Actions speak louder than words in dialogue-free film 'Silent Night'

By Rollo Ross and Danielle Broadway

LOS ANGELES, Nov 28 (Reuters) - Director John Woo opted not to have any actor dialogue in the action-thriller film "Silent Night," and focus on his own unique visual and sound techniques to engage audiences.

Woo, known for helping to pioneer the action genre in both Hollywood and Hong Kong cinema with films including “Mission: Impossible 2,” said during an interview that less dialogue in a movie creates more opportunities for actors to connect with audiences through nonverbal communication.

“Also, it's a good way to allow the actors to deliver the real performance and then make the audience more focused on their face or on their eyes,” he added.

“Silent Night,” distributed by Lionsgate, premieres on Dec. 1 and follows an average family man named Brian Godluck who is robbed of both his voice and his son after he’s caught in the crossfire of a gang war.

Godluck has never gone through formal combat training but is suddenly launched into a life of robust action sequences and dynamic car chases as he fights to avenge his son’s death.

Swedish actor Joel Kinnaman plays Godlock, and most of the dialogue in the film comes from either radio broadcasts or police communications.

“The only method I have of telling the story is through my eyes and these little twitches and facial muscles," said Kinnaman, who's known for his roles in "The Suicide Squad" and "For All Mankind."

"In every moment I had to do a lot more work to really be emotionally present,” he added.

Part of the process of connecting with Godluck for Kinnaman was unlearning many of the fighting techniques he's picked up throughout his Hollywood career.

"We didn't want the fights to look choreographed like they often do in a lot of films," he said.

In fact, Kinnaman said, Woo encouraged long takes where the actors had to improvise to create the feeling of a real fight. (Reporting by Rollo Ross and Danielle Broadway; editing by Jonathan Oatis)