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Denis Villeneuve is a modern movie marvel, and with all the hype and success surrounding Dune, he has once again certified himself as one of Hollywood’s leading talents when it comes to creating timeless cinematic masterpieces.
Whatever the French Canadian filmmaker touches simply turns to gold. His eye for striking visuals, his ability to extract show-stealing performances from his stars, and his near unmatched skill when tackling intense, edge-of-your-seat thrills have led many to dub Denis Villeneuve as the best director alive today. Of course, there’s plenty of big-screen evidence available to support this claim.
10 Arrival Has A Mind-Bending Final Reveal
While the film as a whole is more than sufficient when it comes to hard evidence of Denis Villeneuve’s often unmatched directing talent, Arrival’s jaw-dropping ending reveal can get that job done with only a few minutes of screen time.
Arrival had already done enough to call itself an excellent piece of science fiction cinema, yet the twist at the end raised the film up to stand toe to toe with any of the genre’s masterpieces. The ending reveal was executed so well that it left audiences stunned rather than scratching their heads, and it had many cinema-goers desperate for a repeat viewing of this incredible movie.
9 Prisoners Is One Of The Most Gripping Thrillers Of Modern Times
Denis Villeneuve’s first feature film in the English language remains one of the most impressive of the acclaimed director’s career so far. A deeply disturbing, thrilling picture, Prisoners focuses on the disappearance of two young girls and the effort of both the police and one of the fathers to uncover the truth behind it.
Villeneuve utilized an all-star cast that included Jake Gyllenhaal, Hugh Jackman, Paul Dano, and Viola Davis to not only craft one of the greatest thrillers of modern times but also firmly establish himself as one of Hollywood’s most promising directors.
8 Incendies Is Villeneuve’s Bleak, Brilliant Masterpiece
To call Incendies Denis Villeneuve’s finest cinematic achievement may seem like a bold statement considering the quality of the filmmaker’s other creations, yet this opinion is not at all rare amongst film fans.
Utterly heartbreaking and brutally bleak, this drama is in no way suitable for the faint of heart. The film takes a devastating look at the Lebanese civil war through those who have lived through it and those who now must live with its repercussions. A nominee for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2011 Academy Awards, this is the movie that really cements Villeneuve as a special talent, and it’s a must-watch for any fan of the director’s work.
7 Sicario’s Opening Sequence Is Iconic
Villeneuve’s Sicario is a force of nature when it comes to action thrillers, following a government team’s attempt to take on the Mexican drug cartel. With the film’s opening scene, the French Canadian director perfectly captures just how harrowing a task that will surely prove to be.
It’s one of the most stunning opening film sequences, and it lets the audience know from the get-go that they’re in for one hell of an enthralling ride with Sicario.
6 Blade Runner 2049 Is The Sequel That Fans Have Waited Decades For
Creating a sequel to a sci-fi masterpiece over thirty years after its heyday would be a difficult task for the average filmmaker, but with Blade Runner 2049, Denis Villeneuve really proved that he is far from the average movie man.
With help from one of cinema’s greatest eyes in Roger Deakins, Villeneuve crafted a picture packed with mystique, beautiful, vibrant visuals, heart-pounding tension, and an awe-inspiring return to the screen for one of science fiction’s most iconic characters in Harrison Ford’s Rick Deckard.
5 Enemy Served Up Another Stellar Picture & A Double Helping Of Jake Gyllenhaal
Though Villeneuve’s second collaboration with Jake Gyllenhaal may not have hit the heights of Prisoners, Enemy was still an excellent, stylish exploration of the subconscious and the anxiety it can create within a person. As with all of the Dune director’s feature films, Enemy received a plethora of well-deserved award wins upon its release in 2013.
The visuals are as stunning as usual, and this provocative psychological thriller adds to the argument that the French Canadian director is at his best when the gloves are off and he’s free to experiment in the most ambitious ways.
4 Villeneuve Played His Part In Hugh Jackman’s Career Performance In Prisoners
He’s best known for his exploits as the adamantium-riddled mutant Wolverine, yet Hugh Jackman has done more than prove himself as a versatile actor over the course of his career. From The Greatest Showman to The Prestige, the Australian actor has racked up an array of on-screen accolades.
For Prisoners, Denis Villeneuve directed Jackman in what was arguably his greatest performance. Chilling, steeped in tragedy, and intensely captivating, Villeneuve played his part in unlocking a level of raw, unrelenting emotion and vulnerability never seen before from the Logan star, and it serves as proof that Villeneuve’s talent reaches far beyond striking visuals and stunning action sequences.
3 Sicario Has An Intense Extraction Ambush Scene
When discussing Denis Villeneuve’s skill with breathtaking action scenes, Sicario’s border scene is always high on the list. The dread-inducing build will have viewers breaking a sweat anytime they’re stuck in traffic for weeks after watching the 2015 action thriller, it is quite simply one of the most exciting and tense sequences in Villeneuve’s catalog.
As the agents cross the border with their prisoner in tow, word of a potential ambush comes hot and heavy over the radio. What comes next is a fantastic exercise in subverting expectations, and Emily Blunt’s performance in the scene is captivating enough to have the viewer feeling like they’re right there in the car with her.
2 He Directs Lubna Azabal’s Oscar-Worthy Incendies Performance
Denis Villeneuve’s talent for directing actors has never been clearer than with Lubna Azabal’s sensational, award-winning showing in Incendies. It’s a phenomenal film in its own right, but the utter devastation and heartbreak within the picture couldn’t have been pulled off without Azabal’s heartwrenching performance.
From the terror of the film’s famous bus scene to her wince-inducing torture as a political prisoner, few characters in cinema have ever embodied such unbreakable spirit and unfathomable tragedy as Azabal managed to as The Woman Who Sings, Nawal Marwan.
1 They Said A Dune Adaptation Just Wouldn’t Work, But Villeneuve Proved All The Doubters Wrong
Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel has long been thought of as simply too complex to make a successful jump to the big screen. David Lynch tried in 1984, but things did not work out the way everyone had hoped. Then, in 2017, confirmation came that Denis Villeneuve would be tackling the unconquerable task.
Dune already looks to be a roaring success, with the sci-fi epic grossing almost $130 million so far and receiving rave reviews from critics. As ambitious as it is awe-inspiring, it appears as if there’s one director who can turn Dune into a movie masterpiece, and it’s Denis Villeneuve.
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