A rare U.S. interview with #DenisVilleneuve that mentions his early #cdnfilm. Much better films than he gives credit for doing.https://t.co/CTE20ZsTqU
— Chad Rubel (@canadian_xing) March 4, 2024
On the verge of the Academy Awards on Sunday, the biggest film in the United States these days is from a Canadian director: Dune: Part Two from Denis Villeneuve.
The typical U.S. coverage of Villeneuve is virtually isolated on the films since his U.S. debut: Enemy (technically a Canadian film), Prisoners, Sicario as well as Arrival, Blade Runner 2049, and Dune.
You might get mentions of Incendies and Polytechnique, much more the former than the latter film.
Denis Villeneuve was one of 6 directors who did short films under the title of Cosmos (1997) along with Jennifer Alleyn, Manon Briand, Marie-Julie Dallaire, Arto Paragamian, and André Turpin. Villeneuve also did August 32nd on Earth | Un 32 Août sur Terre (1998) and Maelström (2000). Canada submitted all 3 films as the Academy Awards entry for the Oscars for what was then the Best Foreign Language Film.
Canada also submitted Incendies (2010) to the Academy Awards for the Best Foreign Language Film category. Unlike the other films that failed to make the shortlist, Incendies made the Top 5 cut.
This The Hollywood Reporter interview crossed the invisible line and actually asked Villenueve about his earlier films.
From 1998 to 2000, you released August 32nd on Earth and Maelström, but then you stayed on the sidelines until 2009's Polytechnique, based on the Montreal massacre. What prompted the intermission?
When I finished my first two feature films, I realized that I wasn’t happy at all with the results and that the core of the problem was me. I went into filmmaking a bit too quickly, and those movies were driven by ego. It created a movie [August 32nd on Earth] that I wasn’t really proud of. Both movies were well received, but I felt empty at the end of both experiences. So I had to approach cinema differently. I had to learn more about storytelling and, most important, working with actors. So I stopped for many years, saying to myself, “If I go back behind the camera, it’ll be for something meaningful.” For three years, I read and spent time in a theater, watching directors direct plays, to understand how to communicate with actors. I was a sponge. I then started developing what became Polytechnique and Incendies, and it took me many years to write them with other people. So that pause was probably the best and most important artistic decision I’ve ever made. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be here today. I would’ve just repeated myself and died, artistically, quite quickly.
Villeneuve is more than entitled to think that way about those films. As he notes, "Both movies were well received" and that is very true.
We all learn as our careers go along. Villeneuve may be more proud of his U.S. films but that shouldn't detract from his earlier films, which happen to be Canadian films.
2010’s Incendies, which was nominated for the foreign-language Oscar, is your most celebrated Canadian film, and it established your style and voice. Would you agree?
Absolutely, yes. It honestly touches me to hear you say that, because that’s the film where I got rid of influences and just made something on pure instinct. I’m proud of Polytechnique, but I was still trying things. So Incendies is when I finally found my voice as a filmmaker. I finally felt at home, and it was the payoff of all those years of studying.
Knowing your audience is key in an interview. The Hollywood Reporter is asking about those past films out of professional courtesy. Why praise those earlier works when you want people to focus on the last decade?
Whatever people might think of his earlier films, Polytechnique deserves to be celebrated. Glad he is proud of that film. Villeneuve should also be proud of those other films.
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Getting to do a version of Blade Runner and Dune is really where Villeneuve wanted to be all along. In that sense, we are happy for him in his U.S. career. His friend, the late Jean-Marc Vallée, also crossed over into the United States, first in films and then later television.
We should point out that while the world celebrates Villeneuve and Vallée, they were also great writers, at least in Canada. Villeneuve wrote August 32nd on Earth, Maelström, Polytechnique, and Incendies. He did go back to writing with the Dune films. Vallée wrote and directed C.R.A.Z.Y. and Cafe de Flore but not writing in any of his American projects.
Villeneuve won Genie Awards for Best Direction and Best Screenplay for Maelström (also Best Picture); Best Direction for Polytechnique; and Best Direction and Best Adapted Screenplay for Incendies.
Villeneuve cited Duel from Steven Spielberg as an early influence. We would expect Spielberg to be proud of Duel, even if most filmgoers don't know the film.
Maybe those early films aren't his favourites, but Denis Villeneuve should be proud of that work. Those films made him what he is today.
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The 96th Academy Awards will be on Sunday with a new start time of 7 pm EDT/4 pm PDT and 8:30 pm in most of Newfoundland on ABC in the United States and CTV in Canada. Remember, if you have a choice, the feed is the same but CTV won't censor anything, unlike ABC.
Twitter capture: @canadian_xing
photo credits: August 32nd on Earth | Un 32 Août sur Terre; Maelström
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