Hear Me Out: ‘The Handmaiden’ has the best trailer of all time
The art of the film trailer is a difficult one to master – show just enough to intrigue viewers, but don’t give the entire plot away. Utilise the draw of your big names, but don’t rely on them. It must have snappy editing, perfect pacing, the right music, the proper dialogue, and exemplary cinematography. Amidst the sounds of rustling popcorn and the distracting lights of phone screens, a trailer must somehow be captivating enough to capture an audience’s attention and retain it long enough to secure their seat in the cinema.
In modern cinema, few films have achieved this collection of skills, particularly with the rise of the franchise. Barbie, while boasting one of the most impressive campaigns in recent memory, was so caught up in marketing that it spoiled many of its most exciting elements in the process – it even revealed Ryan Gosling’s ‘I’m Just Ken’. Meanwhile, the MCU pumps out trailers that follow the exact same formula each time. Marketing campaigns are often too loud, trying too hard to guarantee their box office success.
Despite the pre-film trailer reel feeling increasingly repetitive, one modern director managed to avoid those pitfalls and deliver one of the most masterful trailers of all time. Following the success of his Vengeance trilogy, comprised of Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, the recently restored Oldboy, and Lady Vengeance, Park Chan-wook continued to demonstrate his flair for psychological thrillers with The Handmaiden in 2016.
The Palme d’Or-nominated film is a masterpiece, characteristically dark and endlessly thrilling. It’s also lengthy. With a runtime of 144 minutes, Chan-wook had a mammoth task on his hands when looking to condense the film’s complex themes, beautiful cinematography, and tense atmosphere into a standard two-three minute trailer. Somehow, he outdid himself and did it in just over a minute.
The trailer, which comes in at just one minute 19 seconds long, is a masterpiece in itself. Soundtrack by a pulsing, unsettling instrumental track titled ‘Red Sex’ by Bristol producer Vessel, each new clip featured in the trailer is cut in time to the beat of the track. Even the opening credits to Amazon Studios, Magnolia Pictures, and Cannes Film Festival’s seal of approval adhere to this formula.
It’s so pleasing to the viewer, so engaging and intriguing, that Chan-wook doesn’t even add any dialogue. Instead, there are intermittent breaths overlaid with the track, which tease the film’s erotic nature, its intensity, and its shock value, all of which are sure to leave viewers breathless. Accompanying text boasts of Park Chan-wook’s previous achievements, from Oldboy to Stoker. They feature in a bold, bright white font which ensures their prominence on screen, but doesn’t take away from the beauty of the shots beneath them.
Once the text subsides, the music and the intensity of the shots increase. Over increasingly distorted tones, we see some of the film’s most intense moments – Lady Hideko choking herself, performing with the mannequin, being abused by her father – but they’re all provided in short bursts and without context. The trailer reveals none of the film’s many twists and turns but still depicts the intensity of them.
In just one minute, the trailer for The Handmaiden achieves more than most modern films do in three times the length. It could even serve as an excellent short film standalone. Alongside rapid pacing, it faithfully reflects the film’s themes – sex, abuse, romance – but refuses to divulge the details. With restricted dialogue and quick shots, Chan-wook focuses on simplicity, intriguing viewers through his sleek visuals alone. Seven years later, it’s just as enthralling as it was on its first release.
The trailer for The Handmaiden forgoes the clichés and failures of many modern peers, retaining unwavering respect both for the film and for the audience. It’s a masterclass in trailer-making – filmmakers, take note.
