Denis Villeneuve
Denis Villeneuve (born October 3, 1967) is a Canadian filmmaker. He has received seven Canadian Screen Awards as well as nominations for three Academy Awards, five BAFTA Awards, and two Golden Globe Awards. Villeneuve's films have grossed more than $1.8 billion worldwide. Villeneuve began his career in his home country, directing four French-language dramas: August 32nd on Earth (1998); Maelström (2000); Polytechnique (2009), a dramatisation of the 1989 École Polytechnique massacre; and Incendi
Defining films
In their own words
I was deeply influenced by Miyazaki's work in general, especially movies like Princess Mononoke where he explores the relationship between humans and nature.
I wanted to make Arrival like a mix between a very grounded Terrence Malick movie and a movie like 2001: A Space Odyssey, trying to get into the mind-set of the main character with a grounded, almost documentary feel, but with the scope and grandiosity of 2001.
Lynch is one of my heroes, and I was trying to get some of his mood, this sense of dreamlike quality, in Blade Runner 2049, without trying to copy him.
It's like a dream, it's very mysterious. I wanted to create an aesthetic for Arrival that will bring me closer to these kinds of dream-like images.
