Denis Villeneuve

Enemy is an adaptation of José Saramago's O Homem Duplicado, a book I haven't read yet (and probably never will), but which has its fair share of fans. Based on the synopsis I can say it has the perfect premise for a 90 minute mindfuck and Villeneuve exploits that rather well. The basic story is about a history teacher stumbling upon his perfect double. At least, all their external features match, emotionally they are two different people. The both of them are weirded out knowing there's another someone just like them running around in the same city and before long they're making each other's lives into a living hell.

The first hour Villeneuve does his best to keep the mystery alive. Through a strong, ambient-filled soundtrack, moody visuals, slow pacing and detached acting he creates a weird, otherworldly atmosphere that fuels the intrigue. Sadly he doesn't manage to keep the mystery alive and after the first hour the film becomes more down-to-earth and plot-driven. The final shot is a slap in the face and has the potential to turn everything upside down again, but it can't erase the 30 minutes that came before.

On the visual side of things, Villeneuve does his best but he can't hide the extensive sponsor support (including Canadian Telefilm money) that yields some less than perfect results compared to comfort of studio money. After a while the continuous use of the same old filter feels a little stale and the mediocre camera work starts to shine through. The cast is good, Gyllenhaal and Gadon clearly feel at ease with their characters, though I felt Gyllenhaal could've done more with his parts. Mélanie Laurent is the only one that feels out of place, luckily she has the smallest part of the three.

There's obviously a lot of symbolism and hidden layers to discover, the problem is that I like the film better as a mystery. Sure enough there are quite a few things left unexplained and the ending is a complete blank, but unearthing the real story feels like taking away from the core experience (I fear it will be like the underlying symbolism in Gravity making things worse instead of better). So while there's enough detective work to be done for people who are into that sort of thing, I feel fine not knowing all the explanations for the more obscure symbolism here.

Enemy feels like a short intermission between Villeneuve's more ambitious and prestigious projects, but at the same time I liked the film a lot more than his regular work. The first hour in particular is amazing, the final 30 minutes are a small let down but the closing scene is one that I'll fondly remember for years to come. An intriguing little film that deserved a little better in the direction department, but has everything for a nice evening of puzzling looks and unworldly atmosphere.

Paul is the son of an influential family, together with them, he travels to Arrakis, their new home. Arrakis is where "the spice" is mined, a precious resource needed to travel through space. Arrakis is a dangerous place, with sand worms ruling the dunes and tribal fighters holing up in the desert.

Dune is sci-fi pulp, but Villeneuve seems to be taking the material extremely serious. The slow pacing is quite unnecessary, the dialogues are trite, and the visual splendor really isn't all the splendid. Villeneuve also needs a trained action choreographer by his side, if the sequel will truly be more action-based then this blah Hollywood screen-fighting won't cut it. The worms are cool, and it's nice that someone is finally getting heaps of cash to make sci-fi epics again, but this should've been so much better.

Bibiane is a young and seemingly successful businesswoman. She's the daughter of an influential man and because of that, she doubts her worth. When she gets fired and is involved in a hit-and-run in the span of a single day, her entire world comes crumbling down. She spirals downwards even further when she finds out the victim died.

There's a talking fish to make the film a touch more distinct and the structure of the plot is quite messy, which at least brightens up a coincidence-ridden narrative. The performances are decent too, but the film looks pretty glum and the soundtrack is rather boring and expected. Like most of his films, Villeneuve comes off a little too uncertain about his own signature.

Paul joins the Fremen and struggles with his destiny. The Fremen see him as their prophet, but Paul fears he might lead them into a war they cannot win. His mother on the other hand commits to her destiny and becomes an oracle. She travels South to convert the fundamentalists, whereas Paul remains up North to fight the Harkonnen.

The film's biggest problem is that the lore is incredibly cheesy and silly, but Villeneuve does everything in his power to make it look epic and significant. Which it is not, ever. Instead of a fun blockbuster, Dune feels more like a political thriller, but with giant worms, guitar-playing mercenaries, and mind-altering drugs. And I guess a third part is pretty much inevitable. Pfff.