Denis Villeneuve was at the Toronto International Film Festival to take part in a discussion following the double-screen presentation of Dune: Part One And Dune: Part Two. It so happens that 2024 marks Denis Villeneuve’s thirtieth anniversary of filmmaking: REW-FFWDhis first professional short film, produced by the NFB, dates back to 1994.
When asked what this thirtieth anniversary of his career brings out in him, Denis Villeneuve smiles thoughtfully. “It touches me, to realize that I will have finally made films, led the life I dreamed of. It touches me, because it really wasn’t a certainty. There was little encouragement, and a lot of warnings. It’s a real privilege, to be a filmmaker. But it comes with an immense responsibility, because you have to honor this privilege.”
Between anecdotes and confidences, the filmmaker accepted our invitation to go back over the thread of his filmography.
Cosmos (1996)
“The word that comes to mind is ‘collegiality’. It was the chance to collaborate with fellow directors without being in competition. Roger Frappier, the producer, wanted to discover new talent, and he made no concessions on fairness: they were three girls [Marie-Julie Dallaire, Jennifer Alleyn et Manon Briand] and three guys [Villeneuve, André Turpin et Arto Paragamian]. It was an opportunity to share cinema. I loved this school project.
August 32 on Earth (1998)
“Making a first film is like jumping into the void and accepting that it won’t be Citizen Kane. August 32it corresponds to my concerns at the time: a girl and a guy talking on a sidewalk… It was very refined. These were my first attempts at directing. I had this desire for intimacy, to approach things simply, at my level. There are lots of clumsiness and flashes of brilliance. I have a lot of affection for this film.
Maelstrom (2000)
“We always make a film as a reaction to the previous one. In August 32there was a candor, a playfulness. With MaelstromI wanted a dark, anxious and melancholic film. At the time, I worshipped Scandinavian and Eastern European filmmakers; Maelstromit’s an influenced film. I had a lot of voices in my head. There was a real aesthetic ambition. The success of the film is due to two things: the monstrous talent of André Turpin [à la direction photo] and the equally incredible one of Marie-Josée Croze, who brings sincerity and emotional logic to the character.
I remember a specific moment during filming: I was directing Marie-Josée and I wanted her character to reach a certain state, but I had difficulty formulating what I wanted, and therefore taking her where I wanted. I felt my limits as a director. When I finished the film, I understood that I still had a lot to learn: about directing, about writing… The film had a great career, won lots of awards, but even though I had what I wanted, namely to exist as a filmmaker, I felt empty. It was a completely futile relationship with the ego: it was the wrong path. To make a film that would be in relation to others, that would have relevance, I had to withdraw.
I went back to thinking about cinema: I read about directing, about screenwriting, about the human. I did a lot of introspection.”
Next Floor (2008)
” I saw Firesthe play by Wajdi Mouawad, in 2003, but the adaptation process was very slow. I developed Polytechnic And Fires simultaneously. It was during this period that Phoebe Greenberg approached me: she had loved Maelstrom and wanted to produce a short film that would capture the soul of a building she had purchased that would soon be demolished [le futur Centre Phi). Jacques Davidts a développé un scénario, et Phoebe m’a donné carte blanche, hormis quatre trucs : il fallait que ce soit dans l’immeuble, que ce soit théâtral, grotesque, et qu’il y ait un souper. J’ai fait ce film pour une seule spectatrice, et on s’est retrouvés à Cannes. »
Polytechnique (2009)
« J’ai fait ce film pour le Québec. Là non plus, je ne m’attendais pas à la sélection cannoise. Le film a débordé de nos frontières. Jacques Davidts et moi avons passé une année à rencontrer toutes les personnes, afin d’être certains de brosser un portrait qui soit le plus proche possible de la réalité. C’est un film qui a des maladresses, mais qu’il était important de faire. C’est aussi un film d’apprentissage. Pendant ma pause, c’est comme si j’étais retourné à l’école. Là, je reprenais la caméra, je renouais avec le langage cinématographique. »
Incendies (2010)
« C’est avec ce film que j’ai enfin senti que j’arrivais chez moi. C’est aussi le film lors duquel j’ai fait la paix avec le cinéma. Dans mes premiers films, il y avait toutes ces voix, toutes ces influences dans ma tête. Je me mesurais toujours aux autres cinéastes. Sur Incendies, enfin, je travaillais dans le silence. Enfin, il y avait une pureté dans mon rapport à la caméra et à la mise en scène. Enfin, je sentais que je faisais un film qui était moi. »
Enemy et Prisoners (2013)
« Polytechnique ayant attiré l’attention à Cannes, j’ai commencé à être sollicité par Los Angeles. Le scénario de Prisoners est l’un des premiers qu’on m’a envoyés, et il m’est resté en tête. Je suis allé à L.A. pour vivre l’expérience, mais dans un état d’esprit très libre. Prisoners, c’est le seul pitch que j’ai fait dans ma vie, et j’ai obtenu le projet. D’autres cinéastes avaient été considérés, mais le studio avait adoré Incendies. D’ailleurs, il y a une parenté entre les deux films.
