Canada’s Denis Villeneuve received attention and acclaim with his Oscar-nominated Incendies, but the past year has signaled a major break-out for the director. He made his Hollywood debut with Prisoners, a dark, character-focused drama which made for refreshing adult fare last fall. Although shot before that film, his follow-up was Enemy, a confounding doppelgänger tale that was released this spring. For those looking to dive deeper into both films, in-depth video analyses have recently cropped up.
The first, for the former film, comes from Must See Films (via NoFilmSchool) and is the more comprehensive of the two, including video footage, interviews, and more. While it discusses themes of faith and the testing of faith, as well as its western roots, the analysis also goes to exhaustive lengths on highlight visual cues such as the color of animals, how crosses are placed in the frame, and more. We’d be intrigued if these ideas were as thought-out as they are given credit for, but it’s a fascinating watch nonetheless. It’s also a great view after reading this extensive look at Roger Deakins‘ cinematography in the film.
The other video, coming from Chris Stuckmann, takes a look at Enemy, which just became available to stream, so it doesn’t have the same intricate video editing, mostly using stills. However, it does include an interview with Villeneuve, who virtually lays out the answers to any questions one might have regarding the relationship between the two Jake Gyllenhaal characters, before going in-depth on the clues that lead to that unforgettable ending. Check out the videos below and listen to our discussions of both films (here and here).
Which of Villeneuve’s recent films do you prefer? What do you think of analyses?