Friday, August 9, 2013

The missing scene from Ralph Bakshi's HEAVY TRAFFIC

The release of Ralph Bakshi's masterful HEAVY TRAFFIC on bluray (from Shout Factory!) is cause for celebration. The film is genuinely experimental in all the best ways-- it is Bakshi's unfettered imagination at its feverish best. I love this film (obviously).

A scene was deleted from HEAVY TRAFFIC, though, that has never received a video release (as far as I know). In it, the film's protagonist, Michael (seen above), takes a subway ride and winds up getting a beating at the hands of a sweet, schoolmarm-type (seen at Michael's right). Meanwhile, a couple screws on the subway car floor while commuters sit, obliviously reading their papers.

I have heard rumors that Bakshi himself wasn't involved in making this scene, but they are unsubstantiated, as far as I know. How do you go about seeing this elusive scene?