J’ai développé Enemy [d’après un roman de José Saramago] And Prisoners at the same time, but I turned Enemy First. I was editing it during preproduction of Prisoners ; I did the coloring of the two films within a week of each other… They were like strange twins. I was afraid that my artistic identity would be crushed in Los Angeles, and Enemythis UFO that looks like me, was my guarantee: I had preserved my identity there.
Sicario (2015)
” With PrisonersI began to explore what I would call “underground America”: what is beneath the veneer. I wanted to continue this exploration, while being fascinated by the American-Mexican border. I found this border very cinematic and very meaningful, in relation to our lives. The screenplay of Sicario Taylor Sheridan’s writing is exceptional, and it came to me at just the right time.
Prisoners had worked, and since we’re only as good as our last film, Sicario was done very quickly. It must be said that, in PrisonersI had insisted on sobriety, by shifting the focus to the human drama rather than to the violence and the spectacle: it struck a chord in Los Angeles, so my popularity was up, if I may say so.
On SicarioI learned a lot about directing again, thanks to Roger [Deakins, le directeur photo]. And it was the first time that the resources allocated were in line with the ambitions of the film. If I compare [ce film] with Fireswhat André-Line Beauparlant [la conceptrice visuelle] “We accomplished this with the budget we had, it’s miraculous.”
Arrival (2016)
“ Sicario And Arrival were given the green light at the same time. I convinced the team toArrival to wait for me while I was filming Sicario. I wanted to start with this one, because I felt it was more within my reach, technically. And so, Arrivalit was this gateway to science fiction that I had been looking for for so long. It was also the opportunity to make a meaningful, intimate and poetic film about language, transmission… Ted Chiang’s short story is a little masterpiece.
Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
“This project came out of nowhere. It was surreal. To make a sequel to such a masterpiece? When I made Firesand later PrisonersI was getting big offers: big science fiction films, which I turned down because I felt I didn’t have the technical knowledge to bring them to the screen. I told myself that if I didn’t have the required mastery, I was going to get swallowed up. I had to get to the point where I was in total control of my means.
When Blade Runner 2049 was offered to me, I felt strong enough. I have always sought to increase the challenges, in terms of directing, but making sure that there is never a step too high. Arrival was nourished by what I learned about Sicariosuch as the relationship with special effects and digital staging: my ability to create and control the digital world has increased tenfold from film to film. Working with such large teams is not easy: the vision must be communicated to everyone so that it remains and prevails.
On Blade Runner 2049the script having initially been written for Ridley Scott, I took it back and brought it down to a more intimate scale, which is more like me. Polytechnic And Blade Runner 2049 are the two most dangerous films I have ever made.”
Dune: Part One (2021) and Dune: Part Two (2024)
” After Blade Runner 2049I felt that I had acquired the skills necessary to adapt Dune [le roman de Frank Herbert]. And at this point, I had assembled a talented team around me. I am happy to have completed this diptych, my first.
Otherwise… it’s still too early to talk about these two films. It takes years to recover from a film. Each film has joys, pains, disappointments, micro-failures, frustrations… Each film is tinged with a bunch of emotions, and it takes years before you can really appreciate them. It’s an intimate relationship, which allows you to see where you messed up, and where you improved, as a filmmaker.”
François Lévesque is in Toronto thanks in part to the support of Telefilm Canada