‘I don’t play by the rules’: John Woo on ‘Silent Night’
It’s been 20 years since John Woo made a movie in Hollywood, but in many ways, it’s like he never left. Widely considered one of the greatest action directors of all time, his influence can be felt across the genre; the John Wick The franchise, in particular, owes a huge debt to the “Gon Fu” ballet style pioneered by the auteur in films such as Better Tomorrow, the killerAnd Hard boiled. As Quentin Tarantino once said of Wu: “Yes, he can direct an action scene, and Michelangelo can paint the ceiling!”
Wu has not been idle over the past two decades, directing numerous historical epics in mainland China while helping to grow the country’s once-thriving film industry on the world stage. But now Woo has finally returned to Hollywood with its release A quiet nightIt is a project that represents a wonderful departure from his previous work. For one, A quiet night It is Woo’s first American feature film for an independent studio, Lionsgate, which offers the director more freedom—and constraints—than a major studio production. But the most interesting thing is that A quiet night It is a film without any traditional dialogue. Christmas themed thriller, A quiet night It follows Brian Goodluck (played by Joel Kinnaman), a blue-collar father whose young son was tragically killed by a stray bullet between warring gangs. After being chased down by gangsters and shot in the throat—which is why the character never speaks—Goodluck spends an entire year training to avenge his son’s murder the following Christmas.
A quiet nightNot only does the dialogue-free gimmick put more onus on the actors to convey emotion through their facial expressions, but it also places more emphasis on Woo’s direction to keep the audience engaged. Not surprisingly, Wu never lost his fastball. Although it’s more grounded than many of his films from last year, A quiet night It lets the action speak for itself at every stage of Godluck’s blood-soaked journey. Whether it’s a car chase, a hand-to-hand combat, or a close-range staircase shootout, Woo delivers one of the most entertaining Christmas action movies since. Die hard.
Suffice to say, Woo’s return to Hollywood is the best gift any action movie fanatic could ask for. As for Woo, who has previously directed successful films in the United States such as Remove the face And Mission: Impossible 2, working on an independent American production was a refreshing experience in itself. “The schedule and money are very tight, so it forces me to do everything smart,” Wu says. Ringing. “it’s good for me.” Below, we discuss Wu’s return to Hollywood, and the unique challenges of filming A quiet nightAnd the state of action cinema today.
A quiet night It is your first American feature film in 20 years. What made this the right time and project for your return to Hollywood?
Well, about 20 years ago, after I made my film SalaryI felt like I couldn’t get better texts anymore. I’ve always wanted to make something smaller, but unfortunately, since I became a major film director, all the smaller scripts – and better scripts – never came to me.
I was very frustrated, but in the meantime a Chinese producer asked me to help produce Chinese films – to produce some Chinese films. I think it’s good that we can train some young people in China on how to make a Hollywood movie. And 20 years later, when I returned to Hollywood, I found his script A quiet night. I was so excited, this is a story I’ve been looking for for a long time. The entire script had no dialogue, which really excited me. I felt like it could be a big challenge for myself. This will allow me to use my special talents to use visuals and sounds to tell the story. It allows the audience to pay more attention to the actor’s face to feel the character more.
One of the main through-lines in many of your films is the spirit of chivalry, where opponents have respect and kinship with each other. A quiet night It’s about a man so bent on revenge that he lets his marriage fall apart in the process – it sounds more like something like Death wish From the classic John Woo movie. Did this affect the way you approached the project?
No, I followed the story and character. Of course, I’ve seen it Death wish A very long time ago, but I didn’t get any effect from it. I’m still working on instinct; You have shot the film with emotion. For this, I tried to create a new kind of style. My usual style is imaginative, romantic, and sometimes overly dramatic. But when I saw that the story was about a young boy being killed by a gangster and that the father had a huge responsibility to take revenge, I decided that the drama – all the events – I would try to make it more realistic.
