Blade Runner 2049 (2017)

Director: Denis Villeneuve
Writers: Hampton Fancher, Michael Green
DOP: Roger Deakins
Cast: Ryan Gosling, Harrison Ford, Ana de Armas, Jared Leto, Robin Wright, Sylvia Hoeks

A young blade runner's discovery of a long-buried secret leads him to track down former blade runner Rick Deckard, who's been missing for thirty years.

The original blade runner was notorious for its post production difficulties with the studio insisting on a narration from Harrison Ford so that audience could understand it and Ridley Scott not having total control over the cut that was released. Since then it had many cuts released including a director's cut and final cut, like the way we name our assignments. I've seen only the final cut and the ambiguity around Deckard's nature is more or less settled.

Replicants are 'human' robots built to be used as slave labour for various purposes including off-world assignments. Blade Runners are detectives/assassins who 'retires' rogue replicants. Blade Runner was a film in which the characters were struggling with existential questions and this sequel, set 30 years later, is also in similar vein. It is a film that is purely made for big screens and great sound systems and I missed out on that experience since it ran very briefly here and that too in 3-D. It is a technical marvel with gorgeous frames from Roger Deakins and a soundtrack that evokes Vangelis' work from the original. It was largely shot in practical sets, like Arrival. Almost all the characters in 2049 are replicants and the few 'human' ones behave like robots. This makes it less interesting as you end up exasperating over the fact that we have to put up with existential issues faced by robots when we already know that, as humans,  we don't have a fucking purpose anyway. It also reminds one of Matrix series in several instances and not in a good way. Audience is ahead of the protagonist in figuring out what is going on for majority of the film. I do think you have to watch Blade Runner before going for the sequel even though it can work as a standalone film.

Ultimately, it is another film that has bawled the critics over almost universally but I was slightly underwhelmed by it, like Baby Driver. I think all the big budget studio films being generally shit these days have got something to do with that and anything remotely interesting, original and adult tend to get gushed over by critics. Denis Villeneuve's big budget sci-fi films, Arrival and Blade Runner 2049, have been interesting watches and technically stunning, but quite underwhelming compared to his other films. He is slated to reboot 'Dune' next. I haven't seen the one directed by David Lynch and the documentary 'Jodorowsky's Dune' is a very good watch.

Rating: 3.5/5

Arrival (2016)

Director: Denis Villeneuve
Writers: Eric Heisserer, Ted Chiang
DOP: Bradford Young
Cast: Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, Forest Whitaker


A linguist is recruited by the military to translate alien communications after 12 alien vessels lands in different locations around the world including one in Montana. While different countries initially coordinate together to share the information they learn about aliens, this arrangement breaks down eventually when they try to pinpoint the purpose of their visit.

The monolithic space craft in the film is the very obvious but what seems a mandatory reference for every space related film to 2001: A Space Odyssey. The film's treatment is quite similar to how it was in 'Signs' with the emphasis on what impact it does have on the characters rather than on the aliens or a confrontation. The tagline of the film is 'Why are they here?' and it kind of leads to a somewhat anti-climactic reasoning. Interstellar had a very cringe worthy explanation of 'Love' communicating over space and time and when compared to that, Arrival's message of countries from all around the earth having to unite together and coordinate is executed and conveyed much better. The obvious allusion is to the threat of climate change and global warming. When you come to think of it, the prevailing idea in this genre that aliens would want to invade earth is quite preposterous since them being here itself is proof of their superior intellect. I guess the easy comparison to our own history of colonialism is the reason for this narrative.

Arrival is an adaptation of short story 'Story of your life' by Ted Chiang. A major theme explored in the film is the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis. It posits that the structure of a language affects its speakers' cognition or thought process. The film proposes that when you learn a new language, you begin to think in terms of that language. The alien language in the film has a unique feature which gives the linguist character, played by Amy Adams, a unique ability. The twist in the end would make you see many prior scenes from the film in a new light. Film had begun with Amy Adams kissing her new born baby which looks misleadingly like a still-born. That scene makes total sense in the end.

It is visually a gorgeous film in a foreboding sense when combined with Jóhan Jóhannsson's stunning background score. It sounded quite Indian at times as well. I watched the film with great expectations after the almost perfect reviews that it got and was somewhat underwhelmed by it. Jeremy Renner's character is terribly undercooked and it leads to an unconvincing ending. Denis Villeneuve is one of the best directors going around now and it ends up as one of his lesser efforts along with 'Prisoners'. Still, it is a very good watch people have every reason to be excited by his Bladerunner project.

