Director John Woo returns to American theaters after 20 years in Silent Night. Joel Kinnaman stars as a grieving father seeking bloody vengeance for the murder of his young son. The protagonist survives being shot in the throat but loses the ability to speak. He then spends the next grueling year training and tirelessly preparing for a Christmas gangster slaughter.

Woo, an icon of Hong Kong action cinema (The Killer, Hard Boiled) and Hollywood blockbusters (Broken Arrow, Face/Off, Mission: Impossible 2), wanted “to try something new.” He was “fed up” after being “established as a big movie director.” The script for Silent Night “has no dialogue.” It gave him the opportunity to tell a “visual story.” Woo relished working on his “first independent film.” He “had a lot more creative freedom” with no interference from a studio. He likens the experience to Hong Kong where everyone was “a family” who “knew each other.”

Silent Night will kick your ass with stunningly shot action scenes and visceral drama. Woo understands that audiences are tired of “all those big CGI and comic book movies.” His film hearkens back to “a great character” and a “human story.” The action master commends Kinnaman for “a great performance” that “stays like the script is written.” They worked “together well” depicting “an ordinary man” transformed by the anger of losing a precious child. You can watch our video with the great John Woo above, and read on for the full interview.

Joel Kinnaman’s Great Performance
Silent Night Release Date December 1, 2023 Director John Woo Cast Joel Kinnaman, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Kid Cudi, Harold Torres Rating R Runtime 1hr 44min Main Genre Action

MovieWeb: You’ve come back to American theaters for the first time in 20 years. Why work with Joel Kinnaman on Silent Night?

John Woo: A long time ago, I had been established as a big movie director. I just got fed up. I just wanted to try something new, something much smaller. Then, when I found this script for Silent Night, I was so excited because the script has no dialogue. I think it’s a good opportunity for me to try something new, to try to use my specialty, using the visuals to tell the story. I was so glad to work with Joel Kinnaman. He is a great actor. He stays just like the script is written. He’s an ordinary man. He’s not a superhero, or super warrior fighter. He’s just a real man with a great responsibility for his family and a love for his son. We work together so well. Joel delivers a great performance.

RELATED: Joel Kinnaman Takes Bloody Vengeance in Silent Night

Silent Night’s Amazing Action Scenes

MW: You’ve got these amazing tracking action scenes. The beginning and staircase climax are incredible. What do you say to modern filmmakers who rely on CGI and computers instead of practical effects?

John Woo: I think the audience nowadays are missing something. They are missing some good old-time movies. I guess some of the audience is already fed up with all of those epic CGI and comic book movies, and me as well. I think what I’m trying to do is go back to the original movies, like a good story, a great character, a lot of human stories. Actually, I also change it a little bit because I want the real thing, the real fight. Most of the action sequences I did in one long take. It lets the audience feel that it’s real fighting; it’s not cheating. I didn’t use shaky cameras or fast cuts. They’re paying for the action and fighting. But I’ll add to that, Joel’s so deep inside the character, so when he fights, he fights with anger, with hate, the hatred for losing his son. And this time I didn’t use pigeons.

Related: Silent Night Review | John Woo Returns in an Action-Packed Movie with the Eye of an Auteur

MW: What was the best and worst day for you as director of Silent Night?

John Woo: The best…okay let me put it this way. This was my first independent film. And I feel great about it because I find that independent film had a lot more creative freedom. There are not much people around the set. There’s no interference from the studio. I would feel just like working in Hong Kong — a smaller team, everybody like a family, everybody all knowing each other. The actors are all a part of my family. I know the schedule and money is so tight. But the whole team, we tried very hard to make something new, to make everything work. We all work together. We don’t need to ask anybody, any superior people from the studio to get their permission. We just did it.

John Woo: Like a favorite scene, Joel Kinnaman, when he walked into his son’s room. He saw so many toys. From the script, there’s a lot of cutting, where he’s playing with the son’s toys. All of a sudden, Joel says, “I have a dream where I’m sleeping with my son.” That’s a great idea, but we only have half a day to shoot it. Now you lie on the bed. The camera pushes to your eyes, and the son appears beside you. Then the camera pushes again, and the son disappears. You’re so disappointed. We created a new style of shooting. Everybody loved it. The cameramen loved the idea. They thought it was very challenging. My camera crew was so moved by that shot.

Silent Night will be released theatrically on December 1st from Lionsgate.