Welcome back to Film Discursion’s weekly series of lists! Click here to check out all of our Top 10 and ranking lists. This week’s list covers the filmography of one of my favourite directors working today, Denis Villeneuve. We’re only covering his English Language filmography, from 2013’s Prisoners to 2017’s Blade Runner 2049. Come back next week for our Top 10 A24 Films list!
5. Sicario (2015)
Sicario is a really well made film, and demonstrates Villeneuve’s technical prowess behind the character: the night time total darkness scenes are particularly well shot, and we are constantly immersed in the action. However, I was never able to invest in Emily Blunt’s character, and as such, while the action is thrilling and tense, there was little reason for me to care. I enjoyed the themes that Sicario eas exploring, about whether a person can remain good when, in the fight for good, they are forced to do bad, but I felt that the characterisations of our protagonists never really conveyed this. The performances of Brolin, Blunt and Del Toro are solid, but their characters simply feel like devices of the plot, to allow for the exploration of themes and the creation of tension: they don’t feel real. Del Toro’s subplot, for example, is sporadic and inconsistent: his ending in Sicario had little effect on me. Sicario is a really well made film. I just wish I cared about the characters more.
4. Prisoners (2013)
There is a lot to love about Prisoners. The majority of the cast turn in phenomenal performances (especially Gyllenhaal and Jackman, with a special mention to the ever-brilliant Paul Dano), and this story of a father’s fight for his missing child is one that shock and affected me greatly. A saggy middle portion keeps Prisoners from placing higher, as well as the feeling that there are moments in which the film is being obscure simply for the sake of being obscure, but this is still an intense character study that asks challenging questions. The first and last acts of Prisoners are thrilling and engaging, and showcase a lot of fantastic talent. Jackman’s scenes with Dano are particularly fascinating: without getting into spoilers, Villeneuve presents Jackman’s character without ever forcing the audience to root for him. This is a choice we make, and by the end of the film, both Jackman and the audience are left questioning whether or not the right choices were made, or whether such choices could ever matter.
3. Enemy (2014)
It’s really difficult to explain an opinion of Enemy, positive or negative, without providing a personal account of an individual understanding of this film. To do so would be to get into spoilers, so: if you haven’t seen Enemy, this is a film in which Adam Bell (Gyllenhaal) discovers that he has a double, and becomes obsessed with his desire to meet and understand what exactly is happening. The film is a mystery, filled with odd details that hint at a larger, almost metaphysical story that is being played out. For those that have seen it, your opinion of this film is likely to be based on whether or not you felt that you could form an interesting reading of the events before you (if you have seen the film, check out Chris Stuckmann’s Analysed Spoiler review of Enemy: it’s a cool interpretation). What I love about Enemy is that this is a film that just demands to be analysed. It’s so clear that there is something more to the story, but the film refuses to yield answers. As such, I haven’t stopped thinking about Enemy since I first saw it. The final shot, especially, is so disorientating in the way that it plays against the expectations that the penultimate shot sets up. This is a great conversation film, and whatever your reading of the film, if you can evidence it, well then it’s valid! It’s what makes Enemy so engrossing.
2. Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
Blade Runner 2049 is a fantastic meditation on what it means to be human, and what makes us human. By taking the themes explored in the original Blade Runner, Villeneuve was able to craft a masterful film that asks big questions. This is Gosling’s story, and yet, at the same time, it isn’t. Since Blade Runner 2049 came out only last year, I want to leave my thoughts entirely spoiler free, but what I can praise is the craft. This is probably Villeneuve’s best made film, and that’s saying a lot. Roger Deakins’ cinematography is stunningly beautiful, effortless creating an immersive and realistic world for our characters to enhabit. While on the surface not a particularly emotional film, Blade Runner 2049 is the sort of film that you think about a few days later, and, at least for me, as the themes of the film sunk in and took hold of me, I found myself overcome by the sheer power of this masterpiece. I need to see it a few more times before declaring it better than the original, but the fact that the conversation is happening at all speaks volumes about this glorious piece of art.
Click here to see where Blade Runner 2049 ranked on our Top 10 Films of 2017 list.
1. Arrival (2016)
Easily my favourite Villeneuve film, Arrival is just an incredible film. Simultaneously methodical and emotional, this is, to me, a near perfect film. The characters are real, and drive the plot in meaningful ways. Adams and Renner are investing and honest. The narrative is large in scope yet simple in execution. The unfolding of the plot holds up to repeat viewings. The cinematography is brilliant, the score perfectly matched to the visuals. I struggle to find any meaningful flaw in Arrival, and what I love so much about the film is that Villeneuve took the premise of the alien arrival film, and constructed a film that teaches the audience something about humanity. As mentioned elsewhere, the only slight flaw is that some of the minor characters (specifically the military personal) are broadly characterised, and exist to serve the plot, but the fact that such a minor thing is the biggest problem I have with Arrival should tell you just how amazing I think this film is. The ending, especially, is so emotionally resonant: there is a scene towards the end in which the film is cutting between a few different scenes, in which everything that has gone into making the film so far, from the music to the plot, converge in such a manner as to be truly spectacular. It’s too soon to be sure, but I have a feeling that, with a little more distance, I’ll be talking about Arrival as one of my all time favourite films. So, yeah, it’s easily Villeneuve’s best film!
Click here to see where Arrival placed on our Best Picture Nominees 2017: Ranked list.
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