INCENSING:

righteously furious meditations on

the twilit and allegorical film art

of Denis Villeneuve

        Like most film artists since 1982, Denis Villeneuve used his film art to respond to the dread allegorical Zone Wars that had raged on film and in fiction since a helicopter crash killed actor/director/writer Vic Morrow and illegally hired and used child extras Renee Chen and Myca Le around 2:20 am in the early morning of July 23, 1982 on the George Folsey jr. produced John Landis set of the twilit, allegorical, Kathleen Kennedy associate produced, Frank Marshall produced and Landis and Steven Spielberg executive produced Landis, Spielberg, Joe Dante and George Miller docufeature film TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE (1983).  However, not many film artists have produced film art as incensing as Villeneuve, an incensing oeuvre that that started quietly when Villeneuve fittingly kicked off his film art life in classic Generation X fashion when he donned the writer/director hats to implicitly roast George Lucas in his first twilit, allegorical and CGI free indie docufeature film UN 32 AOUT SUR TERRE aka AUGUST 32^nd ON EARTH (1998), a film released on May 21, 1998. 

“Le space allons-y.”

        Intriguingly, the film began with an attractive and Natalie Portman resembling and implicitly linked young woman-played by Pascale Bussieres-getting into a single vehicle accident on a lonely rural road in Quebec.  After being picked up by a sympathetic motorist who resembled and was implicitly linked to David Cronenberg-and was played by Serge Theriault-the young woman was driven to a hospital.  After being cared for there, she got another ride to Montreal where she hooked up with a young man who resembled and was implicitly linked to a young Lucas named Philippe Despins-his name evoking Bespin in the eerily twilit and allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed, implicitly Spielberg roasting and Lucas executive produced Irvin Kershner indie docufeature film STAR WARS EPISODE V: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (1980) to affirm his implicit link to Lucas, and played by Alexis Martin.  Curiously, the young woman, who turned out to be named Simone Prevost, soon persuaded Despins to fly with her from Montreal to Salt Lake City, Utah to conceive a baby. 

Once in Salt Lake City, the starcrossed pair took a taxi driven by a man-played by Richard S. Hamilton-who resembled and was implicitly linked to an older Lucas to try but fail to conceive that baby in a surreal flat white desertscape outside of Salt Lake City that evoked the surreal white detention centre in the eerily and presciently twilit, allegorical and implicitly Stanley Kubrick roasting Lucas indie docufeature film THX 1138 (1971) and the searing desertscape of Tatooine in the allegorical, computer generated imagery (CGI) enhanced, Ozian themed and implicitly Spielberg roasting indie docufeature film STAR WARS EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE (1977) to reaffirm the implicit link of Philippe and the driver to Lucas and the film’s implicit interest in Lucas and Portman.  Significantly, after a quarrel over a Forcefull four hundred dollars to drive them back to Salt Lake City, the driver drove off and abandoned Philippe and Simone in the desert, perhaps implying that Villeneuve felt that Lucas should also abandon any idea of returning to the Temple Theatre with Portman in 1999 with a second STAR WARS trilogy as this second Forceful would fail as surely as Philippe and Simone failed to conceive a baby. 

In fact, given that Philippe and Simone survived their desert ordeal and returned to Montreal only for Philippe to be beaten into a coma one fateful night on the street by a twilit trio of thugs led by Junior Jabba-played by Stephane Lefebvre-Villeneuve implied that Lucas should abandon any idea of returning with a second STAR WARS trilogy for fear of being mauled badly by audiences, reviewers and the poor ol’ Gardevil, a prescient implication indeed given that Lucas was indeed badly mauled by audiences, reviewers and the poor ol’ Gardevil when he teamed up with Portman to create and release the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed and implicitly Spielberg and James Cameron roasting indie animaction film STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE (1999) the following year.  At any rate, an implicit interest in Lucas continued when Villeneuve donned the writer/director hats and teamed up again with Max Films and with director of photography (DOP) Andre Turpin and producer Roger Frappier-both from UN 32 AOUT SUR TERRE-on the twilit, allegorical and CGI free indie docufeature film MAELSTROM (2000), released on August 29, 2000.

