OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS
From legendary director John Woo and the producer of John Wick comes this gritty revenge tale of a tormented father who witnesses his young son die when caught in a gang’s crossfire on Christmas Eve. While recovering from a wound that costs him his voice, he makes vengeance his life’s mission and embarks on a punishing training regimen in order to avenge his son’s death. Full of Woo’s signature style, Silent Night redefines the action genre with visceral, thrill-a-minute storytelling.
What We Thought:
I understand why Silent Night wasn’t a box office hit, but I dug it. People aren’t used to movies without dialogue, but I found the gimmick entertaining and it brought something new to the table. Plus with the craftmanship you get from a director like John Woo, the visuals of the camera movement and physicality of the actors completely make up for the lack of spoken words.
With a name like Silent Night you think Christmas movie and yes it opens and closes around Christmas, but the silence comes from Joel Kinnaman’s character lacking the ability to speak. He’s shot in the throat and can no longer talk to others. This is also 100% a revenge flick with the holiday just being the time period of the events. Kinnaman’s son catches a stray bullet during a shootout on Christmas Eve and he wants revenge on all who were involved.
This is what the film gets right. Unlike Nobody, which I absolutely loved, the lead character here has no secret past. Kinnaman’s character is just a guy. He spends months training, getting stronger, hitting the gun range and buying a car he tricks out and learns to stunt drive. He knows he can’t just walk up to the bad guys John Wick style so he plans, trains and does recon on his targets. With no hidden special ops background he has to watch videos online and practice knife work and throwing elbows at home. I’m sure with his filmography Kinnaman can do all this stuff himself, but watching the character train and learn feels authentic. He’s nobody special just a father out for vengeance.
Going back to the lack of dialogue, the actors, sound department and Woo do a great job with the communication void. The bonus feature “Actions Speak Louder Than Words” talks about what they did to fill in the blanks. Actors had to express themselves with eye movement and body movement. Woo used the camera to show emotion focusing heavily on their eyes and bodies. Sounds were added in post, but they also used a lot of sounds recorded while shooting. Actors came in to do ADR and instead of reading off the script, they recorded groans and breathing. The score comes in sooner or lasts longer than usual because you can fill the scene start to finish with music since there are no words that have to be heard. It’s pretty neat and that bonus feature was super interesting to watch.
Silent Night might not be one of Woo’s biggest accomplishments, but it’s something new and different and I liked it. It takes a while to get to a John Wick type segment, but I’m ok with that. I like the character having to learn to do things because that’s what I would have to do in that situation. He’s not a superhero or SEAL, he’s a dad wanting to murder everyone involved in his son’s death. The final action sequences are classic Woo though and would rival any action sequences of the past 10 plus years and Kinnaman handles them brilliantly. Those expecting straight old-school Woo action throughout might not like it, but if you can accept a slow burn revenge thriller then it should be a pleasant surprise.
CAST
Joel Kinnaman TV’s “The Killing,” RoboCop, Suicide Squad
Scott Mescudi X, Don’t Look Up, Need for Speed
Harold Torres Memory, TV’s “ZeroZeroZero”
Catalina Sandino Moreno Maria Full of Grace, A Most Violent Year, TV’s “The Bridge”
4K UHD STEELBOOK®/ BLU-RAY/ SPECIAL FEATURES:
- “Actions Speak Louder Than Words” featurette
- Theatrical Trailer
The Nerds Templar 