Even before he conjured The Neon Demon into theaters, Danish auteur Nicolas Winding Refn had been quietly mulling over his foray into action filmmaking with The Avenging Silence.
Last year, the director admitted his interest in the genre traditionally reserved for more mainstream affair – “I thought it would be fun to do a big extravagant action film” – though it wasn’t for lack of trying, considering that Refn was also approached to direct Spectre before Sam Mendes ultimately took point.
With The Neon Demon now in theaters, though, it seems the acclaimed director is redirecting attention back to The Avenging Silence, after taking to Twitter to reveal some of the creative influences behind the Tokyo-set thriller: Ian Fleming’s seminal Dr. No and Nova Express, the surreal novel from William Burroughs.
Dear Friends … More to come but for now Ian Fleming + William Burroughs + N W R = The Avenging Silence pic.twitter.com/IVV72236SX
— Nicolas Winding Refn (@NicolasWR) August 14, 2016
Nicolas Winding Refn stopped short of revealing any further details at such an early stage, but one glance at the synopsis for Burroughs’ Nova Express – the final entry into a novel trilogy – reveals that the material is right up Refn’s alley.
The Soft Machine introduced us to the conditions of a universe where endemic lusts of the mind and body pray upon men, hook them, and turn them into beasts. Nova Express takes William S. Burroughs’ nightmarish futuristic tale one step further. The diabolical Nova Criminals — Sammy the Butcher, Green Tony, Iron Claws, the Brown Artist, Jacky Blue Note, and Izzy the Push, to name only a few — have gained control and plan on wreaking untold destruction. It’s up to Inspector Lee of the Nova Police to attack and dismantle the word and imagery machine of these ”control addicts” before it’s too late.
It’s still early, early days on The Avenging Silence, but do you believe Refn is onto a winner, or another polarizing hit?
