In the last month, we’ve seen the release of two different trailers for South Korean maestro Chan-wook Park‘s newest film, Stoker, and while three’s a crowd the newest preview footage for the production is too good not to share. Grant that I’m a massive admirer of Park’s work, and as far as I’m concerned just about anything released in the service of promoting his work is worth getting excited about; also grant that I’m capable of being objective, and so when I say that this is a pretty great video, I mean it with every ounce of sincerity I can muster given my clear bias. Have a look:
Admittedly, some of what’s displayed here has cropped up in the other teasers– Mia Wasikowska’s pencil trick, for one, or the knowledge of Jackie Weaver’s phone booth demise– but the clip blends the images we’ve seen with some startling new ones, notably the seamless cut from Nicole Kidman’s hair to a field of tall grass. If nothing else, it promises the same Hitchcock expressionist-inspired stylization that has become a hallmark in Park’s work since 2002, and of course a cast of exciting actors being directed by one of the day’s most exciting contemporary directors. In short, Stoker is brimming with promise.
The best detail about this little sneak peek, though, has to be the poster. We see India drawing the poster herself sporadically throughout the entirety of the video, but you won’t really get to take a good, long look at it…unless you scroll down below, where you may pour over its amazing level of detail to your heart’s content.
For me, I’m left with a deep-set curiosity over the film’s plot. We know the basics here; when her father dies, India Stoker (Wasikowska) is left alone with her unstable mother Evelyn (Nicole Kidman), until her Uncle Charlie (Matthew Goode) shows up out of the blue during the funeral. Naturally, India’s finds him suspicious and shady and yet finds herself drawn to him all the same. What all of that means, though, is another matter entirely, and I’m anxious to experience the twists and turns Park has laid out for us over the course of his film’s plot.
(Source: Empire)
