.gif)
Trade (film)
Encyclopedia
Trade is a 2007 American film directed by Marco Kreuzpaintner
and starring Kevin Kline
. It was produced by Roland Emmerich
and Rosilyn Heller. The film premiered January 23, 2007 at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival
and opened in limited release
on September 28, 2007. It is based on Peter Landesman's article "The Girls Next Door" about sex slaves, which was featured as the cover story in the January 24, 2004 issue of The New York Times Magazine.
, Adriana (Paulina Gaitán
) celebrates her 13th birthday, and is happy about the bicycle her 17-year-old brother Jorge (Cesar Ramos) gives her. Their mother suspects Jorge has got the money for the present in a dishonest way, and forbids Adriana to ride it. Indeed, Jorge lures a tourist into a quiet street pretending to bring him to a prostitute, and with two friends rob the man by threatening him with guns. After the tourist complies, the three carry out a mock execution
, revealing that the guns are only water gun
s.
At the same time, Veronica (Alicja Bachleda
), a young woman from Poland
, arrives at the airport together with a friend, where they are picked up by a group who promised to take them to Los Angeles
, but instead she is kidnapped. In the struggle the friend is hit by a car and left behind.
Against her mother's order, Adriana sneaks out to ride her new bike. When she notices a car following her, she tries to get away, but is captured and taken to the place where Veronica, several Latin America
n women, and a little Thai
boy are also kept. The gang leader pushes Veronica to bed as his henchman begins to videotape. Veronica tries to fight back but is overpowered as the gang leader positions her on her back, lifts up her skirt, and yanks off her panties. As Veronica is being raped, she flashes back and realizes how the traders have trapped her overseas.
Jorge sees a boy riding the bicycle he has given to Adriana, suspects that he has stolen it, and stops him. The boy says he has found the bike on the street, and shows the place. Her things still on the street indicate that she was kidnapped. Jorge asks his friends to help him find her, but when an adult adviser tells the boys the kidnappers belong to a powerful globally operating Russia
n gangster network, they refuse. Jorge finds out that the kidnappers "sell" their victims as sex slaves through a connection in New Jersey
.
While Jorge asks people if they have seen his sister, he sees her among the other victims as they are hurried into a truck by the kidnappers. He steals his friends' car and uses it to follow the kidnappers. As he approaches the border, he sees the truck. Two policemen approach the truck and allow them to cross, in exchange for cash and sex. One of the police is allowed to choose a victim to have sex with, and Veronica is chosen. The gangster evacuates everyone from the truck except for the policeman and Veronica as she is raped again. Jorge manages to follow the van to Juárez
, but then loses track of it.
Adriana, Veronica and the Thai boy are smuggled into the US, but the group is caught by the US border police. The gang members keep the kidnapped people from telling the police that they were kidnapped by threatening to harm their families. The kidnappers and victims are sent back to Mexico, after which they sneak into the US again.
When Jorge finally finds the house where the victims were kept, they are already gone. A car with Texas license plates arrives. While the driver Ray (Kevin Kline
) looks through the house, Jorge manages to hide in the trunk of the car. He thereby illegally crosses the border into the USA. Jorge reveals himself and tells about the kidnapping, and Ray, a federal insurance fraud investigator, brings Jorge to a police station to report the kidnapping. However, Jorge, who came along reluctantly, flees, suspicious about police. Ray finds Jorge and decides to help him to rescue his sister, and slowly they become friends. We learn that Ray was in Juárez to search for his extra-marital daughter, who was also taken by the criminals.
Jorge and Ray travel to New Jersey
, where the victims are taken and where an internet auction will be held to sell Adriana to the highest bidder. The Thai boy is drugged by an injection in his neck and delivered to an elderly man who "bought" him. Jorge recognizes the little boy, and Ray frees him and forces the man to tell the password of the internet site of the auction.
Adriana is forced to have oral sex with a customer in a field; the gang members tell the customer that he cannot have intercourse with her, because at the auction she has to be sold as a virgin. At a stop, Adriana and Veronica manage to escape. Veronica sees a policeman and tells Adriana to tell him what is happening, while Veronica herself phones her parents in Poland to tell them, but learns that her little son has already been taken by the criminal organization. Adriana fails to tell the policeman, and during the phone call Adriana and Veronica are recaptured by the kidnappers. At another stop, Veronica commits suicide by jumping from a cliff, telling the kidnapper that he will pay for his sins. The kidnapper arrives with Adriana at a house where his female boss keeps more victims. She scolds him for losing Veronica.
