Inspirational Quotes
Words to motivate, inspire, and guide you.
Denis Villeneuve Quotes
CollaborationCreativityEfficiencyFilm IndustryInnovation Since I began making movies, I've always looked for screenwriters instead of going through the long and painful process of writing.
Artistic ProcessCreativityDecision Making It's not about choosing a specific genre; that's not how I go about deciding what movies to make.
CinemaCollective ExperienceCommunicationEmotionSharing I was at the premiere of 'Prisoners,' and I heard two thousand people scream at the same time. I turned to my wife and said, 'I love cinema!' It's the sharing of emotions together, and it's collective. It's one of the last communions we have.
CollaborationControlCreativityLeadershipStrengths and Weaknesses If I wanted to have total control and be a dictator, I would do ice sculpture in my basement. If I want to make a movie, I'm going to work with 500 people, and I will have to work with their strength and their weakness.
ActingFilmImpressionRecognitionRespect I had a lot of respect for Jeremy Renner as an actor before I worked with him, because I was very impressed with what he did in 'The Hurt Locker.'
CreativityEntertainmentHollywoodPerceptionSuperheroes I always thought, like everyone, that Hollywood was a superhero factory.
ArtistryCollaborationCreativityEnjoymentOpportunities I must say, to my great surprise and pleasure, I deeply loved making movies in the United States because of all the opportunities it gave me to work with people that I admire as artists.
CinemaFandomFavorite MoviesPassionScience Fiction I'm among the hardcore fans of 'Blade Runner.' 'Blade Runner' is one of my favorite movies of all time. It's a movie that is linked with my love and passion for cinema.
DarknessLightSpectrumViolenceWomen My movies are very often violent and dark, but there's a spectrum of light, and that light is coming from the women.
Childhood MemoriesCinema AppreciationLove for MoviesPersonal InspirationScience Fiction 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind.' Big, big, big smash for me. My birth of the love of cinema was born with 'Close Encounters' and '2001.' Those sci-fi movies I saw when I was a little kid.
Desire for lighter contentEmotional struggle with dark themesLove for challenging projectsPassion for storytellingPersonal preferences in entertainment I remember when I read the screenplay for 'Sicario,' I fell in love with it, but at the same time, I went, 'Oh no, not again.' I mean, I would love to fall in love with something that is more light, like a rom-com or a comedy. I would love to. Because it's very demanding to go to dark places like this.
CinemaExpressionImpactPowerViolence When I use violence in a movie, it's just to express the power, the impact of it.
Character DevelopmentFilm analysisNarrative techniquesSubtle storytellingUnderstanding character background I love, in movies, when you feel and you understand the past of the character without it being said or having a flashback or something that explains. I think, in 'Prisoners,' we need to understand that Loki's character's past was not first class. He was not the first in his class.
CinemaCultural ImpactInnovationMemoryNostalgia I'm coming from a small town in Quebec where, at that time, there was no Internet, and the way to be in contact with movies were those American fan magazines like 'Fantastic Films' and 'Starlog,' and I still remember the shock, the impact of seeing the first frames, the first pictures coming out of 'Blade Runner.'
ComplexityExpressionInquiryKnowledge I think that the world is very complex. I think that the movie is a good way to ask questions. To give answers, you would write a lot of books.
CourageIndependenceIntegrityPerseveranceSelf-Expression The reception for 'Enemy?' I don't care. No matter what other people think, it was important for me. I will stand for that movie, even if I stand alone.
Art And CreativityCultural IdentityExpressionFilmmakingGlobal Influence Cinema is an art form that is designed to go across borders. And as a filmmaker, the only way I can direct a movie is when I feel close to my culture.
AspirationCreativityLearningSelf-Improvement I feel that one of the fields that I need to learn a lot is screenwriting. I used to write my own screenplays, but it's just that I remember that at that time, I was saying to myself, 'I wish one day I will meet a screenwriter that will help me because I feel that I need to learn.'
CreativityEscapismFictionImaginationYouth I was a sci-fi addict when I was a kid and a teenager. Novels, graphic novels, movies, it was my way to deal with reality.
AdmirationCinemaCreativityInspirationStorytelling Very early on, I was writing stories, and I was amazed at Spielberg's movies when I was young. Coming from the countryside, I was so impressed with the way he was able to tell stories and the way he was able to deal with le merveilleux - the wonders. Very quickly, he became for me a massive hero, and he introduced me to the world of a director.
CommunicationIntuitionLanguagePerceptionUnderstanding 'Arrival' talks very little about language and how to precisely dissect a foreign language. It's more a film on intuition and communication by intuition, the language of intuition.
Cultural InfluenceHockeyIdentitySelf-PerceptionSocial Status In Canada, for boys, your identity is built on hockey. It's your social position; it's everything. And I was the worst hockey player of Canada.
AdventureCreativityCultural ExplorationDreamsFilmmaking In a way, the truth is that I was dreaming to do a movie in the United States just because, as a filmmaker, I always loved the idea of trying to make movies in a different culture, in a different way. It's always interesting to make a movie abroad.
ArtCinemaCreativityExpressionPop Culture Film is pop art. It's not whether it's auteur cinema or not; that's a false distinction. Cinema is cinema.
EmotionJoyMelancholyMemoryNostalgia When I think of the 1980s, the only color that comes to mind is a brown, yellowish color. I guess it's coming from my life experience, and it's melancholia and sadness and a bit of joy.
Gender RolesIdentityPower DynamicsSelf-DiscoverySocietal Expectations For me, masculinity is about control, and femininity is more of an embrace, the art of listening. It's very inspiring to explore the shadows of masculinity and femininity, and the tensions between both, and the place of women in the world right now.
ConflictEthicsGlobal PoliticsHuman NatureMorality 'Sicario' is about how the Western world reacts toward problems outside of its borders. Should we become monsters in order to fight the monsters? It's not about the cartels. The movie could have been set in Africa or the Middle East.
CultureIdentityMythologyPowerSociety I feel, since 2001, this huge need for Americans to have superheroes on the screen. This idea that a super-being will protect you. That this being can go above the law but, at the end of the day, would be a good force and defeat the evil. This idea that this half-god exists. This need in the subconscious of America to find these gods.