The best trailers aren’t the ones that fully spell out every intricacy of the film, leaving no stone unturned and no surprises for the viewer. Instead, the trailers that stand out are the ones that tease the mood and tone of a film, while also just giving enough footage and context to keep the potential viewer wanting more. That’s exactly what is done in the first trailer for the award-winning Cannes film, “Beanpole.”
Odds are, you’re going to watch the new trailer for “Beanpole” and still have no clue what the film is about. However, after you see the opening of the trailer, featuring a group of wounded WWII soldiers attempting to get a young boy to act like a dog, and then witness the wordless montage of scenes from the rest of the film, you’ll be entranced, horrified, and deeply interested.
If you want to know more about the film, “Beanpole” tells the story of two women dealing with the post-WWII world in Leningrad, as well as a hospital filled with traumatized soldiers. No, that description doesn’t do much in explaining the full plot of the film, but the less you know about it going in, the more you’ll likely enjoy the film.
READ MORE: 2020 International Film Oscars Contenders & Predictions
“Beanpole” stars Viktoria Miroshnichenko, Vasilisa Perelygina, Konstantin Balakirev, and Andrey Bykov. The drama comes from director Kantemir Balagov, who won Un Certain Regard’s Best Director prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. Previous to that, the filmmaker’s “Closeness” won the FIPRESCI Prize at the 2017 Un Certain Regard section.
We saw “Beanpole” at Cannes, and in our review, we said, “In a film that is so disinterested to conforming to accustomed mainstream movie audiences taste and rhythms, and is committed to its sometimes difficult choices, the bold and exacting ‘Beanpole’ sometimes feels damn-near radical.”
“Beanpole” arrives in theaters on January 19, 2020.
Here’s the synopsis:
In post-WWII Leningrad, two women, Iya and Masha (astonishing newcomers Viktoria Miroshnichenko and Vasilisa Perelygina), intensely bonded after fighting side by side as anti-aircraft gunners, attempt to readjust to a haunted world. As the film begins, Iya, long and slender and towering over everyone—hence the film’s title—works as a nurse in a shell-shocked hospital, presiding over traumatized soldiers. A shocking accident brings them closer and also seals their fates. The 28-year-old Russian director Kantemir Balagov won Un Certain Regard’s Best Director prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival for this richly burnished, occasionally harrowing rendering of the persistent scars of war.
