Denis Villeneuve - Blog Posts

Review: Arrival (2016)

Rating: 9.0 of 10

When aliens come to earth, how do we talk to them? Arrival tries to answer the question with Amy Adams starring as Dr. Louise Banks, an American expert linguist. When 12 spaceships landed on earth for no apparent reason, she and a team that includes theoretical phycisist, Ian Donelly (Jeremy Renner), had been assigned with the difficult task to determine whether those aliens meant peace or harm.

Amy Adams plays Louise with restraint, but full of determination and no less affecting. Louise Banks is the heart and soul of this film, as she not only acts as our eyes and ears, but is also responsible for the tone of their whole mission. Unsurprisingly, governments want to attack as soon as possible for fear of invasion, but as the people around her grow more wary and anxious, her equanimity convinces them to remain peaceful--to keep communicating.

Arrival is a quiet film whose real action only comes in the form of a single explosion, but it is by no means devoid of tension. The first few minutes, as we and Louise found out about the alien landing was absolutely chilling, and more and more pressure is felt as Louise is forced to create results. Arrival is a story about big ideas, but it is especially moving because ultimately, it’s a story about Louise and her experiences. However, there are bits and pieces that feel superfluous at first, but ultimately they pay off wonderfully at the end.

Arrival's imagery is the kind that will stay with you. It's visual strikingly beautiful, sometimes interposed with dreamlike flashbacks--accompanied with atmospheric score by Jóhann Jóhannsson. There is an ethereal quality about the film, without forgetting how to ground the characters and how to create tension when there need be. Some of the film's memorable imagery comes from the oval spaceship floating above green pasture, surrounded only with open air that is both calming and threatening.  It's directing (by Denis Villeneuve) is calculated but tender, creating a seamless journey from beginning to end. Arrival proves that no matter how a story ends, there is a journey worth taking.

My road leads into the desert.

Dune (2021) dir. Denis Villeneuve

IT HAS TO.

I know they're not gonna do this, but I hope that if/when Marie Fenring is introduced in the Dune movies, she looks exactly the same as Feyd-Rautha, except with a little bow stapled to her bald head like these edits I found on Pinterest

She's played by Austin Butler of course, Denis just makes him crouch the whole time

Me and Feyd fr 🎀💋

#he is in my DR

#im worse just for thinking we're soulmates

Austin Butler stop pointing your knife at women's neck challenge! 😒

(ME NEXT PLS) 🙏🏻😘

#god help me I'm going crazy

#feyd did nothing wrong my poor baby was being abus3d 😭

#psychopath fictional characters are my fav gender

Currently reading "Prelude to Dune".. I can't stop thinking about the fact that the Baron and Rabban stole baby Feyd from his parents bc they wanted to create a monster. Love of my life💔💔💔😭😭

So this is, in my head, baby Feyd 👶😩

Joder, ésto sí es cine 🚬

• Tension ― Kylie Minogue, 2023

• Paris, Texas ― Wim Wenders, 1984

• Blade Runner 2049 ― Denis Villeneuve, 2017

I love this shot.

When you look at sci-fi stories like Star Wars, especially, there's so much more to it than just the technology. It comes back to this idea of "the Force" which I think is based on a lot of Eastern philosophy and religious ideas of "you can either be on the dark side or the light side". It's kind of that Yin and Yang sort of look at energy as a whole. Star Wars has a second meaning to it.

I mean, George Lucas himself even admitted that Star Wars was an allegory for the Vietnam War, especially around Nixon trying to get reelected. He even mentions that democracies aren’t taken, they're given away. Though I also know that he also borrowed significantly from the legends of King Arthur.

I think there's a lot of meaning in sci-fi in general. It's a way to comment on our reality and our current situation through another lens. I think that's the beauty of sci-fi in general. It's also why I think the most recent Star Wars movies got negative reviews, because they were trying to tell Star Wars stories and not real-life stories.

It's a great reflection tool. If Star Wars is about Vietnam, then Dune is about the Middle East. Because Arrakis the planet = Iraq. Spice is the resource, oil is the resource. At the core of it, I think that's the whole point.

IG credit to dunemovie 💥💥💥

There is SO much to look at….

Timmy's facial expression here is fantastic, he manages to express all the vulnerability and sweetness of Paul worried about what awaits him💛

Dune (2021)  Art by Mariam Al-Madamgha

Polytechnique by Denis Villeneuve (2009)

Polytechnique by Denis Villeneuve (2009)