A grieving father enacts his long-awaited revenge against a ruthless gang in Director John Woo’s action drama, Silent Night.
Actions speak louder than words in Woo’s film, that tells the story of Brian Godlock, a man who witnesses the death of his young son when the boy gets caught in crossfire between warring gangs on Christmas Eve. Recovering from a wound that cost him his voice, Godlock embarks on a dialogue free but bloody quest to punish those responsible.
On December 3, after the DGA membership screening in Los Angeles, Woo discussed the making of Silent Night during a Q&A moderated by Director Brian Helgeland (Finestkind).
During the conversation, Woo divulged his feelings on being called a huge influence on contemporary action movies.
“I’ve learned so much from European films, old Hollywood films. I’ve especially learned so much from Sam Peckinpah, Howard Hawks and Alfred Hitchcock, all those greats. I’ve learned from them and also steal something from them to create my own style. Now, I see there are a lot of filmmakers who’ve gotten inspiration from my films. I feel lucky. And I feel we’re all actually learning from each other. I’m still learning. I’m not legendary. I’m not even, like people say, a ‘film master’ or something like that. I’m just a very common filmmaker who’s just crazy about movies. I must say, I’m just a lucky one.”
Woo’s other directorial credits include the feature films Manhunt, The Crossing, Paycheck, Windtalkers, Mission: Impossible II, Face/Off, Broken Arrow, Hard Target, Once a Thief, Bullet in the Head, The Killer and A Better Tomorrow. He has been a DGA member since 1992.