27 September 2006

Traffik (1989)























unusual movie stills - screenshots - captures - photo gallery plus dvd covers and or posters of:

Traffik (1989)

Directed by
Alastair Reid

Plot summary:
British government minister Jack Lithgow travels to Pakistan to discuss a new aid agreement aimed at reducing opium production and the eventual production of heroin. While there, he meets Fazal, a local farmer, who passes him a letter outlining the difficulties the farmers face. Upon returning home, Jack has his own problems as it soon develops that his university-age daughter Caroline is a heroin user and the family crisis that follows threatens Jack's marriage. Dealing with his domestic crisis begins to give Jack a new perspective on the drug problem and as he prepares to return to Pakistan to sign the new agreement, he begins to wonder whether the aid it offers will really solve the problem.

Meanwhile, Fazal has traveled to Karachi in search of work and is able to get employment with Tariq Butt, a major heroin dealer. Starting as a chauffeur, Fazal gradually wins Butt's confidence and is eventually placed in charge of a major drug deal. The deal is broken up at the last moment by the Pakistani authorities and Fazal is arrested. Fazal's wife agrees to work for Butt in order to get Butt's help to have Fazal released. She soon finds that the work involves smuggling drugs into Britain.

The drugs destined for Britain constitute a shipment arranged with Butt by Helen, the British wife of a German businessman who had been arrested for drug smuggling. At first floored by the revelation that her husband Karl had been so involved, she soon resolved to take over direction of the business in an effort to guarantee her family's future and also secure Karl's release.

All three threads intertwine and eventually reach a climax as Jack prepares to sign the aid agreement, Helen waits by the phone for news of the arrival of the drug shipment, and Fazal gets released from prison and goes to thank Tariq Butt. Traffik consists of six episodes, each 55 minutes in length on average. [source: dvdverdict.com]

Cast:
Bill Paterson .... Jack Lithgow
Lindsay Duncan .... Helen Rosshalde
Jamal Shah .... Fazal
Talat Hussain .... Tariq Butt
Fritz Müller-Scherz .... Ulli
Vincenzo Benestante .... Domenquez
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Bernard Adena .... (Episodes 3 and 5: The Chemist)
Bakhtiar Ahmad .... Macmoud
Basharat Ahmad .... (Episode 5: The Chemist)
Aftab Alam .... (Episode 6: The Farmer)
Shah Murad Aliani .... (Episode 3)
Qasim Ali .... (Episode 1)
Mumtaz Ali Shah .... (Episode 1)
Shirley Allmond .... (Episode 6: The Farmer)
Khalid Anam .... Shabaz (Episode 4: The Criminal)
Malik Anokha .... (Episode 2)
Linda Bassett .... Rachel Lithgow
Michael Bertenshaw .... Tyler
Peter Bourke .... Henderson
Sharon Bower .... Doctor (episodes 4: The Criminal and 6: The Farmer) (as Sharron Bower)
Charu Bala Chokshi .... (Episode 6: The Farmer) (as Charubala Chokshi)
Jonathan Docker-Drysdale .... Lynch (as Jonathan Drysdale)
Shabaz Durrani .... (Episode 3, 5: The Chemist and 6: The Farmer)
Mohammed Qasim Fani .... (Episode 5: The Chemist)
Karl-Friedrich Gerster .... Voss (Episode 3)
Shelley Goldfarb .... (Episodes 1, 2, 3 and 6: The Farmer)
Knut Hinz .... Kurt
Ismat Shah Jahan .... Sabira (Episode 2, 5: The Chemist and 6: The Farmer)
Latif Kapadia .... Judge (Episode 3)
Rahat Kazmi .... Dilshad (Episodes 1, 2 and 5: The Chemist)
Sanjaf Khadim .... (Episode 4: The Criminal)
Akhtar Ali Khan .... (Episode 6: The Farmer)
Dilshad Khan .... (Episode 6: The Farmer)
Ghasan Sattar Khan .... (Episode 4: The Criminal) (as Ghassan Sattar Khan)
Iman Sattar Khan .... (Episode 4: The Criminal) (as Imran Sattar Khan)
Maseen Sattar Khan .... (Episode 4: The Criminal) (as Naseem Sattar Khan)
Roedad Khan .... (Episode 2)
Salma Akram Khan .... (Episode 6: The Farmer)
Sarwar Khan .... (Episode 1)
Jalal Khattak .... (Episode 2)
George Kukura .... Karl Rosshalde (Episodes 2, 3, 4: The Criminal and 6: The Farmer)
Peter Lakenmacher .... Ledesert
Aslam Later .... (Episode 2)
Judy Lloyd .... (Episode 4: The Criminal)
Tony Mathews .... Wallace (Episode 2)
Annette Mayer .... (episode 4: The Criminal)
David McAllister .... (episode 5: The Chemist) (as David McAlister)
Philip Middlemiss .... Tony
Nazar Mohammed .... (Episode 2)
Ejaz Ahmed Niazi .... (Episode 5: The Chemist)

Julia Ormond .... Caroline Lithgow
Regina Pressler .... (Episodes 2 and 5: The Chemist)
Tilo Prückner .... Dieter
Abu Rahi .... (Episode 2)
Tariq Rahim .... Pathan (Episode 5: The Chemist)
Raahi Raza .... (Episodes 1, 2, 3 and 5: The Chemist)
Roohi Raza .... (Episodes 1, 2 and 3)
Behroze Sabzwari .... Ghani (as Behrooz Sabzwari)
Peter Schuchmann .... (Episode 1)
Mukhtar Ahmed Sethi .... (Episode 5: The Chemist)
Salma Shaheen .... (Episode 5: The Chemist)
Feryal Gauhar Shah .... Roomana (Episodes 1, 2, 5: The Chemist and 6: The Farmer)
Shakeel .... Javed Ahmed
Saquib Sheikh .... (Episodes 5: The Chemist and 6: The Farm er)
Syed Sadiq Shirazi .... (Episode 5: The Chemist)
Peter Snow .... TV Presenter
Ian Stewart .... Grandfather
Zia Ul Qamar .... Farmer (Episode 1)

Ronan Vibert .... Lee
Karl-Heinz von Hassel .... Uwe
Sven Walser .... (Part 1)

Douglas Welbat .... (Part 1)
Yaqoob Zakaria .... (Episode 6: The Farmer)