This classic Cool Cymru film takes you on a funky ride through all the stages of a night out and the inevitable comedown which follows thereafter.
With tumbleweed rolling in the streets, dance clubs empty and no one around to socialise with, I naturally did the only thing left to do; watch other people have a night out.
Living in Cardiff right now, watching Human Traffic (1999) and recognising countless spots of the city in their youthful splendour as they were 20 years ago made me sit up with that wonderful feeling of familiarity. It was like time-travelling, watching this little-big city in the past and how it used to be and how it never will be. Apart from the latent nostalgia of the film, it’s a heart-thumping hilarious time. One great motion coming out of the Cool Cymru movement, this film celebrates the club culture in Cardiff during the late 90’s which lingered around till the early 2000’s before it all went as stale as bread left out in the Sahara. Following the exploits of a groups of friends on a night out, this film is heavily character driven by the force of lovable and cool characters who’s banter with one another makes me wish my friends were that cool.
The narrative is inventively segmented in such a way that the film takes you through the stages of a night out; sorting your affairs with reality, getting ready, pre-drinks, dropping, peaking, surfing, the afters and then the plummeting come-down and all the brain melting paranoia-stricken perception that comes with it.
The camera-work is one of the quirkiest I’ve ever seen, never missing a beat and always on the move. Like impeccable footwork it grooves around the eyes and makes the frames come alive with dance. The angles and perspectives it gives the audience are wild and is the sort that makes you wonder, is it the camera that’s moving or the set? If I’m left questioning the way a certain shot is achieved then it’s a good shot in my eyes.
Despite not particularly being a fan of electro-club music, which this films soundtrack is loud with, I was bobbing my head and reaching for imaginary lasers. But it’s not just the music which makes the film sound so damn engaging and lively, things sound comically exaggerated and almost abrasive but that’s the vibe of this film, escaping from the abrasive realities of life through drug-fuelled dancing.
The cast is an absolute treat, they all boogie in the footloose shoes of their characters so believably that I couldn’t help but love and root for them. What I’ve heard on the grapevine is that there’s a sequel in the works and some of the cast have reprised their roles too, let’s hope this doesn’t fall victim to the inoperable carcinoma of the sequels.
What I love about this film is that it’s daring, it’s got an incredibly strong concept that’s told through an eccentric story. It’s not just a celebration of the club-culture, it’s a celebration of the drug culture. The spliff-politics scene had me in cachinations because, and I’m speaking for a lot of us here, we’ve all been in that situation. The second summer of love has come and gone and what are we left behind with? Not just a crippled night-life but a dead one, rigor mortis has set in and the streets have about as much brain activity as a cold cadaver. So if this grim realisation has set in for you too, watch this film to relieve the tension.
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