Intriguing Detailed Synopsis for Nicolas Winding Refn's New Film THE AVENGING SILENCE
Drive director Nicolas Winding Refn has been working on a new film project called The Avenging Silence, which sounds incredibly interesting., He's been developing it with James Bond screenwriters Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, and the Tokyo-set thriller will focus on a mute man who is a former spy on a mission to assassinate the head of a yakuza family.
According to The Playlist, the movie came from the director's desire to make “a big extravagant action film.” The site also did some digging and found a full detailed synopsis at Crouching Tigers Project Lab that is sure to get fans of Refn excited for his new project:
The spy was one of the leading spies in Europe. An injury inflicted to his vocal cords during a failed mission six years ago left him mute, forcing him to leave his profession. Now, six years later, he is sought out and put on confidential assignment by a former Yakuza, now a retired Japanese businessman in exile in France, to track down and kill the head of the most dangerous Yakuza family in Japan.
Afraid of flying, our spy anonymously boards a cargo ship headed for Tokyo. An onboard explosion sinks the ship and our spy finds himself washed ashore on a life raft in southern Japan. As a mute, our spy must silently journey through Japan seeking 4 clues – symbolizing conquest, war, famine, and death – which will guide him to the unknown location of the Yakuza boss. Meanwhile, the Yakuza boss, known for his 2004 mass slaughter of Yakuza members who had turned against him, is believed to be plotting to reenter the Japanese underworld after living in his own surreptitious world in the mountains, void of all technology. This way of life becomes an obsession for the Yakuza boss. Rumors spread that he had committed suicide years ago but escaped prisoners from his hidden camp told stories of his plan for a comeback. Now rival Yakuza families suspect he is forming a master plan to return, a plan that unburies the most infamous story of Yakuza betrayal.
Our spy finds himself on an existential journey through Japan in search of pieces to the puzzle that will lead him to a confrontation with the ultimate Yakuza boss in a terrifying conclusion.
This definitely has all the signature story and character points that Refn likes to work with in his films that also include Bronson, Only God Forgives, and his most recent film, The Neon Demon. His films are definitely an acquired taste for general audiences, but this next film of his sounds like it might be a movie with a coherent plot.
I do love the idea of a mute former spy taking on the yakuza in Japan! I'm sure Refn has some cool things planned for it. I wonder if he'll cast Ryan Gosling as the main character.