Rating: 3.5/5 

Sicario (2015)

Director: Denis Villeneuve
Writer:    Taylor Sheridan
Cast:       Emily Blunt, Benicio Del Toro, Josh Brolin

An idealistic FBI agent (Emily Blunt) is enlisted by an elected government task force to aid in the escalating war against drugs at the border area between U.S. and Mexico. 

The film at its core is a thinking man's action film. It is a cold depiction of the American 'War on Drugs' at a macro level. At one point of time Josh Brolin's character states that as long as 20% of Americans snort that 'shit', drug trade is going to be the reality and the only thing they can do is try bring some order into it. It is the neighboring countries in Central and Latin America that gets affected by US' misguided 'War on Drugs' and it got to act when things get out of hand in those countries due to drug trade. It was Colombia in the early days, but now, most of the violence is centered around Mexico. In this film, Del Toro's character kind of represents the Colombian drug cartel going by the name 'Medellin' and he also has a personal score to settle against the head of the Mexican cartel-Sonora. The basic premise is that the FBI agents are attached to the mission basically because CIA cannot act in US domestic soil unless a domestic agency is attached to it and they are helping the Medellin cartel to kill the boss of Sonora cartel. The FBI agents and us, the viewers, are kept in the dark regarding these things and we piece them together over the course of the film. There isn't actually much action during the action set-pieces and it is much more about getting the atmosphere right and they do that with some stunning aerial shots set to some wonderful score and there is a night vision operation in a tunnel towards the end of the film. 

Villeneuve does not bother to pander the audience with great details or explanations and it is often the case with the films for the director to take a stand on the issue. He doesn't do that in an explicit fashion and so the film will be an enjoyable watch even if you are on opposing sides on the issue (US War on Drugs). You kind of root for Del Toro and Josh Brolin even though you know that what they are doing is not going to really help in the large scheme of things. Trying to bring some order into the drug trade is going to be futile since chaos and violence are so intrinsic in nature to these things. Only a policy level change on its so-called 'War' is going to change things and as more and more US states legalize Marijuana, there is hope that things will change soon enough. 

The ultimate 'War on Drugs' movie is Steven Soderbergh's 'Traffic' which is kind of epic in its ambition. It tried to portray the issue from all sides. Sicario doesn't try to do that and I don't think it is an issue at all. There is a Mexican cop character in it, whose family is also shown occasionally throughout the film, and we might think that Denis is trying to show the other side in a tokenistic manner. What is brilliant is how that character is disposed off without bells and whistles keeping in with the overall theme of the film. 'Sicario' is the Spanish word for Hitman and it originates from 'Sicarii', a group of Jewish rebels that used a short sword hidden in their tunics during the times of Roman Empire. 

To sum up, it is an excellent watch with great performances from the terrific cast. Roger Deakins is behind the camera and as always you could see that from the output itself. Denis Villeneuve is slated to direct the Blade Runner project next and I am kind of disappointed by that. I would rather have him direct independent contemporary features instead of all this big budget crap which are either sci-fi or period. Invariably great directors tend to move on to big budget novelty projects after a certain amount of success, and it is very rare to see great ones making films that are contemporary in terms of settings and subject. If I were to rank Denis Villeneuve films, it would be as follows:  

1. Enemy
2. Sicario
3. Incendies
4. Polytechnique
5. Prisoners

Rating: 4.5/5

Polytechnique (2009)

Director: Denis Villeneuve
Writers:  Jacques Davidts, Denis Villeneuve
Cast:       Maxim Gaudette, Sebastian Huberdeau, Karin Vanasse
Language: French

A dramatization of the Montreal massacre of 1989 where several female engineering students were murdered by an unstable misogynist. The film is shot in Black and White and the version that I saw was the French one. It is said to be a fictional dramatization of the massacre in which 28 people were shot at with 14 women dying. The massacre was a major spur for Canadian gun control movement.

I didn't know the exact premise of the film going into it and the film makes it clear from the first scene itself with a gunfire at a photocopying booth. Film is told mainly from three perspectives-that of the killer, a male student and a female mechanical engineering student. Director jumps through timelines and gives a dispassionate account without feeling the need to make it as if it is a big social message. Since I didn't know about the real life background of the event, I was bemused by the premise that someone will do a massacre targeting what he sees as 'Feminists'. In India also, if you go by twitter, there is a tendency to blame 'Femi-Nazis' (their term for feminists) for all sorts of things and it is not surprising coming from people who are opposed to reservation (Indian version of affirmative action to combat caste based discrimination). Many don't realize the default privileges that they enjoy and have a notion that they get to where they are through their own 'hard work' entirely.

