012
76
54th
Like a dirtier version of Eisner's A Contract with God. Of what I've seen, this is Bakshi's most effective film AND best animation by a country mile. He doesn't go for splashy playful shots of cartoons running around live sets, but has, like, a live-action rear projection out the windows of a cartoon cab. It has a cool vibe, like the city's always changing. That said, the final zoom in Union Square suggests that Bakshi could've been a pretty good live-action filmmaker.
Rated 01 Jan 2013
65
42nd
For every great segment there's three awful ones. I FEEL GROSS watching Bakshi's movies.
Rated 30 Jan 2022
79
55th
Bakshi is shockingly uncensored. Many artists use shock tactics cynically to get your attention (& Bakshi's not above it either), but most of them draw a big line between themselves & the ugliness of their characters. Not here. The sex & violence in this coming-of-age stew (many scenes threaded together w/ mixed media to reach feature length) shocks b/c it feels so honest & true-to-life - which is why it feels so odd when Bakshi turns it into Bugs Bunny slapstick. He's got a WEIRD sense of humor
Rated 14 Aug 2007
30
12th
Score based on distant memory.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
65
30th
An interesting concept with a few clever ideas is marred by the fact that Bakshi seems to have the maturity of a 5 year old.
Rated 10 Mar 2008
66
59th
I do like Ralph Bakshi animation style, but the idea of combining live action with it does not work. At least not in here. Story's got highs but quite much lows as well.
Rated 07 Apr 2009
80
77th
The voices, music, and animation all come together in just the right way to form a compelling and (for once) coherent whole that just wouldn't have the same charm or impact as a live-action film made from the same script. Speaking of which, the live-action bookends are pretty horrible. Animation lends itself to stereotypes and emotional extremes; it's one of the reasons the movie works.
Rated 19 Oct 2010
98
99th
A tragicomedy cartoon filled with juvenile sex, gratuitous violence, racial stereotypes across the block, and the best Michael Corleone in film history? You bet your ass I love this movie.
Rated 29 Jan 2011
30
78th
"...deliriously perverted..." - Ed Gonzalez
Rated 02 Mar 2011
75
63rd
Completely unique, autobiographical animated feature with more color than substance. Not as good as FRITZ THE CAT but still fascinating.
Rated 07 Mar 2012
78
48th
as usual Bakshis movie looks really cool but seems muddled and kind of hard to understand. For some, like myself, this wont matter because what we do 'get', we like. I'd rate this one near the bottom of the bakshi pile but thats not too big a deal because even his worst is still very entertaining and looks very good. i like his style and this has lots of it. I thought it felt similar to coonskin but not quite as good as hey good lookin.
Rated 22 May 2012
5
80th
Possibly the best of Bakshi.
Rated 12 Oct 2014
85
86th
Cool movie and some obscure hip-hop samples.
Rated 10 Jan 2019
70
49th
Decent watch mostly notable for the early development of the animation over live action techniques he would use to better effect in later films.
Rated 02 Mar 2021
35
1st
Accidentallypushwhoreoffroofloolshehaditcoming-clotheslinecaught+coolpostapocversionofgod/jesus+jealousguyshootshim+backtoliveaction-samecharacters
Rated 11 Sep 2021
4
42nd
Most of my points are for the 2.5 minute religious short film within this film about Mother Pile, Duck Warren, Wanda the Last, and the New Messiah. Ending was good too, but there was a lot of filler to get there.
Rated 13 Dec 2023
75
27th
Absolutely interesting use of experimental animation styles in this meandering story, but mainly expresses an overly negative view of humans. Especially in the beginning there's a lot of senseless violence, and there's general horniness throughout.
Rated 19 Feb 2024
65
51st
Fascinating in its experimental form, and as a sort of animated collage it works well. The quality of the animation is fine, and yet like other Bakshi stuff I've seen just drips sleaze and makes you feel a little dirty.

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