Even the fight scenes were all natural and raw. I usually do a long shot without any cuts to show all the action. I think it feels more real to the audience. When I photograph, I focus entirely on the character and the story. As for the main character, Godluck, he is also like my usual heroes, he has a sense of chivalry. He has enough courage to take revenge for such a big crime.
You’ve talked about your fondness for musicals many times over the years. A quiet night It reminded me of a musical in some ways. All the fight choreography and action in the scenes were inspired by music, such as dance or ballet.
When I was younger, I always used music theory to film my action scenes. I feel like I’m dancing with the movement. When I design movement, there is a lot of concern about the beauty of body movements and the rhythm of shooting. That’s why I let the actors use two guns, as the continuous gunfire sounds like a drumbeat. Over time, when I’m filming, I’ll usually wear headphones and listen to music to create action scenes.
Speaking of carrying two guns, I saw Another interview Scott Mescudi (Kid Cudi) told you he wanted to do a “John Woo action,” and for him that meant having his character use two guns in… A quiet night. For you, what defines “John Woo’s work”?
I don’t know, it’s hard to describe. you tell me (He laughs).
I don’t play by the rules. Basically, I do everything on instinct. Someone described my actions as having the beauty of violence, something like that. But I don’t know how to describe this kind of work, I just like to make everything look beautiful. Even if it’s a tragic story, I still want to make the tragedy seem more romantic.
At the beginning of my career, I got a lot of influence from French films, especially the French New Wave. If you’ve seen it, there’s a movie from the 1960s called Cherbourg umbrellas; The director was Jacques Demy. The film was very romantic, and all the dialogue was singing, much like a modern opera. It was so beautiful, and this movie made me learn about romance. So when I direct any film, I feel like I’m making a French film.
You mentioned instinctive guidance Hard boiledI filmed the opening scene in a café before the story or script was finished. with A quiet night, since there is no dialogue, were you given the creative freedom to shoot and choreograph according to instinct? Were there any challenges?
Yes, I’m very happy that I had a lot of creative freedom. When I was shooting A quiet nightIt made me feel like I was back working in Hong Kong with a much smaller team. There are no producers on set, and no one from the studio intervenes. I just feel free to do it. For a studio film, you can have more time to shoot – more coverage, shots, different angles. But for an independent film, every shot you take, every frame, has to be exactly what you want and how you feel. It’s good training for me.
There was a scene where Goodluck – Joel Kinnaman – walks into his son’s room and sees all the toys. In the script, there was a flashback to the father and son playing with toys, and there were a lot of cuts. We felt it was very boring, and we didn’t have enough time to film everything. We only had half a day. Suddenly, Joel came up to me and said, “John, maybe I can go back to bed and sleep next to my son?” I thought it was a good idea, so I came up with shooting the whole thing in one take, one long take. So I ask him to lie down on the bed, and the camera pushes towards him. There is nothing on the other side of the bed, and as we approach, we place the little boy next to him. We back away, and he’s next to the boy, and then we push the camera again and the boy disappears, and Goodluck wakes up very disappointed. Everyone (on set) was so excited, I’ve never done this before, to do everything in one take and with so much meaning. Even the photographer was affected by this shot.
That’s the good thing about independent films: you have to do something very precise and think very quickly. You are completely alone; No one can help you. You have to accept that. I really enjoy indie films now.
For action films, there was a period in the early 2000s where the shaky-cam style with fast cuts became popular. How do you feel about the state of action cinema today?
Action movie with fast cuts and shaky camera – I hate it. Whenever I watched those types of movies on DVD, I would throw them away. Just let the camera tell the real story without doing crazy things. When you shake the camera or do a quick cut, it feels like cheating. This means the actor can’t fight, so you have to use this style. I really didn’t like it.
I think with those movies, the audience gets tired. Every movie was doing the same thing. I never do that. I like to make an old-fashioned movie. The film should have a good story, good characters, and the camera is used to show the good quality in everything.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
