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The Lovely Bones

Trailer transcript

What the trailer shows and tells

Here is a summary of the narrative elements, characters and themes communicated in the trailer's dialogue.

  • Susie is an important name and character. A quirky comparison suggests something about her personality.
  • This film is about an after-life. A first person narrator paradoxically explains her own death and her existence between dream-like perfection and nightmarish haunting.
  • This is a story about the death and loss of a daughter. A simple, happy exchange communicates a daughter requesting her mother's attention. The mother/daughter relationship is fore-grounded early in the trailer. A child calls for its father. There is significance in the father and daughter saying goodbye. The father/child relationship is important. Denial, fear and confronting the truth within a family context seem to be central ideas.
  • There are elements of a police thriller. The emphasis by a character on hard facts and legal procedures suggests a tension between belief and knowledge. The themes of death and justice are central.
  • Susie's grandma is an important character. There is a young love interest. Someone's perception of Susie's beauty is highlighted.
  • Ships have some relevance.
  • The precise date given sets the context and might suggest a tone of formality
  • Someone repeats the phrase to identify the 'Salmon girl'

Now closely view the trailer

What do the visuals and the sound effects add to the meanings created by the dialogue?