If the first official synopsis is any indication, Danish filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn is about to do good on his promise of creating a “big, extravagant action film” with The Avenging Silence.
Published through Crouching Tigers Project Lab – and relayed via The Playlist – the exhaustive description identifies the damaged protagonist of Refn’s latest to be a mute European assassin bound for Japan. His target? The most dangerous Yakuza family in the entire country. Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, two veterans of the modern James Bond franchise after contributing to Skyfall and Spectre, are the brains behind the screenplay, thus explaining the spy-thriller sensibilities of The Avenging Silence.
It’s shaping up to be an existential journey for our silent killer, too, with the logline teasing an encounter with conquest, war, famine and death – a symbol of the Four Horsemen, perhaps? – upon stepping foot in southern Japan. There’s currently no word on casting just yet, but you can whet your appetite for Refn’s latest with the detailed synopsis, below.
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.
Coming hot off last year’s The Neon Demon, The Avenging Silence is set to herald a marked change of pace for the Danish filmmaker – and we couldn’t be more excited.
