MUTE Trailer Takes You Back To The MOONiverse
Guys. FINALLY. Here’s the trailer for Duncan Jones’ Mute.
That trailer leans pretty heavily on visuals, and doesn't tell you much in the way of plot. Which is fine by me, but if you want the basics: Leo Beiler (Alexander Skarsgård) is a mute bartender who must navigate the underworld of Berlin to find his missing girlfriend. There are other perverse/thought-provoking wrinkles to the narrative, but this trailer feels like you shouldn't know them yet. Fair enough!
Cynically, one might see why they held back on too much promotion for this film until a certain long-anticipated sci-fi sequel got out the way. But at the risk of sounding sacrilegious, this feels closer to the scrappy, handmade quality of 1982’s Blade Runner than Denis Villeneuve’s opulent, Roger Deakins-lensed sequel. And I mean that in the best way possible.
I was privileged to be on set for a day of this film’s production, and it was about as analog and non-sparkly as filmmaking is likely to be in this digital age. I saw a grizzled bunch of artists and craftspeople hunkered down in the chilly Berlin rain powering through their day, each one committed to making Jones' vision of Berlin circa 2052 a reality. I’m excited for Jones, who’s been trying to make this film for over a decade, and I’m excited for us, as we finally get to see it on February 23rd.
Mute stars Skarsgård, Paul Rudd, Justin Theroux and Seyneb Saleh. There are rumors floating around of a limited theatrical run. I’m looking at these shots a frame at a time, and sending prayers that one of those screenings is at a theater near you.
