I really wish I was going to the Toronto Film Festival this year. Frankly, I want to go every year, but if I could go this year I could see the North American premiere of a crazy new movie from Turkey titled “Baskin,” which promises to be a hot ticket and of which TIFF promises an experience just as controversial as their “Martyrs” screening a few years ago.
So, until it arrives in the states, we will just have to be satisfied with watching the trailer. But, oh what a trailer.
Call for backup.
Five police officers answer a call to assist and end up stumbling right into the middle of a satanic cult performing a black mass ceremony.
The simplest setups are really the best.
The trailer hints that the officers’ arrival might not be the unhappy accident it at first appears to be, but, other than that little tidbit, not much is explained. And that is really smart.
Director Can Evrenol has definitely taken the motto “Show, don’t tell,” to heart. This trailer is so full of arresting, vibrant, and odd imagery it made me sit up and take notice (it’s also the first trailer in a looong time that made me jump): frogs struggling in the mud, naked bent bodies grunting and thrusting, a lone girl whacking a stick on a metal cauldron, blood dripping off a foot, someone licks a knife, someone swings a sledgehammer…it all comes fast and jaggedly crams its way into your brain without you being able to process it all.
And I love it.
She seems nice.
The first time I watched the trailer, I thought, “I must see this. Immediately.” The feeling just gets stronger and stronger the more I see it (I’ve been watching it over and over all afternoon). Evrenol’s past work on TV commercials, PSAs, and short films really seems to have paid off, leaving him with a very strong visual sense and an editor’s eye for great cuts.
In addition to the trailer linked below, there are a few teaser trailers floating around that you might want to search for–they all add up to one inescapable conclusion: Baskin can’t get here soon enough.
Uncle Mike sez: check it out.
