A frightening New York Times Magazine cover story is the impetus for a new powerful film directed by up and coming German director Marco Kreuzpaintner and written by Jose Rivera (The Motorcycle Diaries).
Trade is about a 13-year-old girl; Adriana (Pauline Gaitan) kidnapped in her home town in Mexico by a gang of international sex traffickers. Her older brother Jorge (Cesar Ramos) begins a frantic chase to get her back before she’s sold to the highest bidder in a sick online auction. Along the way each sibling finds an ally to help them. Adriana has fellow captive Veronica (Ajlica Bachleda), a naïve woman from Poland drawn away from her family and infant son by the promise of a bogus modeling career. Jorge meets a Texas police officer named Ray (Kevin Kline) whose determination to rescue the girl matches Jorge’s. The race is on and the stakes are horrifyingly high.
Trade is one of those quiet indies that has made it’s way around the various film festivals, generating some positive buzz. It’s a difficult movie to watch at times. This subject matter of sexual slavery is uncomfortable and occasionally nauseating but none the less vitally important to explore. Peter Landesman’s 2003 piece “The Girls Next Door” raised awareness about this growing darkness in our society. With this as its base the script weaves the facts of the article into Jorge and Adriana’s fictitious journey.
The two young stars are pivotal to the film and perform admirably well with the strenuous material given them. Cesar Ramos in particular is charismatic and a lot of charm pours from that dazzling smile. The scenes he has with Kline are funny, sweet and have a natural rhythm. Bachleda, a former pop-star in Poland turns in a layered and compelling performance. Veronica is a rock of strength for the younger Adriana but that all crumbles away into understandable desperation and despair. The ever versatile Kevin Kline’s Ray is understated and sincere.
The film is shot primarily on hand held camera. It makes the pacing and the visuals very immediate. The focus of human trafficking is portrayed with horrible accuracy but it also at the same time presented with great respect to the actors and the characters. One particular chilling scene takes place in a field of reeds that serve as a sort of brothel for paying customers. The camera is able to convey the fear and confusion of Adriana without essentially exploiting her or the others she encounters.
If I have one criticism of this film it’s the slightly fairytale ending. I totally understand the reason for it. You can’t be caught up in the struggle of these characters and then have it end any way but the way it’s scripted. The sad reality is that for countless others things simply don’t work out as neat and tidy.
The State Department estimates that upwards of 800,000 people, mainly women and minors, worldwide are forced into sexual slavery; 10,000 of which end up here in America in unlikely places like squeaky-clean suburban homes. The filmmakers are hoping that much as Landesman’s article infuriated as it education the public, this film will do its part to reach a broader audience and do the same.
Running Time: 119 minutes
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