There are many stylistic reasons why a filmmaker might make their lead character silent. Maybe they’re canonically mute. Maybe they need to maintain an air of mystery. Maybe they’re meant to be an avatar for the viewer. Or, maybe they just don’t have much to say. Either way, a silent cinematic protagonist is a risky gambit that could ruin a project, or turn it into an oddball success.
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Of course one of the largest films ever to use this storytelling device was designed from the ground up to feel like a video game. First-time director Ilya Naishuller, who later went on to direct the Bob Odenkirk action film Nobody, crafted this action-packed thrill ride. Hardcore Henry had a long and strange road to the big screen, including multiple transfers of ownership and a successful Indiegogo campaign. It wasn’t particularly successful once it got there, but the film has a certain lovable novelty that ensures a somewhat substantial cult fanbase.
Hardcore Henry tells the story of the eponymous Henry, a cybernetically enhanced warrior who must kill his way through multiple armies to rescue his wife. He awakens from an unknown disaster with his fresh new limbs and no voice to speak of. Henry doesn’t speak a word in the film, leaving most of the talking to a perplexing ally named Jimmy, portrayed by Sharlto Copley. Like many games before it, Hardcore Henry’s silent lead allows the viewer to place themselves firmly in the excellent action.
This controversial horror film asks the slightly memey question; what if Nicolas Cage fought his way through Five Nights at Freddy’s. The film is fairly simple, a leather jacket-clad stranger finds himself stranded in the middle of nowhere. A slimy gentleman offers to fix his car in exchange for a night spent cleaning the eponymous children’s restaurant and arcade. The unnamed hero finds that the establishment is haunted, and its already creepy animatronics contain the souls of long-dead killers who continue their grim work in their new forms.
The hero must survive the night, largely by killing the robotic monsters, one by one. Cage’s performance in the lead role is the main draw of the film, as his unique celebrity status brings a certain unhinged energy to the proceedings. He remains silent throughout, instead, conveying his character through strange mannerisms and physical violence.
Duncan Jones’ follow-up to the spectacular sci-fi classic Moon isn’t anywhere near as well-liked, but there are still some interesting aspects of this grim action thriller. Though a lot of critics savaged this film, there was one aspect that rarely went without praise; Alexander Skarsgard’s silent performance in the lead role. Skarsgard portrays Leo, a bartender rendered mute by a childhood accident who must enter a futuristic Berlin’s seedy underbelly to save his beloved girlfriend.
The film underwent a difficult stay in development hell and came out somewhat less than the sum of its parts, but it’s one of the best examples of a silent protagonist in any film ever made. Some critics even wound up wishing that more of its characters were unable to speak, but the film still has its moments.
Nicolas Winding Refn of Drive fame and Mads Mikkelsen of Hannibal, Casino Royale, Another Round, and much more come together to make this masterful Viking epic. Mikkelsen portrays a mute Danish slave, nicknamed One-Eye by another character.
One-Eye leads a violent rebellion against his captors and guides a doomed voyage towards a supposed holy land, assaulted on all sides by hardships and grim visions.
This is a tone poem, tinged with some of the most powerful on-screen violence in a modern film. This film is a bit of a hidden gem, reviewed very highly by most, but extremely unsuccessful at the box office. Even without words, Mikkelsen is a dynamic performer, and fans of his need to see this film.
Park Chan-wook’s Vengeance Trilogy is uniquely best known only for its second entry, Oldboy, one of the best Korean films ever made. While the first of the films does not rise to the towering standards of its follow-up, it’s still a well-directed thriller with a haunting approach to violence. Shin Ha-kyun stars as Ryu, a deaf-mute factory worker who is embroiled in a nightmarish vengeance quest in order to save his dying sister.
There’s almost nothing that can be said about the film’s plot without giving the game away, it’s a network of gory twists and turns. The film was heavily overshadowed by the director’s stellar follow-ups, but Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance still deserves a look back.
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