Ray and Jorge ask the New Jersey police to free Adriana, but they refuse; it would disrupt their strategy against the larger criminal organization the gang is part of. Ray gets consent by phone from his wife to withdraw a large sum of money from their bank account for a purpose not told to her, and, assisted by Jorge, participates in the auction and "buys" the girl for $32,000, to free her. Ray visits the house where she is kept, bringing the money. However, he asks the female boss (Kate del Castillo
) where she is from, making her suspicious. Due to the intense green eye colour and approximate age of the female boss, it is suggested that she is Ray's long-lost daughter. Now he has to prove that he is not a cop by having sex with Adriana in a room in the house. He does not do that, of course; instead Adriana on purpose goes in the washroom and comes back with blood on her hand and smears the bedsheet. However, the kidnapper comes in early to check on them, and understands that in spite of the blood on the sheet they have not had sex. Adriana reminds him of what Veronica said before she died, and in his guilty conscience he cooperates and tells his female boss that the rape did take place. When they leave, Jorge arrives and hits the man on the head with a tire iron, and the police, checking on the house after all, arrest the two kidnappers and free several children they find in the house. The money Ray brought is returned to him. He gives it to Jorge, and recommends that he stays out of trouble back in Mexico. Jorge puts the money secretly back into Ray's car when they say goodbye. Jorge and Adriana are flown to Mexico. Adriana is worried that because she disappeared for so long, with no explanation, her mother will be mad, but the mother is just very happy that she is back. Jorge finds the leader of the kidnappers (Pavel Lychnikoff
) and kills him. He is shocked to observe that the man had a little son.
, 28% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 67 reviews. On Metacritic
, the film had an average score of 44 out of 100, based on 18 reviews.
in the United States and Canada on September 28, 2007 and grossed an estimated $114,000 in 90 theaters, an average of $1,266 per theater.
Marco Kreuzpaintner
Marco Kreuzpaintner is a German film director and screenwriter.-Life:Kreuzpaintner was born March 11, 1977 in Rosenheim in Bavaria, Germany. He studied History of Art in Salzburg. He is a self-taught filmmaker with a background in film, advertising and music video production. He was the assistant...
and starring Kevin Kline
Kevin Kline
Kevin Delaney Kline is an American theatre, voice, film actor and comedian. He has won an Academy Award and two Tony Awards, and has been nominated for five Golden Globe Awards, two BAFTA Awards and an Emmy Award.- Early life :...
. It was produced by Roland Emmerich
Roland Emmerich
Roland Emmerich is a German film director, screenwriter, and producer.His films, most of which are Hollywood productions filmed in English, have grossed more than $3 billion worldwide, more than those of any other European director...
and Rosilyn Heller. The film premiered January 23, 2007 at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival
2007 Sundance Film Festival
The 2007 Sundance Film Festival ran from January 18 until January 28, 2007 in Park City, Utah with screenings in Salt Lake City, Utah and Ogden, Utah. It was the 23-rd iteration of the Sundance Film Festival...
and opened in limited release
Limited release
Limited release is a term in the American motion picture industry for a motion picture that is playing in a select few theaters across the country ....
on September 28, 2007. It is based on Peter Landesman's article "The Girls Next Door" about sex slaves, which was featured as the cover story in the January 24, 2004 issue of The New York Times Magazine.
Plot
In a poor family in Mexico CityMexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
, Adriana (Paulina Gaitán
Paulina Gaitán
Paulina Gaitán Ruíz is a Mexican actress.-Biography:Gaitán started acting at age 9 and at the age of 12 had an important role in Mexican director Luis Mandoki's Innocent Voices, a tale about the civil war in El Salvador...
) celebrates her 13th birthday, and is happy about the bicycle her 17-year-old brother Jorge (Cesar Ramos) gives her. Their mother suspects Jorge has got the money for the present in a dishonest way, and forbids Adriana to ride it. Indeed, Jorge lures a tourist into a quiet street pretending to bring him to a prostitute, and with two friends rob the man by threatening him with guns. After the tourist complies, the three carry out a mock execution
Mock execution
A mock execution is a stratagem in which a victim is deliberately but falsely made to feel that his execution or that of another person is imminent or is taking place. It may be staged for an audience or a subject who is made to believe that he is being led to his own execution...
, revealing that the guns are only water gun
Water gun
A water gun is a type of toy designed to shoot water. Similar to water balloons, the primary purpose of the toy is to soak another person in a game such as water warfare....
s.
At the same time, Veronica (Alicja Bachleda
Alicja Bachleda
Alicja Bachleda-Curuś is a Polish actress and singer, who has appeared in films including Trade, Ondine, and Pan Tadeusz.-Early life:...
