Cinema in 2011 saw the strikingly bold creation of the universe, as well as an artistic rendering of the universe coming to its bleak annihilation. Audiences were strung along decimated battlefields torn apart because of war, just as they were strung along corridors and offices only to encounter a few decimated souls of Wall Street executives emotionally torn thanks to the realization of a looming stock-market debacle. Trying to escape reality, whether it was by taking cover in an underground tornado shelter, a trip to a Hawaiian resort or engaging in a cult that promises enduring happiness, proved to be an impossible task. Individuals even went to such a distance where they would lock themselves in an octagon cage, attempting to beat the senses out of one another in order to become numb to reality. Reality imperceptibly arrives at our doorstep thousands of times faster than a Formula 1 racecar. Running from it is futile. We have to be fearless and self-sufficient, like Cistercian monks or a taciturn driver with an unruffled spirit.

The first trailer for War Horse, Steven Spielberg‘s latest Oscar bait epic drama and his first feature film since 2008’s Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, has just been released and you can view it below along with the official synopsis.

The above picture is a behind-the-scenes image showing director Spielberg and his young star Jeremy Irvine. Based on a 1982 children’s book by Michael Morpurgo and a recent stage adaptation by Nick Stafford, War Horse stars Irvine as Albert, a rural English youth who forges a unbreakable bond with a horse named Joey that he trains. That bond is put to the test as the first World War later consumes England and most of Europe and Albert and Joey find themselves separated by the war.