Teaser Breakdown: Netflix's Death Note

Today, Netflix released a Teaser Trailer for their version of Death Note (internal screaming commence).

I'm a bit of a Death Note junkie, so let's break this trailer down shot-for-shot.

First here's the trailer:



So let's get into the analysis.

0:00-0:04: Here we see the Death Note falling in that lovely shot, taken directly from the Anime adaptation. The Anime, by the way, is going to be my main source of response to this trailer, so if you aren't familiar, you'll want to be. And soon.

0:04-0:11: Light "Turner" our brand new anglicized protagonist picks up the Death Note, re-establishing just how the Death Note enters the world of the living.

0:12-0:15: Three important shots. First, barely visible to the naked eye is a shot of Ryuk standing outside the window of some place. Based on the neon sign on the wall that reads "afe" one can only assume this is going to be the cafe where Light and "Mia" meet for the first time. The second shot is one of an empty school hallway, presumably around the time that Light finds the Death Note. And third, we hear Ryuk's laugh while an apple seems to "fall" off a desk.

0:17-0:20: Here we establish that this version of Death Note has been moved from Kanto region Japan to Seattle, Washington. That certainly explains the gray cloudy skies in nearly every shot of the trailer, and the rain falling on the Death Note from earlier.

0:21-0:22: This is confirmed to be L, here wearing garb that covers his face (but not his eyes, does that mean we are going to see a potential rule change in either the way the Note or the Shinigami Eyes work? Are we going to even have Shinigami Eyes?) and he's walking down another neon hallway (are we taking cues from Neon Demon or Only God Forgives?) in what must be some sort of nightclub.

(I will be addressing my thoughts on the white/black washing of Asian characters in a separate post)

0:25 - 0:32: This reads like the First Kill of Light and his brand new Notebook of Death. It leaves the old Anime trailer hook of explaining the first rule, watching him write something and then...

0:33: ...Three men in suits jump off the top of a business building in (presumably) Seattle, what an incredible shot! This is also the first of several implications that young Mr. Turner is going to be far more creative with his kills in this adaptation than he was in the show.

0:34: L appears to have arrived at his location in the Nightclub. Scrawled on the wall is the message "Justice of Kira" the message is scrawled in blood, which reflects back to Light's "experimenting" with the rules of the Death Note.

0:35: Here we see Mia again. This time she is clearly in the "afe" cafe from the previous flash shot of Ryuk. So this is probably the Half Moon Cafe where Misa first sees Light in the anime. Here, though, she seems to be looking up at Light as if he is looking back at her, so does that mean they go there with the intention of meeting in person? Also, we cut to them kissing in a hallway, so this is likely when they hook-up in the show (but there's no clear indication that Light is manipulating Mia, then again it's a teaser so...)

0:36 - 0:42: Okay... there's a LOT to unpack here, so let me do so. We first see Light running from police cars through a warehouse. This has a lot of SPOILER-ific connotations, being in a (yellow box?) warehouse. (Of course, we don't know how far this film is going in the story, or how long it's going to be to fit that story in a reasonable space of time)

Then we get a shot of a Ferris wheel, with one car with a searchlight shining on one car, and then the Ferris wheel falling over as what appears to be Light holding onto Mia dangling over the edge!!

So what the heck? Is the American Death Note going to blockbuster it up with action scenes? Let's save this answer for post analysis.

0:42-0:44: The Title Splash, a lovely ink drip black and white.

0:44 - 0:50: The scene stealer is Willem DeFoe's first (technically second) line in the trailer as Ryuk. "Shall we Begin?" Mmm.

I FUCKING LOVE THIS CASTING CHOICE

----------------

So, what's up with that Ferris Wheel scene? Or that Nightclub scene? Well, I think the answer is actually already there for us.

The Anime of Death Note is highly stylized. It earns it's "Anime" quality by delivering what amounts to exposition in a highly stylized and engaging way. See, Death Note isn't an action series, it's a detective show, a detective show where you follow the bad guy and are waiting to see if the good guys can catch up to him and how he thrawts their efforts at every turn. It's a reverse-Sherlock. The satisfaction doesn't come from the mystery (although viewers are typically left in the dark about Light's plans at any given time) but the action comes from the characters knowing, thinking, or believing that they have the upper hand at any given time, while not being able to display anything other than good character on the outside.

So as the series goes along this takes place in a bit of an "architecture world" where buildings and skyscrapers set the stage for mental combatants of Light and L to explain and dissect how and why the other person thought something would go down one way when it actually will go down some other way. In this way, the show gets to be incredibly smart without leaving the viewer behind. It's brilliant. It's one of the backbones of how the show works, allowing them to show sequences, evidence, and metaphoric battles of wit.

So when I see L walking into a Nightclub and physically seeing a sign of Kira's killing, I think that's going to be the film's version of these sequences. Same goes for the Ferris Wheel. Optimistically, this is not them abandoning the primary draw of the show as being a psychological detective battle, but the realization of that with sequences that befit a film as opposed to an anime.

------

It should be mentioned that there's already criticism of this teaser and this film, but I'm going to address those separately in THIS post. If THIS isn't a link already, then expect it soon.

Until then, let me know what you guys think? Does this look promising to you? Are those action-y shots concerning? Would you like to see Death Note: The American Action Blockbuster with gun-toting wise-cracking Ryuk voiced by Willem Defoe? Shoot off in the comments.

-----

Did you like this post? If so, consider signing up for the e-mail list so you never miss out on the latest film, tv, music, or video game post from Expository Conundrum! (Hint: It's in the upper right-hand corner of the page!!)

Also, consider donating to the blog! Your eyes are enough, but generosity and support can go a long way to making us both feel a lot better. Support your local artist (by local I mean Internet local.)

And finally, you can hang around the Facebook page or Twitter to keep up on Social Media. This doubles as the easiest way to harass me, but you wouldn’t do that would you?

-----
Death Note was an Anime series when I first fell in love with it. I prefer the animation to the Manga, though both have their individual merits. Now has never been a better time to catch up with the series in anticipation for the Netflix release, so click the image below to the get whole series on Blu-Ray or DVD.