The trailer trap

The barrage of first looks, teasers and trailers takes the mystery away from watching a film.

For several decades now, a trailer has been the best way to promote an upcoming release. But the process has become a lot more protracted now. There are first images, posters, motion posters and teasers, before the trailer is finally revealed. And each of these is treated like events in themselves by the PR machinery and the media. For me, while growing up, part of the thrill of going to a cinema and getting there well in time was to watch the trailers of future releases. There being no Internet at the time, cinema trailers, and maybe some fragments on television, were the only way to get a glimpse of the delights in store. Trailer cutting is an art form in itself, with specialised teams, who are not necessarily a part of the film’s production team. They choose the moments they feel will work with the target audience, which they pair with the appropriate music.

I remember being moved by the music when I saw a trailer of Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List (1993) in the cinema. When the soundtrack cassette released, I rushed out and bought it, only to be disappointed by the fact that the music used in the trailer wasn’t on it. Maddeningly, the piece was there in the film. It was only decades later that I found out that the piece I was after is Exodus , by Polish composer Wojciech Kilar.

Matters changed after the proliferation of the worldwide web. The excellent Apple website was my go-to place to watch the latest trailers. Then social media happened and the world exploded with information — too much of it. As someone who writes about cinema on a daily basis, the excess information left me feeling jaded, and going to the cinema I often felt that I knew too much about the film I was going to watch. The thrill of discovery was just not there anymore. Therefore, a couple of years ago, I took a radical step. I stopped watching trailers altogether, and began rapidly scrolling past any such information on social media. I stopped reading reviews and I also took to arriving at cinemas just before the feature presentation began in order to avoid the trailers. It worked. It was like discovering cinema all over again.

However, this past Cannes, I fell off the wagon, so to speak. I saw a ravishing image from Nicolas Winding Refn’s

The Neon Demon and could not resist watching the trailer. I was mesmerised. I was dismayed, when despite my best efforts, I picked up some social media noise from Cannes that was equal measures praise and opprobrium. But, it is a Winding Refn film. Right from Pusher (1996) through to Only God Forgives (2013), here’s a filmmaker who’s been fearlessly expanding the boundaries of cinema. So, good or bad, I’ll be first in line to watch The Neon Demon the day it opens in cinemas.