Denis Villeneuve is a man in demand. Riding on the crest of a wave from his Academy Award nominated extravaganza Arrival. The Amy Adams blockbuster won universal acclaim for the movie's uncanny ability to make a film about alien invasion appear grounded. An achievement that has not been lost on his peers.
Ahead of two major releases from the 49-year old, the Canadian native sat down to discuss his work and obsession with the science fiction genre. But one common denominator has been his preferred method of using one word titles, so why is that the case?
"When you take one word, it's like the reverberation of one word," he replied. "There's an amplification when there is just one word where you can feel it's power and the multilayered meaning of that word is more relevant. I felt it is more powerful with one word. I love words and their meaning and their truth. Slowly it started to impose itself."
BR2049 Is In Lockdown Mode
Reuniting Harrison Ford with a beloved character in the murky world of Blade Runner 2049, Villeneuve said that he has self imposed a crackdown on all talk about the highly anticipated sequel.
"Blade Runner (2049) is very difficult to talk about because I am in the editing room right now which means I'm totally not talking to the outside. It's like being pregnant you know? You're totally focused on the work and it's not a good time to talk about it. So we are deep into the cutting room right now."
Transitioning to the film that most have seen in Arrival, he drew a parallel with his other pieces of work to say that he wants these fantasy worlds to feel as though they are real life.
"I insisted that I wanted the movie to be - that our story would be more powerful and more relevant if we felt the audience was feeling it for real," he remarked. "Which means that from production design point of view, that use devices that would look as benign and grounded and no high technology... there will be no gadgets and everything would be grounded, you know?... I also wanted the movie to feel claustrophobic. We choose to shoot under clouds with cloud cover. (This) created a feeling of everyday life."
I Want A Different Dune To David Lynch's Version: Denis
Having been in love with the story as a young boy, the filmmaker said that he wanted to fulfill his own dreams about Dune. Dreams that he has held onto for decades.
"Dune is at the ground level right now," admitted the director. "It's a book that I read when I was 13-years old. The books were with me since then. I was very excited when I learned that David Lynch was doing it... Some of his production ideas were fantastic, but it's not the Dune that I was dreaming myself. Movies are about dreams. So I have my own vision about it, but nothing is written yet. It's ground zero right now."
Without deviating towards other genres, why does science fiction continue to grasp his fascination so much?
"Two things about sci-fi... It's the berth of my love with cinema. When I was a kid I was in love with graphic novels, with movies, with sci-fi movies. I was raised in a snowbank in Canada ... in a small village where (to) dream was the biggest drug. Sci-fi was a way to apprehend and explore reality for me at that time. Later on I discovered sci-fi was a strong tool because it's a way to explore... obscure subject(s) in a very dynamic way. You can approach things in sci-fi that in drama are unbearable."
Source: Collider
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