Before writer/director Nicolas Winding Refn made a name for himself in Hollywood with films like Drive and Only God Forgives, not to mention Bronson before that, Refn came out the woodwork with the Pusher trilogy, a series of film which focused intermediately on three completely different personalities intertwined in one druggie-centric universe. And as the Danish filmmaker works through post-production on his latest project, the female-centric horror film The Neon Demon, it looks as though another semi-sequel could be in the works.
Talking with Collider, Refn got to talking about his upcoming slate, which will apparently include a Tokyo-centered spy film called The Avenging Silence, which the filmmaker is currently writing in the midst of editing his latest film for next year. This is apparently a project Refn’s been cooking inside his mind for sometime, and it will follow a spiritual character his fans will almost certainly be familiar with.
Yeah, it’s basically a character that appears in my other movies that will now appear again. I mean, having done The Neon Demon, which was predominantly women protagonists, but the character that Mads [Mikkelsen] plays in Valhalla Rising or Ryan [Gosling] plays him in Drive or Vithaya [Pansringarm] in Only God Forgives, I want to make a new movie with that character.
This follows up what he said about the film back in 2013, when he also told Collider about a continuation to Valhalla Rising he wanted to make where Mikkelsen’s character goes “back to the origins of this character, (b)ut make the movie in Tokyo.” Japan’s capital is “a world onto itself,” Refn believes, and at the time the movie would be “about the future.” It’s not clear if this is still the case, though.
Truth be told, Valhalla Rising is one of three Refn movies I haven’t seen — the other two being his sophomore and junior films, 1999’s Bleeder and 2003’s Fear X — but the general word-of-mouth I’ve heard around the watercooler is it’s even more divisive than the last movie he released. Part of what makes Refn appeal to those who love him is his use of atmosphere to create a mood, making something of tone poems which respond more in what vibes they create than the stories they tell.
Chances are The Avenging Silence will go even further in this direction. Whether or not he creates something as impacting as Drive, in the meantime he, at the very least, is directing the movies he wants to make. I can’t say it’ll be good, but I know for sure I want to see his vision of Tokyo. All those neon colors man.
To hear the man himself talk about the movie playing inside his mind, check out the video below:
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