“Etre l’enfant d’un mythe

l’avait transformee en mythomane/

Being the child of a myth,

transformed her into a mythomaniac.”

        Curiously, after a hypnotizing opening title in Norwegian set the scene and a surreal beginning on a bloody table in a dark and mouldering wooden factory or attic that set the dreamy and surreal tone of the piece and introduced an equally bloody fish-played by Pierre Lebeau-who ironically introduced this “…very pretty story” and turned out to be the film’s at times open and at other times voiceover (VO) narrator and the hairy and infernal fishmonger-played by Daniel Turcot-who tormented it, the pretty bloody story just as ironically shifted to the sight and sound of a beautiful and Sofia Carmina (SCC) Coppola resembling and implicitly linked young brunette woman-played by Marie-Josee Croze-getting an abortion in a clinic.  After the abortion, the young woman drove in her car through the streets of Montreal-a segment that alluded to the twilit, allegorical and CGI enhanced SCC indie docufeature film THE VIRGIN SUICIDES (1999) to affirm the implicit interest in SCC in MAELSTROM-to a women’s clothing boutique called Sumatra.  Here we found out that she was the store’s owner and was called “Bibi”. 

Significantly, here Bibi met her friend, the Zoe (ZC) Cassavetes resembling and implicitly linked Claire Gunderson-played by Stephanie Morgenstern-whose implicit link to ZC affirmed the implicit link of Bibi to SCC as ZC was the good friend of SCC.  Indeed, the implicit link of Bibi to SCC was reaffirmed after spending the night recovering from the abortion chez Claire, for the next day she met up with her older and Lucas resembling and implicitly linked brother Philippe Champagne-his name evoking the implicitly Lucas linked Philippe in UN 32 AOUT SUR TERRE, and played by Bobby Beshro-to discuss the disastrous fortunes of Sumatra.  For the implicit link of Philippe to Lucas reminded us that Lucas was a longtime friend of SCC and the rest of the storied Coppola clan.  The sight and sound of Bibi with Philippe also reminded us that SCC had offended some audience members not long before the release of MAELSTROM for appearing in a cameo role as Sache, a handmaiden to Queen Padme Amidala-played by Portman-in STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE.  Indeed, the succession of bloody members of the same species of fish that attempted to narrate the film but were always thwarted by the infernal fishmonger affirmed the film’s interest in the first film of the STAR WARS Tragic Trilogy, for its world weary and sad eyed heads resembled the head of a sea monster seen at the beginning of STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE.  The revelation soon after Bibi’s visit with Philippe that she was Bibiane “Bibi” Champagne, the daughter of the famous Florence Fabert also affirmed the implicit link of Champagne to SCC, reminding us that she was the daughter of Eleanor and Francis Coppola, and openly linking her to Florence, Italia. 

Depressed after her meeting with Philippe and his refusal to keep funding her three Sumatra stores, Champagne partied that night at a dance club.  Alas, while driving home hungover in the wee hours of the morning, Champagne hit an older man walking home from work who turned out to be an implicitly Kubrick linked Norwegian immigrant named Head Annstein Karson-played by Klimbo-whose nationality reminded us that the exteriors for the Hoth snow planet were filmed in Norway for STAR WARS EPISODE V: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK.  Fleeing the accident in fear and loathing, Champagne slowly became consumed with guilt, particularly when she found out that Karson had died, so consumed with guilt that she eventually tried to commit suicide.  Curiously, however, Champagne not only survived the suicide attempt, but met and struck up an ironic relationship with Karson’s mourning and perhaps Leon Vitali linked son Evian Karson-played by Jean-Francois Verreault-an ironic relationship indeed, given that Evian initially did not know that Champagne had accidentally killed his father.  Significantly, this relationship alluded to THX 1138, reaffirming the film’s implicit interest in Kubrick and Lucas. 

