Dune: Part Two (Denis Villeneuve, 2023)

Cast: Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, Dave Bautista, Christopher Walken, Léa Seydoux, Stellan Skarsgård, Charlotte Rampling. Screenplay: Denis Villeneuve, Jon Spaihts, based on a novel by Frank Herbert. Cinematography: Greig Fraser. Production design: Patrice Vermette. Film editing: Joe Walker. Music: Hans Zimmer. 

August 32nd on Earth (Denis Villeneuve, 1998)

 August 32nd on Earth (Denis Villeneuve, 1998)

Cast: Pascale Bussières, Alexis Martin, Evelyne Rompré, Emmanuel Bilodeau, Richard S. Hamilton, Serge Thériault, Ivan Smith, Joanne Côté, R. Craig Costin. Screenplay: Denis Villeneuve. Cinematography: André Turpin. Art direction: Jean Babin. Film editing: Sophie Leblond. Music: Natalie Boileau, Robert Charlebois, Pierre Desrochers, Jean Leloup.

August 32nd on Earth begins with one of its protagonists in an automobile accident and ends with the other in a coma. In between, it’s some kind of romantic comedy. This confusion of tones is obviously intentional, clearly indicated by the title of the film, which sets your expectations askew the way the reference to clocks striking 13 in the first sentence of George Orwell’s 1984 does. Simone (Pascale Bussières) and Philippe (Alexis Martin) are in the throes of a midlife crisis (a premature one considering that she’s 26 and he’s 30). She’s fed up with her job as a model, and he’s thinking of dropping out of medical school. So after her automobile accident leaves her hanging upside down in the wrecked car and suffering from a concussion, she decides that it’s time to have a baby. She’s not particularly choosy about who the father will be, but she settles on her old friend Philippe. They’re not lovers, and in fact he’s presently involved with another woman. But eventually he agrees, with the stipulation that they perform the act of conception in the desert. So they fly from Montreal to Salt Lake City and hire a taxi to take them out to the salt flats. Lots of other curious stuff occurs, including the discovery of a dead body and a night spent getting drunk on mescal in a Japanese capsule hotel. Meanwhile, on-screen dates tell us it’s August 33, 34, and so on until they return to Montreal and the dates switch to September. Reality begins to set in.  All of this could have been intolerably whimsical – there are those who think it is – but it was the first feature from writer-director Denis Villeneuve, who would go on to direct such brain-teasers as Enemy (2013) and Arrival (2016), and major films like Sicario (2015), Blade Runner 2049 (2017), and the blockbuster Dune (2021). Like his better-known films, August 32nd on Earth has striking visuals and solid performances. It’s the kind of movie designed to provoke arguments about what it all means, and if that’s the sort of thing you like, or if you’re just interested in the early days of an important filmmaker, it’s definitely worth checking out.

Prisoners (Denis Villeneuve, 2013)

Prisoners (Denis Villeneuve, 2013)

Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Hugh Jackman, Viola Davis, Maria Bello, Terrence Howard, Melissa Leo, Paul Dano, Dylan Minnette, Zoë Soul, Erin Gerasimovich, Kyla-Drew, Wayne Duvall, Len Cariou. Screenplay: Aaron Guzikowski. Cinematography: Roger Deakins. Production design: Patrice Vermette. Film editing: Joel Cox, Gary Roach. Music: Jóhann Jóhannson.

Overlong, overcomplicated, and sometimes just flat-out preposterous, Prisoners succeeds in casting a creepy spell even when you're questioning its improbabilities. It succeeds mainly because director Denis Villeneuve trusts that he can overcome the narrative flaws, and because he's working with a phenomenal cast headed by Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal and generously provided with other first-rank actors like Viola Davis, Maria Bello, Melissa Leo, and Paul Dano. To my mind, Gyllenhaal stands out among even this company for his richly internalized performance as the detective in charge of the disappearance of two little girls. He buttons his shirts to the top, shielding himself against the world, determined to solve the case even when he's taking shit from his own captain and from the angry father of one of the missing girls, a volcano of a man beautifully embodied by Jackman. Roger Deakins's Oscar-nominated cinematography also casts a cold spell over the film, in which the external weather -- rain, snow, bleak days -- is a correlative for the emotions haunting the souls of the characters. There comes a point when you realize that the film isn't meant to be subjected to literal-minded analysis, that it's a parable about cruelty and loss, a validation of Jackman's character's mantra: "Pray for the best, but prepare for the worst." Villeneuve's adherence to this vision and his cast's abundant skills somehow overcome any desire we may have to impose a more realistic view on the material, to pick apart its contrivances and inconsistencies.