Heavy Traffic (1973)

• Year: 1973
• Released: 01 Feb 1974
• Country: United States
• IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070165/
• Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/heavy_traffic
• Available in: 720p, 1080p,
• Language: English, Italian, Yiddish
• MPA Rating: X
• Genre: Animation, Comedy, Drama
• Runtime: 77 min
• Writer: Ralph Bakshi
• Director: Ralph Bakshi
• Cast: Joseph Kaufmann, Beverly Hope Atkinson, Frank DeKova
• Keywords: surrealism, marijuana, virgin, interracial relationship, adult animation,

	6.4/10
	89% – Critics
	75% – Audience

Heavy Traffic Storyline

An animated feature which begins, ends and occasionally combines with, live-action filmed on location. A white dropout struggles to create comics and animated films, drawing inspiration from the harsh, gritty world around him. Still sharing his run-down apartment with his middle-aged parents, an oafish slob of an Italian father and a ditzy nut-case of a Jewish mother, he is ridiculed and looked down upon by his friends, hypocrites who run with violent gangs and the Italian Mafia, and a shallow Black girl who makes her living downtown with the pimps and pushers. This cartoonist gets a chance to pitch a film idea to a movie mogul, but the story proves too outrageous: a far-future Earth, destroyed by war and pollution, where a mutant antihero challenges and kills God. Complications ensue when the cartoonist’s parents react in irrational ways to his various involvements.

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Heavy Traffic Movie Reviews

Ties with American Pop as Bakshi’s best film

I positively love animation, and I loved Heavy Traffic. In fact it ties with American Pop as my personal favourite of Ralph Bakshi’s films, with Hey Good Lookin’ and Coonskin not far off. The story is personal, with some fun and often moving moments, for me this is one of Bakshi’s least vague movies story-wise. The satire is satire that really bites hard and all the better for it and the characters have a lot of likability. The soundtrack always has been one of my things-to-look-for in animated movies and here it is wonderful, beautiful but also moody and atmospheric. And then there is the animation, it has a charming rough-around-the-edges look to it with enough of Bakshi’s style evident, and the backgrounds look gorgeous. Overall, personal and interesting, one of Bakshi’s very best. 9/10 Bethany Cox

A Lost Animated Gem

Heavy Traffic is only known by the hardcore Ralph Bakshi fan base and the occasional art house folk, but not by much else. Its probably due to its notorious stamp of an X rating and its inclusion of countless ethnic stereotypes that led to its obscurity. Don’t be fooled, this is not a porno. It was only given the rating due to its raunchy humor, which back in 1973 was considered too edgy for the masses. It’s no different than what Family Guy is doing now on network television. As far as the racism is concerned, it’s brutal, but outdated. Every ethnic person In the film represents a familiar joke or stereotype of the time. Now, the movie itself is a triumph. Truly an underestimated piece of artistic genius from one of the greatest minds that has ever drawn a cartoon. Ralph pours his culture, anger, sadness, laughter and happiness into every frame of this film. Almost to a biographic extent. He considers it his favorite project, and its obvious why. From the music, to the animation, Heavy Traffic proves that its more than a cartoon, but a microcosm of urban life in the cruelest decade to live in it. If you can get past it’s lack of political correctness, it’s a great flick.

There’s a lack of story in this!

I felt that this movie was rather stupid than “an underrated gem” as some reviewer described it.

There was no story in this at all, all you see is women sticking their boobs out, people taking drugs, men’s pants going down and seeing their penises.

What do they have in meaning? Absouletely nothing!

Yeah I know the cartoonist is the lead character but, he ain’t doing a good job really.

I would definitely give this movie a 0/10 if I had the chance to do on here! It’s lame, rubbish and just again, it has no meaning.