In Another Country

In Another Country is a 2012 South Korean film directed by Hong Sang-soo.

The woman writing the script that is the movie (0:00 - 0:04)

The trailer for In Another Country reveals enough of the narrative, yet leaves enough questions unresolved to entice the audience into wanting to watch the entire film. We know what the three stories depicted in the film are, but we also have a number of questions. Who is the first woman we see -- the woman writing the script (see left)? What makes her write about what she does, and why does she envision three different stories about the same woman?  The trailer is successful in regards to the narrative because it attracts an audience to the film.

There are clearly other people in this world
besides the characters (1:12 - 1:19)

The mise en scene of the trailer emphasizes the realist nature of In Another Country. Included in the background of nearly all of the shots is simple evidence that other people exist aside from the film's characters. There are houses with cars parked and laundry hanging, beaches with people frolicking in the tides, and neon signs flashing. The characters of the film are simply regular people living ordinary lives.

The cinematography of In Another Country, as exemplified in the trailer, is highly also decidedly realist, as medium shots or waist shots and long shots to extreme long shots abound. However, interestingly, there are also some shots of particular body parts (such as the French woman's legs on the shore) and dynamic, moving shots (such as the pan from the pair on the beach to the women on the road, see sequence below) that are not atypical to a realist film.

 A long pan not typical of a realist film (0:49 - 1:02)

A quote from a magazine review (1:20 - 1:27)

The edit of In Another Country's trailer is deliberately cut to emphasize to the audience the attractive nature of the story (see narrative). Sequences are juxtaposed together in a way so as to reveal just enough to make the audience desire to learn more. Later in the trailer, there are some critic quotes that further indicate that the film is worth watching (see below). Notably, a diegetic song is played over the second half of the trailer, perhaps intended

to communicate the romance inherent to the movie.

The sound design of the trailer of In Another Country consists mainly of a voice-over from the pseudo-"omnipotent narrator"; this is the young woman writing the script of the three stories that the film contains. This is used primarily as an explanation for what is to happen in the film. Again, there is a diegetic love song played over all of the second half of the trailer, revealing the romantic nature of the film.