If you have been following this channel for a while, you would know that I am a big fan
of Denis Villeneuve and today I am going to talk about his Top 5 Films.
This is a personal list based on my own opinions.
I know it is obvious, but then again, this is the Internet.
So, Denis Villeneuve for those of you who don’t know is a French Canadian filmmaker.
Many people, I’ve even met some of them personally, think that the crime thriller
Prisoners is his first film.
But Denis Villeneuve is in the film industry from 1998.
Before his Hollywood journey, he made several critically acclaimed French Canadian films
like August 32nd on Earth, Maelström, Polytechnique, Incendies etc.
If you haven’t watched these movies and if you are fan of this filmmaker, I can’t
recommend these films enough.
Now, without wasting anymore time, let’s get into it.
No. 5
Sicario
Sicario is a 2015 crime drama film that talks about the ugly war against drugs, specifically
at the border area between the US and Mexico.
I was really impressed with the casting of this movie.
I had my doubts about Emily Blunt, she never seemed like an actress who had that intensity,
which a script like this requires.
But I am so happy that I was proved wrong.
But I have to say that Sicario is one of Denis Villeneuve’s weaker movies, but the one
main reason that this movie is in this list is because of the traffic confrontation scene.
The set up and delivery of that scene was so perfectly done, that the rest of the movie
couldn’t live up to the expectation set by that scene.
If you want to see that scene analyzed in an in depth manner, click the link above to
watch the video that was done by the CineFix channel.
No 4
Polytechnique
On December 6, 1989 at the Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal, a massacre happened
25-year-old Marc Lepin shot 28 people and murdered 14 women.
He blamed it on the rise of feminism.
It was a national tragedy and this film dramatizes the events around the massacre.
It is a heavy film for sure, especially knowing the tragic outcome; it makes for a brutal watch
The event and the consequences were shown from the perspective of three people including
that of the killers’.
You can really see how Denis Villeneuve’s movies have strong female characters, even
in the initial stage of his career.
No3
Arrival
A lot has been said about this movie recently, analyzing everything from the Aliens’ language
and the short story it is based on.
Even I did a video essay on Language and the next step in human evolution.
You can check that out in the card above.
It takes a complex concept such as the nature of time and reality and makes it accessible
to someone even without any scientific background and that’s what a strong screenplay does
effectively.
This is yet another one of his movie with a strong female character.
No2
Prisoners
I had a hard time with choosing the No 1 and No 2 spots in this list
It is a slow burn thriller about the abduction of two little girls and the subsequent search
by the family and the detective in a small town.
An incredibly detailed script powered by strong performances by the entire cast, and an equally
stunning cinematography made watching this film, almost like a meditation.
No1 The best Denis Villeneuve film so far, is
Enemy.
Enemy is a 2013 Canadian psychological thriller film.
It is loosely adapted from the Portuguese writer Jose’ Saramago’s novel The Double
and for the record, The Double is my favorite book of all time.
So, imagine my surprise when this film managed to completely stand on its own and not ruin
the book in any way.
It actually speaks volumes about the filmmaker.
Enemy is a film about identity, duality, totalitarianism and human relationships.
This is a film, which doesn’t reveal itself so easily.
It is like a puzzle, but with all the pieces in it for you to piece it together and inside
there lays a great story.
If you watched the enemy and you still feel like you have no idea what happened in the film
then watch the video that Chris Stuckman did, it’s in the card above.
He did a great and in-depth analysis with strong supporting arguments and I think he
nailed it.
I love this movie and I have a lot of respect for it as it assumes that its audience is
brilliant.
You don’t get this kind of movie often in the world where Michael Bay keeps hitting
us in the head with his Transformer series.
I feel like there are three kinds of filmmakers when it comes to American cinema.
Ones that are really good indie filmmakers, but when they make the transition to studio
films, they don’t handle the pressure so well and they fade away.
There are filmmakers who are made for studio films, but then they can’t make an intimate
small film.
But then there are filmmakers who make intimate indie films and brilliant studio films.
Like Christopher Nolan, Steven Spielberg and very few others.
In that list, we definitely have Denis Villeneuve and I am really looking forward to his upcoming
projects.
I am excited about Blade Runner 2049 and his upcoming crime thriller ‘The Son’ with
Jake Gyllenhall, a move adaptation of a Norwegian crime novel.
That’s it for this week’s video.
What is your favorite Denis Villeneuve film?
If you haven’t watched enough of his movies, then who is your favorite American director
that’s working today?
Leave the answers in the comments below.
I am also attaching two playlists here.
‘All things cinema’ which has all the videos that I did so far that’s related
to movies and ‘Journal of Things’ an ongoing web series on fascinating topics.
If you liked this video, leave a like, share it with your friends in social media and most
importantly subscribe to my channel as I will be making new videos every single week.
Thank you for watching and see you soon.