I løbet af sine ti film har instruktør Nicolas Winding Refn kun én gang overladt manuskriptskrivningen til andre hænder. Det blev til monsterhittet ‘Drive’, så det lover umiddelbart fint for Refns nye projekt, at han igen lader andre kræfter komme til – oven i købet to Bond-eksperter.
‘The Avenging Silence’, der bliver forfattet af mændene bag ‘Casino Royale’, ‘Quantum of Solace’, ‘Skyfall’ og ‘Spectre’, bliver Refns film nr. 11: En ode til spionthrillere og forløsningen af instruktørens drøm om at lave en ekstravagant actionfilm.
Hidtil har der ikke været meget mere at fortælle om ‘The Avenging Silence’, men i forbindelse med International Film Festival and Awards Macao er der offentliggjort en fyldestgørende synopsis.
Synopsen bekræfter rygterne om, at ‘The Avenging Silence’ rent faktisk bliver en spionfilm. Den følger en tidligere europæisk spion, der accepterer en mission om at gøre det af med den mest forræderiske Yakuza-boss i Japan.
Som det ofte gælder for Refns mandlige hovedroller, kommer hovedpersonen ikke til at ytre mange ord. Faktisk er spionen – ligesom Mads Mikkelsen i ‘Valhalla Rising’ – stum, hvilket er en næsten demonstrativ beslutning fra instruktøren, som især fik kritik for Ryan Goslings umælende facon i ‘Only God Forgives’.
Fascinationen for det orientalske, som vi så i netop ‘Only God Forgives’, lever videre i historien, hvor spionen må lede efter symbolske spor i jagten på bossen, mens Yakuza-familier og -traditioner bliver sat på prøve.
Læs den fulde synopsis her:
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.
Læs mere: At være Nicolas Winding Refn – stort interview med den kontroversielle instruktør