The Cup of Tears trailer has been gathering momentum with fans claiming its beautiful CGI puts that of many Hollywood studios to shame. It’s a unique hybrid, featuring ancient samurai empires battling in a post-apocalyptic future – something you might associate with Asia, but no. Believe it or not, filming was done in Slovenia and post production in Ireland.
And while it looks sci-fi, the plot reads like a fairy tale:
The Cup of Tears follows a scorned geisha who creates a magical cup made of tears that causes any man who drinks from it to fall into a permanent sleep. One night the cup is stolen, setting off a chain of events that threatens civil war amongst the clans. Taro, a gifted samurai, sets out to find the cup and one who can break the spell.
Though this summary and what’s in the trailer don’t seem to match, the visuals look so great that I don’t think you’ll care. Samurai dodging rockets? Pixelated geisha dancing across digital billboards? Bring it!
The three minute trailer took two years to make, a labor of love from Gary Shore, an as-yet-unknown who’s directed some commercials and music videos. He’s hoping to find backing to make this into a full-length feature.
At first I thought that wouldn’t be a problem. I even considered starting a letter writing campaign. But on second viewing, I changed my tune. Because ultimately, this trailer looks more like a video game – one I’d be thrilled to play.
As a movie, I’m interested for sure, but a samurai film lives or dies (excuse the pun) on its swordplay. And on that note, the quick cuts and glimpses of battles we get here fail to sell me. Maybe I’m old school, but I like my kung fu with stunt doubles, wire play, and just enough CGI to clean it up.
The Cup of Tears trailer is almost entirely computer generated. Aside from some close-ups, there’s not much to go on as to what this movie would actually sound like, or really even what it’s about. Great CGI visuals can’t carry an otherwise awful movie.
So, I’m on the fence about whether The Cup of Tears deserves funding, or whether it’s just a really impressive personal project. What do you think?
Source: Twitch
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