Heavy Traffic

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.

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

For every great segment there's three awful ones. I FEEL GROSS watching Bakshi's movies.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Accidentallypushwhoreoffroofloolshehaditcoming-clotheslinecaught+coolpostapocversionofgod/jesus+jealousguyshootshim+backtoliveaction-samecharacters

Decent watch mostly notable for the early development of the animation over live action techniques he would use to better effect in later films.

Cool movie and some obscure hip-hop samples.

Possibly the best of Bakshi.

Completely unique, autobiographical animated feature with more color than substance. Not as good as FRITZ THE CAT but still fascinating.

"...deliriously perverted..." - Ed Gonzalez

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.

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.

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.

Score based on distant memory.

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.