Denis Villeneuve names the one movie that is “close to perfection”
When we talk about the greatest filmmakers of modern cinema, the French-Canadian director Denis Villeneuve simply has to be a part of the conversation. Creating such contemporary science fiction classics as Arrival in 2016 and Blade Runner 2049 in 2017, the director later went on to adapt the apparently ‘unadaptable’, bringing Dune to the big screen after unsuccessful attempts by David Lynch and Alejandro Jodorowsky.
Rubbing shoulders with the likes of Christopher Nolan, Paul Thomas Anderson, Martin Scorsese and Yorgos Lanthimos, Villeneuve is an auteur who is dedicated to innovating the filmmaking craft with each new movie he releases. With eleven feature films under his belt as of 2023, Villeneuve has made a name for himself as a director with an extraordinary cinematic vision, creating images that inspire awe as well as characters that swell with existential emotion.
Much of this proficiency comes from his own appreciation for the history of cinema, naming such movies as Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai, Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will Be Blood, and David Cronenberg’s Dead Ringers as a handful of his all-time favourite movies. Still, there are other movies that he holds in even greater esteem, calling one particular gem “close to perfection”.
The moment came when he was asked for the movie he has watched the most throughout his life, during an interview with BBC Radio 1. “I think probably it’s Apocalypse Now,” the director stated, making reference to Francis Ford Coppola’s iconic 1979 Vietnam war film.
Continuing, he adds: “I saw that movie, I studied that movie. I saw that movie, yeah, a million times…it’s a movie that for me is close to perfection and is deeply inspiring”.
Premiering only four years following the end of the controversial Vietnam War in 1975, Coppola’s movie was a damning indictment of the nature of conflict in general, demonstrating the madness that’s inherent within the incessant bullets, flames, explosion and fog of death. Starring Marlon Brando in an iconic leading role, the movie is supported by the likes of Martin Sheen, Dennis Hopper and Harrison Ford.
Later in the interview, Villeneuve feels compelled to discuss his cinematic guilty pleasures, sharing that he has a particular fondness for the James Bond franchise.
“I will say that I’m a major Bond fan. There’s nothing like a good James Bond to cheer you up,” the director revealed before naming the one film of the series that he would call his favourite. Continuing, he adds: “I would say that Casino Royale, the first Daniel Craig movie, is still one of my favourites of all time. I would say that and Skyfall as well, both, I went through these movies several times I must say in difficult periods”.
A master of modern cinema, the influence of Martin Campbell’s Bond can be seen in Villeneuve’s approach to his own action sequences in 2021’s Dune, whilst the epic scale of Coppola’s vision in Apocalypse Now can be seen repeated throughout the contemporary director’s own filmography.