Thus, given that the ironic relationship went well despite Bibi revealing to Evian that she had accidentally killed his father and the film ended with Bibi and Evian committed to each other as they dumped Karson’s ashes off the side of a boat and into the water off of the Norwegian Lofoten Islands to the hopeful sound of the allegorical and Galt MacDermot, James Rado and Gerome Ragni written and Lynn Kellogg and Melba Moore sung tune “Good Morning Sunshine” (1968) from the first Broadway production of the allegorical musical HAIR (1968), Villeneuve implied either that he believed that SCC should leave behind creating her own film art or that he hoped that SCC would still go on to create memorable film art for film art’s sake like Kubrick.  Or did it, given that the world weary fish narrator returned in person on the bloody table only to have its head hacked off again by the infernal fishmonger before it could get in the last word, implying that the surreal film was just a dream after all?  At any rate, MAELSTROM was a popular film that won a lot of Genies et Jutras, and had a nonlinear structure that evoked that of the film art of Quentin Tarantino.  A nonlinear structure that returned when, unfortunately, after an intriguing beginning with MAELSTROM, Villeneuve struck back by donning the co-writer/director hats to implicitly address SCC and Kubrick again in what was perhaps the most implicitly incensing and stupid twilit, allegorical and CGI free indie docufeature “film” ever made, POLYTECHNIQUE (2008), released on February 6, 2009.

FMJ 1201

        Unfortunate, infuriating, petty and stupid, indeed, for Villeneuve implicitly used the shocking shooting rampage of Gamil Gharbi aka Marc Lepine at the Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal in December of 1989 that shocked, changed and scarred a city, a province and a nation forever to petulantly lash out at Kubrick, who was implicitly linked to Lepine-played by Maxim Gaudette-throughout the “film”.  Alas, the “film’s” many allusions to the eerily and presciently twilit, allegorical and implicitly Richard Donner roasting Kubrick indie docufeature artbuster THE SHINING (1980) affirmed the implicit Kubrick addressing intent of POLYTECHNIQUE.  For the camera wound ominously through the hallways of the snowswept Ecole Polytechnique like the camera wound ominously through the hallways of the snowswept Overlook Hotel, the staff and students fled the psychotic shooter like Danny and Wendy Torrance-played by Danny Lloyd and Shelley Duvall, respectively-fled the equally psychotic and implicitly Donner linked Jack Torrance-played by Jack Nicholson-in THE SHINING, while the olive green combat-style winter jacket worn by Lepine during his rampage evoked a similar winter coat Kubrick was photographed wearing during the creation of THE SHINING.  The “film’s” few allusions to the allegorical and implicitly Alfred Hitchcock toasting Kubrick indie docufeature film KILLER’S KISS (1955), the allegorical Kubrick indie docufeature artbuster 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (1968) and the twilit, allegorical and implicitly Landis and New Hollywood addressing Kubrick indie docufeature artbuster FULL METAL JACKET (1987) also affirmed the implicit link of Lepine to Kubrick in POLYTECHNIQUE.

Thus, the implication was that the female engineering student victims of Lepine symbolized the films that Kubrick “killed” with his directorial touch, an unbelievably stupid, petty, pouty, petulant and pointless implication that even a petty, pouty and petulant Quebecois “film artist” should have been too ashamed to waste his time making.  In addition, the interwoven story and survival of the implicitly SCC linked engineering student Valerie Dompierre-played by Karine Vanasse-and her later success as an aeronautics engineer now implied the hope of Villeneuve that SCC would escape the shadow and influence of Kubrick and Lucas succeed as a film artist, an implication affirmed by the film’s allusion to THE VIRGIN SUICIDES.  The death of Dompierre’s implicitly ZC linked engineering student friend Stephanie-played by Evelyne Brochu-also implied the fear of Villeneuve that ZC would not succeed as a film artist.  And last but not least, the suicide of Valerie’s other friend and fellow student, the implicitly Luc Besson linked Jean-Francois-played by Sebastien Huberdeau-who survived the rampage but was consumed with guilt for surviving it, implied that Villeneuve felt that Besson had failed in some way as a true film artist. 

