villeneuve – Otis Morley’s A-Level Film Studies Blog

Dune (2021, Denis Villeneuve) is the first instalment of a sci-fi epic based on the classic 1965 novel of the same name written by Frank Herbert. With an all-star cast including Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson and Oscar Isaac bringing stellar performances to the table, Dune establishes an excellent foundation for Villeneuve to build upon in the future.

The central protagonist of Dune is Paul Atreides, son of Duke Leto who rules House Atreides, who have just been granted the desert planet Arrakis. Arrakis (otherwise known as Dune) is habitat to the most valuable commodity in the universe, the spice Melange which preserves life and makes interstellar travel possible. Whoever controls Arrakis controls the spice, and whoever controls the spice controls the universe.

Dune is a profound visual spectacle, with every shot being meticulously crafted and visually intriguing. Villeneuve and Greig Fraser (cinematographer) cleverly utilise both practical effects and CGI to create the perfect blend of tactility and visual flair.

From an auditory standpoint, Dune also excels. Villeneuve diligently uses emphatic diegetic sound such as the sand thumpers and ripples and powerful non-diegetic sound, such as Hans Zimmer’s expertly composed score. In an interview, Villeneuve expressed that he utilised Zimmer’s majestic score to replicate the heavy use of character internalisation by Frank Herbert in the original source material.

The film does, however, suffer from a few minor pacing issues. Being the first instalment of a larger franchise, Dune requires a significant amount of exposition and world-building in order to honour the legacy of the novel, which in some aspects hinders its ability to produce a compelling narrative akin to other ‘first films’ such as A New Hope or The Fellowship of the Ring. Other filmmakers in the past such as David Lynch have failed to accurately replicate the essence of Herbert’s ‘unfilmable’ epic, merely acting as a highlight reel of the events of the novel.

Overall, Dune is a fantastic sci-fi adventure which excels in the areas of cinematography, sound design, performance and mise-en-scène and I thoroughly await the newly-confirmed second instalment.

The most recent film that I watched was Prisoners (Denis Villeneuve, 2013). It is a crime thriller starring Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Paul Dano and Maria Bello.

*Detective Loki (Gyllenhaal) and Keller Dover (Jackman)*

The plot of the film is simple at face value – an unknown suspect has abducted two young girls – one being the daughter of our main protagonist: Keller Dover, and the other being the daughter of Dover’s friends Franklin and Nancy Birch. The police take a young suspect into custody immediately (Paul Dano) and release him soon after. Keller, adamant that the police have just released the true suspect, then decides to take matters into his own hands.

This simple yet effective mystery is expertly explored throughout the duration of the film. Prisoners gives you so many subtle hints throughout, and keeps you guessing until the very end. The film never feels the need to spoon-feed you crucial information throughout. Instead, the audience is required to put the pieces together in their own minds and the ending is just ambiguous enough to leave you wondering.

The acting performances from everyone throughout the film – especially Jackman and Gyllenhaal – are masterclass. The raw and genuine desperation of Keller Dover is clearly conveyed through Jackman’s performance and Detective Loki’s ruthlessness is portrayed expertly by Gyllenhaal.

The beautiful cinematography of Prisoners was shot by the one and only: Roger Deakins. His many masterful techniques throughout the film include frequent shooting through dirty glass, frames within frames and muted colour palettes (browns, greys, etc.) All of these techniques work in tandem throughout the film to emphasise the hopelessness of Dover’s situation and the reoccurring pathetic fallacy of rain emphasises the desperation of each main character – primarily Loki and Dover.

Tag: villeneuve

Dune (2021) ★★★★

Prisoners ★★★★½