13 (Tzameti) Trailer -- What Were They Thinking?
Filed under: Drama, Foreign Language, Independent, Thrillers, Sundance, Noir, Mystery & Suspense, Seattle, Movie Marketing, Lists, Cinematical Indie
Since I don't tend to watch a lot of trailers online (unless there's one that has particularly good buzz), I hadn't actually caught the one for 13 (Tzameti). Until last night, that is, when I went to the theater to see The Descent with my husband, my brother and his grilfriend, and they showed the trailer for 13 (Tzameti) before the main attraction (WARNING: If you want to actually be intrigued by this film, do not watch the trailer). I was so blown away by how completely bad the trailer was, that it almost (but not quite) spoiled my repeat viewing of Neil Marshall's claustrophobic cave flick.
What I want to know is this: Who decided it was a great idea to take a film whose premise depends on the audience NOT knowing, along with the protagonist, just what he's getting into, and then give away that entire premise in the trailer? What were they thinking? Do they want people not to see this film? Because everyone in the theater last night seemed stunned into silence by the trailer, and not in a good way. A guy behind us muttered, "So, that's basically the film in three minutes, right?" and his companion added, "Well, guess we don't need to go see it now."
If I had made the trailer for 13 (Tzameti), I would have shown just enough to intrigue the viewer without giving away what happens: Shots of the protagonist, Sébastien, listening through a hole in the roof to his employer talking about a job that will bring in a lot of cash; the employer dead in a bathtub; Sébastien with the train ticket and hotel reservation in hand; Sébastien seeing the guy in the car holding up the card with "13" on it, and Sébastien holding up his matching card. And that's it. Period. That's all anyone needs to know going into this film the first time. If I'd known as much about the film as the trailer gives away, it would have totally spoiled my first viewing -- if I'd even gone to see it at all. Who made the call to give away the whole plot in the trailer? Fire that person, now, because he or she should be henceforth banned from ever being responsible for a trailer again. Bah.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-14-2006 @ 12:38PM
roadkillbuddha said...
"So, that's basically the film in three minutes, right?"
I've found this to be true of 99% of the trailers I've seen in the last 5-10 years. There's no mystery or surprise left by the time the movie is released. I don't understand the thinking behind it, unless studios believe that audiences want to know exactly what they're getting before they buy their tickets.
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8-14-2006 @ 2:01PM
Matt said...
I have found that the more a trailer gives away about the story, the worse the movie is. Another way to say it is the less faith the studio has in the movie.
The one that really cemented this theory for me was Van Helsing. When they reveal that Van Helsing is related to Dracula in the trailer, giving away what might be the only real twist the movie had (I don't know, after the trailer I had no interest in the movie)I lost all interest.
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8-14-2006 @ 3:19PM
badMike said...
Not only did I watch the trailer for "13 Tzameti," but I watched several clips of it, including scenes of the finale, for my job at IFILM. Then I watched the entire film and it didn't bother me at all that I knew what was going to transpire. I still really, really loved the film.
I've read a couple of times on Cinematical about how Palm "ruined" the movie with the trailer, but I don't think it did. I almost feel that the first half of the film was MORE harrowing knowing what lay in wait for the main character. I also feel that if a trailer were cut the way you describe people would go, "What the f*** was that? Who cares?" I think Palm was in a damned if you show the ending, damned if you don't position.
I still think it's a fabulous film and, no, you haven't seen the whole movie if you've just watched the trailer.
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8-14-2006 @ 4:26PM
Kim Voynar said...
badMike,
I saw the film knowing nothing more about it than the brief write-up in the Sundance catalog told, and for me, knowing everything in the trailer would have ruined the whole suspense of not knowing. If you already know what Sebastien is getting into, where's the suspense of the entire first act? The whole point is that Sebastien doesn't know (and we don't either) what lies at the other end of that train ticket, and why it's so bad the former owner of the ticket OD'd on morphine. Say what you will, I still say it ruins it for most of the people who will go see it.
My husband (who has seen it) stared at the screen in shock after the trailer ran; my brother, his GF, and most of the people around us (who haven't seen it) were also shocked that it gave so much away. Maybe some folks don't care if a trailer gives everything away, but when I'm shelling out $10 a ticket to see a film, I want some suspense, dammit.
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8-14-2006 @ 9:03PM
badMike said...
"Maybe some folks don't care if a trailer gives everything away"
Are you trying to imply something here or what?
Jeez, I just thought I'd provide a different point of view...
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8-14-2006 @ 10:05PM
Kim Voynar said...
Um, no, Mike, I'm not implying anything, other than that some folks obviously don't mind trailers that give everything away, and some folks do.I fall in the latter category; that doesn't make me smarter or more discerning that someone who doesn't care -- if anything, it might be read to infer that I am LESS discerning than someone who doesn't care, because for me, a gives-it-all-away trailer spoils it for me.
Geez, what is up with the comments today? :-) It's not a full moon, that I know of. Maybe I should have paid more attention to that fortune cookie the other night that said something about misunderstandings in communications...
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9-12-2006 @ 1:00AM
Tiffany said...
I saw the trailer and it was so intense it made me want to go see it. No, I didn't *want* to go see it (suspense really isn't my bag), but I felt like, if a short trailer can stress me out this much, I have to see the whole thing. If it weren't for the trailer, I probably would have skipped the film altogether. It's just not the kind of movie that I would have found intriguing from a small blurb in the newspaper or a cryptic trailer.
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