Denis Villeneuve is one of the greatest filmmakers working today. Whether it’s his shocking take on the war on drugs with Sicario or the sci-fi epic Blade Runner 2049, or the adaptation of the sci-fi novel Dune, it’s worth taking a look at the movies that shaped Villeneuve’s style. The director is always able to stun audiences both visually and narratively. Recently, he revealed his four all-time favorite movies, from spanning sci-fi masterpieces to psychological drama.
Denis Villeneuve Shared His Top 4 Favorite movies
A scene from 2001: A Space Odyssey
While talking to Letterboxd about his top 4 favorite movies, Denis Villeneuve said,
“My four favorite films, to be honest, that list can change every morning. There’s one of my favorites of all time that’s at top there that stayed there after many years – 2001: A Space Odyssey – for me, a perfect movie for many reasons. Apocalypse Now from Coppola is probably the movie I watch the most in my life; it’s a movie that I absolutely adore.”
He further continued,
“Then it becomes tricky. I would say that a movie that absolutely floored me – when I discovered Bergman in my 20s, it was like an earthquake in my life, and I have to put a Bergman movie there. And it would definitely be Persona. For a psychological explanation of this relationship between two women. To this day, is one of my favourite films of all time.”
Talking about his fourth favourite movie, the director said,”And the fourth one, oh my god, you are tough. I will cheat. I will put Blade Runner and Close Encounter with the Third Kind.”
Denis Villeneuve Believes that Movies Have Been Corrupted by Television’s Emphasis on Memorable Dialogue
Denis Villeneuve. Image Credit: Screengrab from Film at Lincoln Center/YouTube
Denis Villeneuve has criticized the “Golden Age” of television for affecting the creative potential of movies. He identifies dialogue as his least favorite writing element and believes visual imagery has a stronger impact on audiences. Villeneuve believes studios have damaged filmmaking by incorporating memorable dialogue rather than allowing the screen to speak for itself, affecting the overall impact of the film.
“Frankly, I hate dialogue. Dialogue is for theatre and television. I don’t remember movies because of a good line, I remember movies because of a strong image. I’m not interested in dialogue at all. Pure image and sound, that is the power of cinema, but it is something not obvious when you watch movies today. Movies have been corrupted by television.
He added:
In a perfect world, I’d make a compelling movie that doesn’t feel like an experiment but does not have a single word in it either. People would leave the cinema and say, ‘Wait, there was no dialogue?’ But they won’t feel the lack,” the filmmaker told The Times of London
Villeneuve was also asked if he would helm another film, perhaps a silent one, to which he replied, “In a perfect world, I’d make a compelling movie that doesn’t feel like an experiment but does not have a single word in it either. People would leave the cinema and say, ‘Wait, there was no dialogue?’ But they won’t feel the lack.”
He further stated,
“Think of Oppenheimer. It is a three-hour, rated-R movie about nuclear physics that is mostly talking. But the public was young — that was the movie of the year by far for my kids. There is a trend. The youth love to watch long movies because if they pay, they want to see something substantial. They are craving meaningful content.”
Denis Villeneuve, the French-Canadian director is known for making visually stunning, sensitive films that often centers around on issues of human trauma and identity. Villeneuve released his first film in 1998 and his second in 2000 and since then he has made total eleven films including Dune: Part Two.
