‘Silent Night’ Actor Joel Kinnaman on John Woo’s Wordless Thriller: ‘You Are Watching the Same Movie as Everyone Else as It Is Told Visually’
variety.comRafa Sales Ross Guest Contributor While introducing the Middle East and North Africa premiere of John Woo’s “Silent Night” at the Red Sea Film Festival, actor Joel Kinnaman emphasized the rare opportunity to have “everyone in the world watching the same film.” The actor is referring to the fact that Woo’s first U.S.
film in 20 years features no language — no spoken language, that is — and so needs no subtitles. The characters in the revenge thriller have not a single line of dialogue throughout the film, with the only snippets of speech coming from diegetic music, a few brief radio broadcasts and phone messages.
Speaking with Variety in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, the Swede said he had a suspicion early on that the film was going to translate in a way that “no other film does.” “I grew up watching subtitled films but there is always a nuance in the language that gets lost.
You can still get the experience but some of the nuance is amiss. [In ‘Silent Night’] this doesn’t happen. You are watching the same movie as everyone else as it is told visually.” Because of this ease of reach, the star said he felt the film would be more important internationally than in the U.S.
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