‘Silent Night’ opens Christmas (and how) with David Harbour’s stellar Santa Claus

With the beginning of December not only does Christmas and the whole marketing campaign of the big conglomerates officially begin, but it is also the starting signal for all those typical films of the time, be they forced reviews from the sofa or new releases that land on the bill every winter. There are countless classics: the romantic ‘Love Actually’ or ‘The Holiday (Vacations)’ (although they’ve aged this way), comedies like ‘Home Alone’ or the quintessential thriller ‘Die Hard’, not counting animated gems like ‘ The Nightmare Before Christmas’ or the vengeable ‘Polar Express’ and ‘A Christmas Carol’ (both by Robert Zemeckis). Likewise, Santa Claus has been the protagonist of many Christmas stories, both the real one, as in ‘Klaus’, and poor wretches disguised as him, such as Mel Gibson in ‘Killing Santa’. However, few stories (if any) feature the official Santa Claus in a story of blood and violence. ‘Silent Night’, starring David Harbor as a drunken, deluded and vengeful Santa Claus, has come to change the paradigm of Christmas cinema.

The idea was to combine excessive action with a sarcastic and semi-parodic black comedy tone that would give a twist to the Christmas cartoon seen a thousand times. For this, Universal Pictures had a great team. At the helm of the director is Tommy Wirkola, known for his blood splatters in adapting the Brothers Grimm with “Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters” or fantasy follies such as “Zombie Nazis” or “Seven Sisters”. His hands were already the right ones, but to this we must add David Leitch (‘Atomic’) as a producer, an infallible option if we consider the type of film he has made. As for our lovely Santa Claus, It’s not the first time that Harbor plays a chubby man in red with behavioral and alcohol problems: his B-series ‘Hellboy’ or his Red Guardian/Captain Russia from ‘Black Widow’ still produce nightmareswho will most likely return to Marvel territory with the “Thunderbolts”.

This is, as they say, a finished Santa Claus. He no longer believes in Christmas, he has started drinking and is indignant at the large number of video games that children ask for as gifts. He announces from the rooftops that this will be his last Christmas as he urinates and vomits from his flying sleigh (pulled by some reindeer who also poop). However, this Christmas Eve will be altered by an event that will make him rethink everything. A family of rich, stupid, greedy men (played in the style of Rian Johnson in “Knives in the Back” and embodied by Beverly D’Angelo, Cam Gigandet, Eddie Patterson, Alex Hassell and Leah Brady) come together on this quiet night. There is nothing peaceful, obviously, because a group of mercenaries will attack them and take them prisoner with the aim of demanding a large ransom. But this Santa Claus is not a saint eitherand is determined to give a good fight and save Christmas.

There’s no more coal…it just sucks

The maxim of “Silent Night” was to distort the figure of Santa Claus beyond power. And he gets it. He is no longer the good-natured and adorable old man who eats the biscuits and drinks the milk that you leave by the tree before going to sleep. He reluctantly throws away the presents as inside he longs to go home with Mrs. Claus, until, unexpectedly, he ends up at the girl Trudy’s house and decides to take on the criminals who are trying to ruin his Christmas. This whole situation that has been brewing since the first act will lead to a very specific violence, very Tarantino-esque in its bloodiness. (Leith, like Guy Ritchie, poses as Quentin Tarantino’s formal heir, albeit more in intention than effect) and a lot of fun to watch considering he’s none other than Santa himself slapping left and right .

The wild action that unfolds in “Silent Night” is no mean feat. There are dismemberments, head cuts, gunshots, explosions and lacerations (please do not bring children to see this), with the intention of highlighting that dichotomy, that surrealism that involves seeing the seemingly friendly Santa Claus execute thugs and stain his prominent white beard with blood while a lovely Christmas carol plays in the background. To accentuate this, Harbor manages to touch the sentimental vein, embodying a tired and depressed Santa Claus, who is forced to fight, arousing a very easily recognizable sympathy in the audience. Also noteworthy is the hilarious villain played by John Leguizamo, with an entirely amusing disbelief at what is happening before his eyes, which achieves an enriching contrast with the final result.

The ferocious drift that Wirkola’s film takes is not surprising, knowing that the production company 87North is behind it, responsible for authentic adrenaline thrillers such as “Bullet Train”, “John Wick” or “Nobody”. They are bets for pure and hard action that try to give a breath of fresh air to this genre totally eclipsed and conquered by the superhero industry. in its niche, ‘Silent Night’ is a success without pretensions or morals (in addition to exalting the family, a boring inextricably American message), which entertains, amuses and offers a new gaming space where the Christmas holidays and the wildest battle come together in a very promising sub-genre.

Redefining Christmas

To build this delightful and contradictory atmosphere, the ‘Silent Night’ team used all the images of the famous bearded man (wrapping paper covering wounds, decorated trees burning, snowballs knocking down mercenaries) to give him the twist and subvert expectations. Something similar to what ‘Shrek’ did with the classic Disney tales. The tone oscillates between reality and fantasy, creating authentic comic situations that do not suffocate the space for reflection: adults are aged for this and we no longer have faith in Christmas (or whatever). After all, we’re the most money conscious and get the bulkiest and most expensive gifts, no matter how magical the matter is. The magical part is well covered, because Santa Claus has everything you need: a magical papyrus that tells you who has been good and who hasn’t, a sack where you put your hand in another dimension (‘Rick and Morty’ style ) and take out a package, or magical powders that allow you to go up and down other people’s chimneys to complete the task.

In true ‘Deadpool’ style, Santa Claus will cut his enemies and joke with them at the same time as he rethinks his own existence in a hilarious nihilism mutated into alcoholism. ‘Silent Night’ can open new paths towards a different, hilarious Christmas that revisits genre clichés and twists them in every way. I hope so, but only time will tell. At the moment, the Christmas season is ushered in. And how.

Note: 7

The best: David Harbor as Santa Claus, the choreography and the contradiction of the premise.

Worse: The usual family morality, it’s very banal. It has some advanced cinematics.