Traffickers: Organs to Go

Where can you go for a no-questions-asked organ transplant? If you said China, you win a free kidney, symbolically speaking of course. However, the dodgy McHospital Yu-ri’s father has been referred to has a strict bring-your-own-organs (BYOO) policy. Young-gyu’s gang is supposed to take care of all the messy parts during the passage over, but things kind of get out of hand in Kim Hong-sun’s Traffickers (trailer here), which Well Go USA released today on DVD and BluRay.

Young-gyu used to be Korea’s top trafficker in human organs until an incident led to the very public death of his intended victim and his young protégé. From then on, he scraped by as a conventional contraband smuggler. Unfortunately, when his latest shipment is served up to the police, Young-gyu has no choice but get the old gang back together for another score.

Unbeknownst to her, Yu-ri is Young-gyu’s new client. Having arranged through a broker to have a brand-spanking new heart meet her father at the Chinese hospital, Yu-ri only knows Young-gyu as the strange man who sometimes initiates awkward, vaguely threatening conversations. The truth is the smuggler has fallen in love with the ticket agent during the considerable time he spends in the port, but being a smooth talking seducer is not one of his many faults.

While onboard the slow boat to China, Yu-ri helps the newlywed Sang-ho search for his missing wheelchair-bound wife Chae-hee. Obviously, she has not given much thought to where her father’s new heart will come from, but desperation can lead to short-sightedness. There will also be further coincidences linking the fateful circle of passengers.

Frankly, the premise of Traffickers is a little forced, especially given the substantiated allegations of state-sponsored organ harvesting in prison camps (why risk attracting outside attention when you can simply order up a heart from a prisoner of conscience?). Kim and co-screenwriter Kim Sang-myung go with it nonetheless, focusing on humanity at its most distressed, building to (yeah, yeah, yeah, mild spoilerish alert) a real downer of an ending. Yet, somehow the film is still quite entertaining to watch.

Functioning as sort of a riff on The Lady Vanishes, Traffickers features several tense near misses and a great action show down. A supporting player who shall remain nameless also pulls off a massively effective character swerve, earning unrestrained audience loathing. For his part, Im Chang-jung broods solidly as the world weary Young-gyu. As usual, Oh Dal-su adds plenty of vinegary grit as Young-gyu’s soused saw-bones. Although deliberately stiff at first, Yo Joon-hee turns it up down stretch as Yu-ri.

So yes, organ trafficking is a bad business, no matter how you might get involved with it. Kim capitalizes on the claustrophobic ship’s setting rather adroitly and keeps the pace distractingly brisk. Just about the entire narrative fails the logic test in retrospect, but viewers really won’t notice in the moment. Recommended for those who enjoy dark thrillers, Traffickers is now available on DVD, BluRay, and digital platforms from Well Go USA. 

Shopping for Lungs: Inhale

Evidently, if you pop over the border to Juarez, in addition to some cheap tequila and genuine Mexican stoplight candy, you can also pick up some human organs. Unfortunately, the sellers are kind of particular. You don’t call them, they call you. This is a problem for the desperate father in Baltasar Kormákur’s Inhale (trailer here), which opens this Friday in New York.

The law is the law for prosecutor Paul Stanton. He is even throwing the book at a man accused of shooting the predator suspected of molesting his child. Tough case. Sadly, Stanton has problems of a different nature with his own daughter. Her lungs are rapidly deteriorating and only a transplant can save her. While perusing the organ waiting list, the Stanton family doctor notices something funny. James Harrison, Stanton’s pseudo-mentor and front-running gubernatorial candidate, had his name taken off the list. In theory there are only two ways this could happen, a successful transplant or death.

It turns out Harrison got a mysterious call, offering him an organ transplant if he showed up in Juarez with a briefcase full of cash. Under ether most of the time, all Harrison can offer Stanton is a name—Dr. Novarro, which the big clumsy Yankee starts recklessly throwing around as soon as he crosses the border. Not surprisingly, this gets his butt thoroughly kicked several times over.

Icelandic director Kormákur (best known for Jar City) seems to have a knack for capturing the gritty border town milieu, appropriately steeping the film in seediness. He sets up the ticking clock tension fairly effectively as well. However, Inhale’s character development is a very mixed bag. Perhaps the greatest surprise is the evenhandedness of the Harrison character. Though clearly identified as a Republican, the film never indulgences in political cheap shots. As he tells Stanton straight-up, he never took bribes or abused his position. The only time he ever broke the law was his jaunt as an organ tourist, which he did not initiate (and who can blame him?). Indeed, Sam Shepard brings some convincing color to political wheeler-dealer, without resorting to caricature.

Though not given much to work with as Stanton’s concerned wife, Diane Kruger is also able to scratch out some memorable moments. Unfortunately, their daughter Chloe is rather thinly sketched out. However, Paul Stanton is a wholly problematic tangle of contradictions. Dermot Mulroney brings a real intensity to the role, but at the risk of hinting at spoilers, his do-gooder sensibilities assert themselves at the darnedest times. One would think if you traipse across the border looking to buy a lung, you have essentially crossed an ethical Rubicon. Instead, we get a lot of overwrought moral anguish that is not believable for a second.

Strangely, the Scandinavian Kormákur has a good feel for the divey cantinas and sketchy clinics of Juarez. Yet, Walter Doty and John Claflin’s script is just riddled with head-scratching moments that will probably sacrifice general audience satisfaction along with its overall credibility. A strangely self-imploding film, Inhale opens this Friday (10/22) in New York at the IFC Center.