), a young woman from Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, arrives at the airport together with a friend, where they are picked up by a group who promised to take them to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, but instead she is kidnapped. In the struggle the friend is hit by a car and left behind.
Against her mother's order, Adriana sneaks out to ride her new bike. When she notices a car following her, she tries to get away, but is captured and taken to the place where Veronica, several Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
n women, and a little Thai
Thai people
The Thai people, or Siamese, are the main ethnic group of Thailand and are part of the larger Tai ethnolinguistic peoples found in Thailand and adjacent countries in Southeast Asia as well as southern China. Their language is the Thai language, which is classified as part of the Kradai family of...
boy are also kept. The gang leader pushes Veronica to bed as his henchman begins to videotape. Veronica tries to fight back but is overpowered as the gang leader positions her on her back, lifts up her skirt, and yanks off her panties. As Veronica is being raped, she flashes back and realizes how the traders have trapped her overseas.
Jorge sees a boy riding the bicycle he has given to Adriana, suspects that he has stolen it, and stops him. The boy says he has found the bike on the street, and shows the place. Her things still on the street indicate that she was kidnapped. Jorge asks his friends to help him find her, but when an adult adviser tells the boys the kidnappers belong to a powerful globally operating Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n gangster network, they refuse. Jorge finds out that the kidnappers "sell" their victims as sex slaves through a connection in New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
.
While Jorge asks people if they have seen his sister, he sees her among the other victims as they are hurried into a truck by the kidnappers. He steals his friends' car and uses it to follow the kidnappers. As he approaches the border, he sees the truck. Two policemen approach the truck and allow them to cross, in exchange for cash and sex. One of the police is allowed to choose a victim to have sex with, and Veronica is chosen. The gangster evacuates everyone from the truck except for the policeman and Veronica as she is raped again. Jorge manages to follow the van to Juárez
Ciudad Juárez
Ciudad Juárez , officially known today as Heroica Ciudad Juárez, but abbreviated Juárez and formerly known as El Paso del Norte, is a city and seat of the municipality of Juárez in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. Juárez's estimated population is 1.5 million people. The city lies on the Rio Grande...
, but then loses track of it.
Adriana, Veronica and the Thai boy are smuggled into the US, but the group is caught by the US border police. The gang members keep the kidnapped people from telling the police that they were kidnapped by threatening to harm their families. The kidnappers and victims are sent back to Mexico, after which they sneak into the US again.
When Jorge finally finds the house where the victims were kept, they are already gone. A car with Texas license plates arrives. While the driver Ray (Kevin Kline
Kevin Kline
Kevin Delaney Kline is an American theatre, voice, film actor and comedian. He has won an Academy Award and two Tony Awards, and has been nominated for five Golden Globe Awards, two BAFTA Awards and an Emmy Award.- Early life :...
) looks through the house, Jorge manages to hide in the trunk of the car. He thereby illegally crosses the border into the USA. Jorge reveals himself and tells about the kidnapping, and Ray, a federal insurance fraud investigator, brings Jorge to a police station to report the kidnapping. However, Jorge, who came along reluctantly, flees, suspicious about police. Ray finds Jorge and decides to help him to rescue his sister, and slowly they become friends. We learn that Ray was in Juárez to search for his extra-marital daughter, who was also taken by the criminals.
Jorge and Ray travel to New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, where the victims are taken and where an internet auction will be held to sell Adriana to the highest bidder. The Thai boy is drugged by an injection in his neck and delivered to an elderly man who "bought" him. Jorge recognizes the little boy, and Ray frees him and forces the man to tell the password of the internet site of the auction.
Adriana is forced to have oral sex with a customer in a field; the gang members tell the customer that he cannot have intercourse with her, because at the auction she has to be sold as a virgin. At a stop, Adriana and Veronica manage to escape. Veronica sees a policeman and tells Adriana to tell him what is happening, while Veronica herself phones her parents in Poland to tell them, but learns that her little son has already been taken by the criminal organization. Adriana fails to tell the policeman, and during the phone call Adriana and Veronica are recaptured by the kidnappers. At another stop, Veronica commits suicide by jumping from a cliff, telling the kidnapper that he will pay for his sins. The kidnapper arrives with Adriana at a house where his female boss keeps more victims. She scolds him for losing Veronica.
Ray and Jorge ask the New Jersey police to free Adriana, but they refuse; it would disrupt their strategy against the larger criminal organization the gang is part of. Ray gets consent by phone from his wife to withdraw a large sum of money from their bank account for a purpose not told to her, and, assisted by Jorge, participates in the auction and "buys" the girl for $32,000, to free her. Ray visits the house where she is kept, bringing the money. However, he asks the female boss (Kate del Castillo
Kate del Castillo
Kate del Castillo is a leading Mexican film, theater, and television actress.- Early life :Kate Del Castillo is the daughter of Kate Trillo and Eric del Castillo, a legend of the Mexican cinema's golden era and a former soap opera actor himself...
