Movie posters come in various shapes and sizes… well, no, that’s not true. They come in the same shape and size, but therein lies the dilemma. When everyone is working within the same boundaries it makes it harder to excuse inconsistent quality. Poster art is something I take very seriously, yet it’s something that many people don’t take much notice of. You may see some celebrity faces floating in a sky above an idyllic picturesque view and know you’ll be getting a drama about lovers who will have to fight obstacles to be together. I, however, see laziness and giant floating heads.
Every month I will take a look at the month in movie posters both good and bad. Trying to inform the readers of Trespass what makes those big pieces of paper that hang in a cinema foyer good, and what makes them bad.
Precious
By far the best poster of any February release was that for Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire. Taking the film’s issues of sexual abuse to a very literal point, this poster is brave in ways that very few are. It almost breaks your heart just looking at it, and yet it gets your attention due to its unflinching imagery and bold use of colour.
A Prophet
Striking an instant pose of authority is this poster for Jacques Audiard’s Oscar-nominated A Prophet. Using a distinctive contrast of black and white colour with hints of the prison themes within (notice the shadows of jail cell bars across the face), this poster stands out from the crowd.
Shutter Island
I went with this Japanese design for Martin Scorsese’s genre thriller instead of the one you have probably seen hanging all over the place. Thankfully leaving off Leonardo DiCaprio’s giant head – placed on the U.S. and Australian designs because we, apparently, can’t read credits – and replaced it with that wonderful worn and weathered look, the poster shares visual similarities with the cover to a pulpy novel about a creepy mental asylum, which is exactly what the movie is!
Crazy Heart
Technically, from a purely design level, this poster for Crazy Heart isn’t much at all; nothing but a close-up of Jeff Bridges strumming a guitar. What it lacks in imagination, however, it makes up for in pure visual panache. There’s something refreshing about seeing Bridges’ wrinkles, scraggly beard and wild untamed hair in such high detail. You can see the history of this character in such fine detail.
Valentine’s Day
If your movie stars, literally, 19 celebrities, then it will always be hard coming up with a design that wasn’t just a selection of actor headshots, but it’s as if they didn’t even try. And to add insult to injury they couldn’t even put Kathy Bates or Hector Elizondo on the poster. That’s right; pop-singer Taylor Swift and Julia Roberts’ niece, Emma are bigger sells than Kathy Bates!
A Single Man
Cheap. That was the very first word that came to my mind upon seeing this poster for Tom Ford’s A Single Man. An image in a box surrounded by black = cheap. A viewer who wasn’t aware of the film’s plot would be none-the-wiser after looking at this. The poster is almost offensive in the way it completely whitewashes over the overt homosexuality found within the film.
Love Happens
Speaking of cheap… You have probably never heard of this movie, starring Jennifer Aniston and Aaron Eckhart, nor aware that it is being released next week. I can’t blame you since I know I’d walk right past this poster if it were hanging in a cinema lobby. It lacks anything to get your attention and they can’t even get the actors names over the right faces. Disgracefully poor.
I hope you will join me again next month when I look at Alice in Wonderland, The Men Who Stare at Goats and The Rebound.
Glenn, I’m liking the enthusiasm and derision you bring to poster analysis- looking forward to March’s critique already!
I really love the Precious poster that is almost like a childlike painting of her- http://www.impawards.com/2009/posters/precious_ver2.jpg
probably not as powerful as the splintered one, but I think it is quite beautiful
I thought A Single Man was a portrait of grief more than anything else. (And yes, I have read this Guardian article… http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2010/feb/15/a-single-man-sexual-preference)
Because of this, and the fact that many audiences (me for one) will see the film because of Firth’s reportedly incredible performance – with no real thought as to the gay subject matter – I have always considered the poster art rather nice and effective, really.
I see absolutely no problem with the “de-gaying” as they are calling it – in fact an overtly gay poster would give me doubts as to what sort of film it was – as I don’t really watch expressly queer cinema but I love character studies and cinema about the great themes of life. Frankly an expressly gay poster would not be appealing to me, as an average cinema goer, so I think the cinema chains are being rather savvy in going a bit broader with their ads. I am just trying to offer a different perspective from a guy on the street as I have seen this criticism a lot online about this poster series and I don’t see a problem myself. Maybe the cinemas did research on it and this worked better?
Glenn, this is a great idea for a column, and I wholeheartedly agree with you. The only film on this list I have actually seen is A Single Man, and you are right, the poster has nothing to do with the film – which is such a shame because it was quite brilliant and I really enjoyed it. Julianne Moore was in it for less time than it took to run the credits – don’t know how she managed to get her pic on the poster!!
Great column, Glenn! I’ve followed your poster insights on your blog, and thanks to you (or perhaps, damn you!) I see giant floaty heads in cinemas everywhere!
I think you’re right on the money with all these posters – thanks for introducing me to the Japanese version for Shutter Island. It’s about a million percent up on our one.
And as for Valentine’s Day, Kathy Bates – what about Shirley MacLaine?!?!
What do you make of Jeremy Saunder’s creation for FISH TANK? http://jeremysaunders.com/2010/fish-tank/ – or am I jumping the gun on next month?
Wow, quite a few comments already!
Beth, agreed. I wrote about that poster on my blog. All the “Precious” designs have been exceptional, but my favourite was the orange one since it is so brave and distinctive.
http://stalepopcornau.blogspot.com/2009/07/well-played-poster-precious.html
And that, BW, is why I don’t like the poster for “A Single Man”. It’s hardly a unique way to sell a movie by putting the lead actor on there, but what would have been unique was to sell any of the film’s other strengths. The beautiful (if excessive) design or the delicate portrayal of gay romance. I’m not saying put a picture of Colin Firth on there making out with Matthew Goode, but if you showed that poster to somebody who wasn’t aware of the plot they would think it was about Firth and Moore as a couple, which it is not.
My review of “A Single Man” will be up next week by the way.
Alice, tell me about it! Leo’s giant floating head has no place there. I briefly wrote about the “Fish Tank” poster at the blog. It’s quite a tricky design, isn’t it?
a blogger could make a better ‘a single man’ poster than the distributor… and one did -
http://tinyurl.com/y9dl6kv
Glenn, I really enjoy your poster analysis. FWIW, my pick of the above posters is the one for A Prophet but agree that the Precious one ain’t bad either.
Today on Twitter Matt Singer asked me if I thought poster artists should sign their work. I said yes (considering all other artists get to put their names to the work), but would be interested in your thoughts?
FYI after seeing Jeremy Saunders’ Antichrist poster, Singer is now a fan of his work – loves his Fish Tank poster too.
Oh I already did a search for other Movie Poster Analysis articles but only found this one on the site, then realized it’s a brand new series on the site. Looking forward to reading more!