Sometimes a trailer hits that is so bizarre that it's difficult to explain its appeal. This is how I feel about Strand Releasing's theatrical trailer for the heralded Greek drama Attenberg. It's a peculiar mix of ambiguous yet engrossing dialogue, awkward but explicit sexual imagery, and stern yet funny walks that has me deeply intrigued.
After winning acclaim abroad, including honors at the 2010 Venice Film Festival, this provocative drama was selected as Greece's submission for the Best Foreign Film Oscar. Though it did not make the Academy's final cut of nominees, this trailer courtesy of Yahoo is proof that Attenberg could still score a U.S. release.
Raised in an isolated factory town by the sea, Marina (Ariane Labed) is a misfit and a late-bloomer. At 23 she's never been kissed, and her only friends are her oddball bestie, Bella (Evangelia Randou), and her fatally ill father (Vangelis Mourikis). With each, she explores her own animalistic instincts in various quirky ways. Bella fruitlessly attempts to school her in the ways of love, while Marina and her dad explore their devotion for the nature documentaries of Sir David Attenborough by mimicking the behaviors of its featured animals. However, her insular life is soon to change. As her father's death approaches, Marina leaps at the opportunity to explore her sexuality with a stranger (Giorgos Lanthimos), and wills herself to grow up. While the setup of this Greek drama seems twee, what writer-director Athina Rachel Tsangari creates is something stranger and far more sophisticated, and worth looking out for.
Strand Releasing promises Attenberg is coming soon.
