Denis Villeneuve’s Favorite Movie Is This 1968 Kubrick Classic
The director has a long list of personal favorites which also includes Hitchcock’s cult movie, Christopher Nolan’s hits and even Bradley Cooper’s 2018 romantic drama.
Denis Villeneuve has had a new wave of fame when his sci-fi masterpiece Dune premiered back in 2021, then followed by a sequel that has become one of the highest-grossing films in 2024.
With all the praise both movies received or even keep receiving, it’s fair to say Villeneuve has been mastering his skills of helming sci-fi projects for years before, though David Lynch’s 1984 adaptation of Frank Herbert’s epic book series might not have had much of an influence.
Luckily for Villeneuve’s biggest fans, the director’s list of his favorite movies has been out there for quite some time now, offering a glance at what served as his greatest inspiration; a sci-fi classic is, as expected, a solid number one.
Denis Villeneuve Calls Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey His Favorite Movie
Considering that the director’s Dune and its sequel are now regarded as some of the greatest sci-fi movies of the past several decades, it’s quite easy to guess why Kubrick’s hit movie, which was also considered as a film going way beyond its time, became a starting point for Villeneuve’s future career as a filmmaker.
In an interview with Den of Geek that he had back in 2015, Villeneuve revealed he had been passionate about 2001: A Space Odyssey ever since he had watched the movie for the very first time when he was a kid.
He didn’t see the entire thing though, for that moment just having a glimpse of it from the stairs of his home.
“Then I saw the entire film on television and was struck by the sense of vertigo that he managed to create. It became my favourite film. Rediscovering it at the festival, in 70mm, was a special moment for me,” Villeneuve recalled.
He also added that science fiction had always had a special place in his heart as a filmmaker since “it allows you to tackle difficult subjects such as religion, or other aspects of society that are off-limits, with a great deal of freedom and distance.”
There Are Some Unexpected Findings in Denis Villeneuve’s Favorite Movies List
Despite the director now being one of the greatest masters of the sci-fi genre, it’s not the only cinematic branch he’s pretty fond of.
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Naturally, there are some more science fiction movies on Villeneuve’s list, such as Christopher Nolan ’s Inception, Ridley Scott ’s Blade Runner and Jonathan Glazer’s Under the Skin, yet the director’s personal preferences go way beyond and might even surprise some of his fans.
Apart from timeless classics like Hitchcock’s Vertigo and the Coen brothers’ No Country For Old Men, Villeneuve’s list also features Bradley Cooper ’s musical drama A Star Is Born with Lady Gaga in the leading role and Sofia Coppola’s historical drama The Beguiled.
