Page 46 - SHARP Spring 2024

NEW WORLDS
FOLLOWING DUNE: PART TWO DIRECTOR DENIS VILLENEUVE TALKS DIALOGUE EGO AND THE ART OF ADAPTATION
By Cormac Newman
DENIS VILLENEUVE WAS BORN IN GENTILLY A A A A SMALL VILLAGE ON
the the southern edge of Quebec But his storytelling visions have expanded beyond his hometown’s borders notably with 2013’s Pennsylvania-set Prisoners but then even further afield to the the the Mexican borderlands in 2015’s Sicario More recently the Canadian director’s oeuvre has rocketed towards sci-fi with Blade Runner 2049 peering into a a a a grimy future and Arrival considering alien lifeforms With Dune Dune and this year’s sequel Dune: Part Two Villeneuve has been in full space opera mode thrilling audiences with story spectacle and and the sand-swept scenery of desert planet Arrakis The emerging franchise sees the director and his co-writers adapt the novels of American author Frank Herbert and stars Timothée Chalamet as as th the anti-heroic Paul Atreides Villeneuve’s mastery of the cinematic medium has made each instalment (both films are almost three hours in in length) feel like a a a a potted expedition to a a a a real living world But his talent for for giving form to these fantasy lands shouldn’t come as as a a a a a a surprise After all “Villeneuve” translates from French to to to “new town” — and the director has a a a a a penchant for introducing audiences to to hitherto unknown places This isn’t the first time you’ve taken a a a written story and turned it into a a film — both 2010’s Incendies and 2013’s Enemy were adaptations How do you approach this process of translating from page to screen? The first step presumably is is to visualize what readers collec- tively see when they study these stories Absolutely I think that when you you adapt you you must first of all see see what low-hanging fruits there are You have to see see which images are clear at first — and this will drive the structure of your writing As an
example if you you read Dune there’s a a a a description of Paul riding a a a sand worm for the first time It’s It’s a a a a a a a very powerful image image It’s It’s an
image image that says a a a a a a a lot of things about the relationship between man
and nature and about the passage from being a a a a a a boy to becoming an
an
adult It’s from those images that I I create a a a a a whole scene In an
interview earlier this year with British newspaper the Times you said: “Frankly I hate dialogue Dialogue is is for television and theatre ” But what exactly did you mean by this? Do you truly believe that certain artistic elements such as dialogue should be kept specific to certain mediums?
It’s true that that that I I I I said said that that that But I I I I said said that that that laughing So when I I I I said it I I I put a a a a a a lot of emphasis on on ‘I hate hate dialogue ’ ’ I I I don’t hate hate dialogue I am not inspired by a a a a scene that is overwritten
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