It was interesting to see that in the developed world also, females taking up mechanical engineering would raise eyebrows, at least in 1989. In India, it is very common to have male only mechanical engineering batches. The killing spree in the film starts in a mechanical engineering class where the killer asks the female students and male students to split up. He then accuses female students of being feminists for taking up the course they did and starts the shooting. He commits suicide after the killing spree and the cause that he took up was identified as anti-feminism based on his own oral statements during the killing and targeting of females during the shooting. The massacre also sparked off controversies, as initially the male students were criticized for not intervening and later on feminists were criticized for using the murder to promote their cause.

Overall it is a great watch and it being in black and white affords the director an opportunity to show the gruesomeness. A droning sound is used as BGM when the story is shown from the perspective of the killer, which reminded me of 'Under the Skin'. Despite the subject matter, it is an exquisite film visually. The fact that the killer had a motive makes the film more interesting to watch. Denis Villeneuve is a very promising director even though the film for which he got all the acclaim, 'Prisoners', is hugely overrated. If I were to rank his films, it would be like:

1) Enemy

2) Polytechnique

3) Incendies

4) Prisoners

His latest film. Sicario, has been very well received by the critics and I can't wait to watch it. He is also slated to direct the upcoming Blade Runner project as well.

Rating: 4/5   

                                                                       

Enemy (2013)

Director: Denis Villeneuve

Writers:  Jose Saramago (Novel), Javier Gullon
Cast:       Jake Gyllenhaal, Melanie Laurent, Sarah Gadon

A man seeks out his exact lookalike after spotting him in a movie.

Denis Villeneuve is a director who uses the color tones well to add to the visual story telling. 'Incendies' had a blue tint whereas 'The Prisoners' had a grey one conveying the grim nature of the story. I liked Incendies but thought the prisoners had glaring plot holes. He is one director who is not afraid to depict really outlandish plots hoping to carry it through how well immersed the viewer can be in the viewing experience. So how much you rate the film will depend a lot on how well you enjoyed whilst watching it so that you could suspend your disbelief which is needed very much. 

Enemy is also no different with him going for the color tone similar to another one of Jake Gyllenhaal film 'Zodiac'.  It is a twist on the multiple personality disorder which is a genre in itself in film industry. Contrary to most other films in this genre we as audience realize pretty much from the get go what is going on. When it happened I was going like 'Oh no! Not another one of these'. Then my focus went on to keeping a watch on which all characters are together in a scene, when one interacts with another whether the third one is present on the screen and so on. I was sincerely hoping that the director would add another twist to show they are different people which I think is fair to expect from a Denis Villeneuve film if you go by the twist in 'Incendies'. The director takes this twist and finally does a reverse flip by ending it again on the Schizophrenic reality of the situation. The ending which alludes that it was all in his head might be disingenuous to many viewers going by the reviews, but I thoroughly enjoyed as it is a self aware play on the genre. I also loved the end credits.

It was good to see Melanie Laurent in it (Shohsanna from Inglorious Basterds) and Jake Gyllenhaal picks good solid films to act in.The film was adapted from Jose Saramago's novel 'The Double'.

Rating: 5/5

Prisoners (2013)

Director: Denis Villeneuve
Writer:    Aaron Guzikowski
Cast:       Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Paul Dano

Keller Dover's (Hugh Jackman) daughter goes missing along with her friends and he takes matters into his own hands even as the Police investigates the case using the leadership of Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal).

It is really an engrossing watch as we are filled with dread whole the way through but one feels its just a few plot twists too many. The same could be said of Villenueve's critically acclaimed previous film 'Incendies' which was larger in scope and therefore one can be more forgiving. Performances are great especially by Gyllenhaal and Jackman, and Paul Dano plays another psycho role. It is really a very good watch but I don't think it will stand up to scrutiny on second watch and plenty of plot holes to fill. It has got a very similar feel to 'Mystic River' which I liked even less.

Rating: 3/5 

Incendies (2010)

Director:   Denis Villeneuve
Writers:    Denis Villeneuve, Wajdi Mouawad
Language: French/Arabic
Twins journey to the Middle East to discover their family history, and fulfill their mother's last wishes.

The film is very well made with excellent performances and great soundtrack. Guessed the twist very early.

Rating: 4/5