The Lost Art of Movie Trailers- Fave Picks- Part 3

Welcome to today’s update, which is in fact yet another continuation of a post I made a few weeks ago. If you don’t know what’s going on, I encourage you to check out the original post however, if you don’t have the time and want to skip to nitty gritty right now, then please do know that I decided to compose a list of my favourite trailers for Asian productions. This is actually going to be a three-part list with a descending order, so I am going to provide my choices from spot 30 to 1 together with justifications. So please make yourself comfortable and let’s check out some trailers!

 

10. Supermarket Woman (1996)

Juzo Itami always had a conventional approach to theatrical trailers of his movies. Regardless of the film, each trailer has a tight pace and brisk visuals just to sell the audience on a given premise. Supermarket Woman is no exception. And I do love the big date announcement card at the very end of the video.

 

9. Four Sisters

Come on, it’s a movie by Nobuhiko Obayashi and I love it! The trailer also rocks because it is short and sweet and has a ballad song as well, so it is a double win. Four Sisters will always have a special place in my heart.

 

8. Taipei Story

I have to be honest in this instance and say that as time goes by I like all the stuff associated with Taipei Story more than the movie itself, from posters to trailers. These visual forms always go well with Edward Yang’s movies that are so deeply rooted in the 1980s and the 1990s.

 

7. Kamikaze Taxi

If I understand correctly, this is the DVD announcement trailer for Kamikaze Taxi, but still it does the job. The music score for this film is everything, and it is a pleasure to hear it in the trailer. It immediately sets the mood and makes you relate to the plight of the main character played by Koji Yakusho.

 

6. The Family Game

Original theatrical trailer that is just as whacky as the film itself. To date, I have not yet seen the drama adaptation of the source material, but I always fondly recall the 1983 movie directed by Yoshimitsu Morita.

 

5. Raise the Red Lantern

Again, I am not sure if this is the original trailer or a recut made for the American market, but whoever edited the video really managed to capture and reflect the tension of the film. Time and time again, whenever I revisit the film, the more I think of it as a Gothic story that just happens to be set in a Chinese setting and lacks classic English architecture.

 

4. Peking Opera Blues

What’s there more to say… Peking Opera Blues is one of my favourite movies with Brigitte Lin in the leading role. The original Hong Kong trailer thankfully manages to shit emphasis from standard action set pieces to the emotional drama that the main characters undergo in the course of the story.

 

3. A Scene at the Sea

And we are moving to the big three. Here, allow me to highlight the trailer for Takeshi Kitano’s A Scene at the Sea. I absolutely adore this movie(!), and this trailer perfectly reconstructs the calming and soothing ambience of the original motion picture. The problem is, however, I doubt that it is the original theatrical trailer. It seems to be a French trailer made for the release of a restored version of the film.

 

2. The Longest Summer

At spot number two, we have the trailer for the second entry of Fruit Chain’s The 1997 Handover Trilogy. I just can’t express enough how cool this trailer is. The marriage of Hong Kong visuals with the (unknown to me) instrumental music is literal perfection. In fact, I kind of regret that the music is not the actual film. The Longest Summer is arguably the best movie about the handover of Hong Kong from the UK to China, but this trailer elevates it to the heights of nostalgia wave.

 

1. April Story

Behold. This is undoubtedly the most wholesome movie trailer I have ever seen! You might think, “Yeah, right,” but director Shunji Iwai managed to turn the trailer for April Story into a little art piece. In fact, this trailer should be called a trailer. It does not reveal anything about the film or the story. We only get to see the leading actress Takako Matsu holding a clapperboard at the beginning of each scene of the film. However, the whole compilation is done so graciously that it is enough to get you excited for the movie.

 
So this was the end of the third and final part. I hope that you enjoyed this rundown. Thank you for reading.

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