Ah, yes: the big spring movie you’d all forgotten about.

This year, it’s The Place Beyond the Pines, director Derek Cianfrance‘s follow-up to 2010′s Blue Valentine, as well as a (reportedly) further-reaching and more ambitious type of film. In returning to work with his prior star, Ryan Gosling, he’s turned out a small town, multi-generational crime epic that’s already earned some comparisons with the likes of The Deer Hunter — and, to some extent, this first trailer sells that.

Knowing what some of us know, however, it’s nice to see Focus Features not tip their hand when playing things up. What’s sold, here, is a film wherein Gosling plays some low-rent perp who gets busted by a cop (Bradley Cooper), throwing his life asunder as another rises to the top. But our review shows there’s much, much more to this, and the fact that they only hint at it — sometimes with a quick, otherwise indistinguishable shot — is greatly appreciated. The movie being sold… looks good, if not enough to have me adding it to my most-anticipated of 2013 list. Nevertheless, hopes are present.

Watch the trailer below (via Yahoo!):

Synopsis:

Luke (Ryan Gosling) is a professional motorcycle rider who turns to bank robberies to support his newborn son. But when he crosses paths with a rookie police officer (Bradley Cooper), their violent confrontation spirals into a tense generational feud. The Place Beyond the Pines is a rich dramatic thriller, tracing the intersecting lives of fathers and sons, cops and robbers, heroes and villains.

With Eva Mendes, Rose Byrne, Dane DeHaan, Emory Cohen, and Ben Mendelsohn also in the cast, The Place Beyond the Pines will open in limited release on March 29th, 2013.

Does seeing this preview up your expectations for the new Cianfrance film?