) where she is from, making her suspicious. Due to the intense green eye colour and approximate age of the female boss, it is suggested that she is Ray's long-lost daughter. Now he has to prove that he is not a cop by having sex with Adriana in a room in the house. He does not do that, of course; instead Adriana on purpose goes in the washroom and comes back with blood on her hand and smears the bedsheet. However, the kidnapper comes in early to check on them, and understands that in spite of the blood on the sheet they have not had sex. Adriana reminds him of what Veronica said before she died, and in his guilty conscience he cooperates and tells his female boss that the rape did take place. When they leave, Jorge arrives and hits the man on the head with a tire iron, and the police, checking on the house after all, arrest the two kidnappers and free several children they find in the house. The money Ray brought is returned to him. He gives it to Jorge, and recommends that he stays out of trouble back in Mexico. Jorge puts the money secretly back into Ray's car when they say goodbye. Jorge and Adriana are flown to Mexico. Adriana is worried that because she disappeared for so long, with no explanation, her mother will be mad, but the mother is just very happy that she is back. Jorge finds the leader of the kidnappers (Pavel Lychnikoff
Pavel Lychnikoff
Pavel Lychnikoff , also credited as Pasha D. Lychnikoff, is a Russian television, film and theatre actor, who lives and works in the United States.-Life and work:...
) and kills him. He is shocked to observe that the man had a little son.
Cast
- Kevin KlineKevin KlineKevin Delaney Kline is an American theatre, voice, film actor and comedian. He has won an Academy Award and two Tony Awards, and has been nominated for five Golden Globe Awards, two BAFTA Awards and an Emmy Award.- Early life :...
as Ray Sheridan - Cesar Ramos as Jorge
- Alicja BachledaAlicja BachledaAlicja Bachleda-Curuś is a Polish actress and singer, who has appeared in films including Trade, Ondine, and Pan Tadeusz.-Early life:...
as Veronica - Paulina GaitanPaulina GaitánPaulina Gaitán Ruíz is a Mexican actress.-Biography:Gaitán started acting at age 9 and at the age of 12 had an important role in Mexican director Luis Mandoki's Innocent Voices, a tale about the civil war in El Salvador...
as Adriana - Marco PérezMarco PerezMarco Jhonnier Pérez Murillo is a Colombian football striker who currently plays for Independiente in the Argentine Primera División, on loan from Boyacá Chicó.-Career:...
as Manuelo - Linda EmondLinda EmondLinda Emond is an American stage, film and television actress.-Training and career:Emond graduated with an MFA from the Professional Actor Training Program at the University of Washington in Seattle...
as Patty Sheridan - Zack WardZack WardZack Ward is a Canadian actor.-Life and career:Ward was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, the son of actress Pam Hyatt and the brother of Carson Foster....
as Alex Green - Kate del CastilloKate del CastilloKate del Castillo is a leading Mexican film, theater, and television actress.- Early life :Kate Del Castillo is the daughter of Kate Trillo and Eric del Castillo, a legend of the Mexican cinema's golden era and a former soap opera actor himself...
as Laura - Tim ReidTim ReidTimothy L. "Tim" Reid is an American actor, comedian and film director best known for his roles in prime time American television programs, such as Venus Flytrap on WKRP in Cincinnati , Marcel "Downtown" Brown on Simon & Simon , Ray Campbell on Sister, Sister and William Barnett on That 70's Show...
as Hank Jefferson - Pavel LychnikoffPavel LychnikoffPavel Lychnikoff , also credited as Pasha D. Lychnikoff, is a Russian television, film and theatre actor, who lives and works in the United States.-Life and work:...
as Vadim Youchenko - Natalia Traven as Lupe
Critical reception
The film received negative reviews from critics. As of September 21, 2011 on the review aggregator Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
, 28% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 67 reviews. On Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, the film had an average score of 44 out of 100, based on 18 reviews.
Box office performance
The film opened in limited releaseLimited release
Limited release is a term in the American motion picture industry for a motion picture that is playing in a select few theaters across the country ....
in the United States and Canada on September 28, 2007 and grossed an estimated $114,000 in 90 theaters, an average of $1,266 per theater.
External links
- Official site
- Official German site with additional information
- Trade (2007) at Rotten Tomatoes
- Trade at sundance.org
- Official trailer hosted by Apple
- Review from Variety.com