This Week In Trailers: Los Abrazos Rotos (Broken Embraces), The Damned United, White Lightnin’ and Smash Cut
Posted on Friday, October 2nd, 2009 by Christopher Stipp
Trailers are an under-appreciated art form insofar that many times they’re seen as vehicles for showing footage, explaining films away, or showing their hand about what moviegoers can expect. Foreign, domestic, independent, big budget: I celebrate all levels of trailers and hopefully this column will satisfactorily give you a baseline of what beta wave I’m operating on, because what better way to hone your skills as a thoughtful moviegoer than by deconstructing these little pieces of advertising? Some of the best authors will tell you that writing a short story is a lot harder than writing a long one, that you have to weigh every sentence. What better medium to see how this theory plays itself out beyond that than with movie trailers?
The Damned United Trailer
The one name I will always remember from the trip I took to Ireland in 2002 is Roy Keane. Part of Ireland’s soccer team, he caused quite a kerfuffle when he spoke out about Irish players being treated unfairly during their run for the 2002 World Cup. It led newscasts, it was on every paper and it was the subject people most wanted talk about. I learned a lot about football/soccer on that holiday as I saw people’s home adorned in green, white, and orange bunting as if Christmas really was coming in June.
I know how this sport can grip an entire country and this trailer gets that passion down on film.
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