Denis Villeneuve names his five favourite movies
At one point, science fiction was the kind of genre reserved only for ‘nerdy’ enthusiasts who made cult fandoms over comic books, movies and TV shows that dared to venture into the realm of cosmic space travel and marvellous monsters. Yet, decades later, sci-fi is the most popular genre to engage the general movie lover, with George Lucas changing the game with Star Wars in 1977, steadily leading to the championed careers of such filmmakers as Christopher Nolan and Denis Villeneuve.
Having steadily been making movies since the turn of the new millennium, Villeneuve has only recently started to gain the popularity he deserves, with 2010’s Incendies shoving him into the limelight. An Oscar nominee, the excellent film opened the Hollywood doors for Villeneuve, and in 2016, he stamped his mark on the world of sci-fi with his first of four successive genre hits, Arrival.
The rest, as they say, is history, and in 2024, Villeneuve finds himself doing press for the release of the second part of his epic adaptation of Frank Herbert’s mammoth novel Dune. During his efforts to promote the sequel, the filmmaker sat down with Letterboxd to discuss some of his all-time favourite movies, giving fans an insight into the mind of a master filmmaker and visionary sci-fi storyteller.
No sci-fi lover’s list of favourite films can start anywhere else than Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 classic 2001: A Space Odyssey, which moved the goalposts of genre quality into the stratosphere. Calling the film a “perfect movie for many reasons”, Villeneuve has never been shy to voice his opinion on Kubrick’s classic, previously stating that it had given him a “cinematic shock” in his youth.
Next up, the Canadian filmmaker moves on to “Probably the movie I have watched the most in my life. It’s a movie that I absolutely adore,” referencing Francis Ford Coppola’s seminal Vietnam War film Apocalypse Now. A wild film with an even crazier production process, Apocalypse Now speaks to the madness of humanity in the face of the senseless violence of warfare.
Fitting five movies into what should have been just a top four, Villeneuve squeezes two sci-fi classics into his list, 1982’s Blade Runner and 1977’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Directed by two titans of the filmmaking world, Ridley Scott and Steven Spielberg, these movies are considered to be classics of late 20th-century cinema, thrilling audiences with their visionary cosmic creations.
The final film to grace his list is Ingmar Bergman’s 1966 classic Persona, an arthouse great that tells the story of a nurse and a mute actress whose personalities seem to meld slowly together. Stating that the movie “absolutely floored” him, Villeneuve has sprinkled echoes of Persona throughout his own filmography, with 2013’s Enemy particularly sharing some narrative and stylistic elements.
Denis Villeneuve’s favourite movies:
- 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 1968)
- Apocalypse Now (Francis Ford Coppola, 1979)
- Blade Runner (Ridley Scott, 1982)
- Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Steven Spielberg, 1977)
- Persona (Ingmar Bergman, 1966)
