Trade
October 22, 2010 by admin
Trade
- TRADE
A young girl is kidnapped and taken into the sex trade, and her brother teams up with a cop to try and find her.Trade, a controversial drama that aims to enlighten viewers to the horrors of the international sex slave trade, functions in a somewhat documentary mode due to its purposefully repellent nature. Written by Jose Rivera, who also adapted to screen the Motorcycle Diaries, Trade opens in Mexico City where a tourist, Weronika (Alicja Bachleda-Curus), is kidnapped right before a thirteen year-old Mexican girl, Adriana (Paulina Gaitan) is yanked off her bike and pushed into a black Mercedes. Quickly, the two young women meet in various squalid conditions, alternating turns of abuse and rape with sleazy men who prepare them for international sale over the Internet. A vengeful plot kicks in once Adriana’s brother, Jorge (Cesar Ramos) and Texas policeman, Ray Sheridan (Kevin Kline), fatefully unite to rescue Adriana in hopes of eliminating this repugnant operation. Trade is nothing short of a melodrama; the script is overwrought, and many scenes are morbid and graphic. When Adriana has been captured by U.S. border patrol, sits in prison, and a Texas high school student offers her, in Spanish, friendship and an issue of Glamour magazine, one feels the soap opera line being crossed. However, the political message in Trade is strong and preaching aside, viewers may realize that any exposure of women’s rights violations is for the greater good. —Trinie Dalton
Rating: 
(out of 35 reviews)
List Price: $ 14.98
Price: $ 1.99
Review by Grady Harp for Trade
Rating:
Based on an article written by Peter Landesman, who also wrote the story and co-wrote the screenplay with Jose Rivera (‘The Motorcycle Diaries’), TRADE literally forces us to experience the cruel, vicious international market for sex slaves. It is brutally captured on film by director Marco Kreuzpaintner (‘Summer Storm’) in a manner that spares nothing to unveil the atrocities created by the many people form all countries who ply this trade. It is a tough film to watch, but it is also an important film to see: the public MUST be made aware of this criminal activity that robs the lives of children and adults around the globe.
The setting is Mexico City and in the poor sector lives a fatherless family supported by the oldest son Jorge (Cesar Ramos) whose ‘occupation’ is petty crime that allows him to bring in money for his mother and his beloved sister Adriana (Paulina Gaitan). We see the abduction of a beautiful young Polish girl Weronica (Alicja Bachleda-Curus) in the Russian sector of the city. Soon after Adriana, trying out her newest bicycle gift from Jorge, is likewise abducted. The girls (and boys) are kept in filthy apartments awaiting border crossings into the US where they will be shipped to New Jersey for sale after being advertised for auction on the Internet. Jorge discovers the absence of his sister, traces her to the Russian sector where he sees the filth in which the victims are kept, but where he also encounters a Texas policeman Ray Sheridan (Kevin Kline) who is continuing his years long search for his daughter. The two ‘meet’ and join in the chase for the lost girls. And it is the manner in which Jorge and Ray gradually become friends and the clever way in which they cooperate that forms the rest of the story.
Yes, the film is overlong and borders a bit too closely on soap opera techniques, but the acting is so committed and the story is news so important that any flaw in the film can be forgiven because it opens the door to a crime that is all too unfamiliar to most citizens. It is a true story and therein lies the terror. It should be seen. Grady Harp, January 08
Review by z hayes for Trade
Rating:
The sexual trafficking of women and children around the world is one of the most deplorable crimes and also one of the least understood and under the radar. Having watched a mini-series called Human Trafficking starring Mira Sorvino and Donald Sutherland, I was eager to check this movie out.
It is a riveting story and well-told. The story centers around the abduction of a Polish tourist, and also a 13 year old girl in mexico City[Paulina Gaitan] and how her 17 year old brother[Jorge Cesar Ramos] goes all out to find her. He is joined in his efforts by a Texas investigator, played by Kevin Kline, who has also been searching for his own missing daughter [for years]. Turns out the kidnapped victims are being transported to New Jersey where they are to be auctioned off online.This is a very disturbing movie and very graphic. The scenes of abuse and rape are unsettling to say the least. But, it is a story that needs to be told, and the public need to be made aware that these atrocities are happening, often under the noses of the authorities and people who seem to turn a blind eye to these monstrous acts.
There are so many commercial movies that the paying public goes to see, and that’s fine. Yet, movies like these that have a powerful social message seem to be grossly underrated and underappreciated. “Trade” may not the definitive movie on the subject, yet it is definitely one with a powerful message that hopefully serves to educate the general public about the horrors of sexual trafficking.
Review by Russell the Love Muscle for Trade
Rating:
This is a film that is hard to watch. If you are human, and you have a heart, this experience will definitely not be pleasant. Do not take this as a bad thing however; after the viewing was over, I felt almost a sense of relief and happiness knowing that many viewers will get their lives changed, because of this important little tale.
I will not provide a synopsis of the film; everyone else has summed that up well. What I would like to comment on is the outstanding performances. Within the first ten minutes I was dropped into this story, and I felt like I was involved. You go on a journey from Mexico to New Jersey, and there is a sense like you are a fly on the wall, and all you want to do is help the victims escape. The performances are strong enough that you will inevitably feel a suspension of disbelief.
This is a story that needed to be told, and in my opinion it was done well. This is not an exploitation piece. It is a film however that shows you all the grim details of this world; it is absolutely necessary to drive home it’s point.
I recommend this to any viewer willing to take the pain to gain the important message this film has. You will feel sad; there is however a satisfying conclusion that will help with the sadness. You you are looking for an “escapist” film, do not watch this. It is not mindless entertainment like most movies these days, this actually has a point. I hope you will take my word for it, and just watch. Even though the subject matter is dark, it is important, and in my opinion necessary knowledge that every human being on this planet should have.
Review by Sake Drinker for Trade
Rating:
I give this movie 4 stars because it got its message across with me. It pissed me off. The subject matter is as others have described, the kidnapping of girls and boys for the sex slave trade. I can’t believe these people are able to live within their communities with everybody knowing what they do. I don’t want to cross any lines here but I was very pleased with the ending of this movie which provided some justice for the viewers.
The acting was very good. Cesar Ramos did a great job playing the vengeful brother, and Kevin Kline is a master actor. I take my hat off to the cast. The pace was just right and kept my interest.
Like others have said, the subject matter is gruesome and there is a rape scene. Do not take the kids to see this movie.
Review by Jack A. Lana for Trade
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Trade places the audience into the sex trafficking of young women. This movie was very well done, the ending is so good and you’ll might watch it for a second time. It’s a wonderful film that should be watched with open minds and a strong stomach. The bully from “A Christmas story” and his upcoming movie “POSTAL” is in this film. Good film.