At any rate, the fact that anyone would use the nightmare at the Ecole Polytechnique in such an infuriatingly dumb, petty and pointless way was beyond belief and just plain wrong!  So dumb that audiences did not notice that the shooting rampage and the nonlinear structure of the film evoked and perhaps also rebuked the shooting rampage that massacred a wedding party in an El Paso church and the nonlinear structure of the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed Tarantino indie docufeature films KILL BILL VOL. 1 (2003) and KILL BILL VOL. 2 (2004).  Fortunately for Villeneuve, audiences did not understand the implicitly and infuriatingly wrong, petty and stupid meaning of POLYTECHNIQUE.  And so the “film art” career of Villeneuve did not abruptly end, allowing him to continue to create “film art” when he donned the co-writer/director hats and returned with Gaudette and Telefilm Canada for another implicit and Tarantino evoking nonlinear roast of SCC and Lucas in the twilit, allegorical and CGI enhanced indie docufeature film INCENDIES (2010), released on September 3, 2010 and inspired by the twilit and allegorical Wajdi Mouawad play Incendies (2003).

“What does your intuition tell you?”

        Curiously, the film began with a mysterious Middle Eastern prologue that saw a group of boys with big Lucas ears having their heads shaved to the soft and swelling sound of dreamy pop music, a sight and sound that evoked the shaven headed men, women and children of the labyrinthine subterranean world of THX 1138 and the soft and dreamy music heard in the films of SCC, immediately affirming the film’s implicit interest in SCC and Lucas.  This implicit interest in Lucas was reaffirmed when the film returned to Montreal and the notary office of Jean Lebel-played by Remy Girard.  For here we found Lebel regarding a file folder in a filing cabinet labelled Richard Marchand before flipping to a file for Nawal Marwan-played by Lubna Azabal-a Richard Marchand file that reminded us that Richard Marquand was the director of the infuriatingly disappointing and Ewok wacky, twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed, Lucas executive produced and implicitly Spielberg roasting indie docufeature film STAR WARS EPISODE VI: RETURN OF THE JEDI (1983).  The sight and sound of Marwan’s twin children, Simon/Sarwan and Jeanne/Janaan Marwan-who resembled and were possibly linked to Tarantino and Daniella Pick, and were played by Gaudette and Melissa Desormeaux-Poulin, respectively-arriving at Lebel’s office to hear their mother’s will also affirmed the film’s implicit interest in Lucas, for the twins evoked the J.D. Jedi twins, Leia and Luke Skywalker-played by Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill, respectively-in the STAR WARS Classic Trilogy.

Significantly, this implicit interest in Lucas was reaffirmed not long after, when a Middle Eastern flashback revealed that the teenaged Marwan resembled and was implicitly linked to SCC and that her boyfriend Wahab-played by Hamed Najem-resembled and was implicitly linked to a young and bearded Lucas before he was unceremoniously shot and killed.  The film’s implicit interest in SCC and Lucas was then reaffirmed by the unfortunate young couple’s unplanned and possibly Cameron linked baby Rihad of May aka Abou Tarek aka Nihad Harmanni-played by Hussein Sami at five years, Yousef Soufan at fifteen years, and by Abdelghafour Elaaziz as an adult, respectively.  For Rihad of May reminded us that SCC and her “Uncle” Lucas were both born on May 14, 1944, and that STAR WARS EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE was released to great acclaim on May 25, 1977, a Skyrocking success that caused Lucas to release the rest of his STAR WARS films on or as close as possible to the lucky 25^th of May forever after, making him truly “Lucas of May.”  Of course, the three black dots tattooed on the back of Rihad of May’s right ankle also affirmed his implicit link to Lucas, reminding us that the STAR WARS films were given to the world in a Classic Trilogy and a Tragic Trilogy. 

Just as significantly, Rihad of May was slowly revealed by more convoluted and nonlinear flashbacks-one of which saw Marwan survive a Christian militia massacre of a bus full of Muslim passengers like Dompierre survived the Lepine massacre of a room full of female engineering students in POLYTECHNIQUE, linking the two films and reaffirming the implicit link of SCC to Marwan-and by the intrepid film long detective work of the Marwan twins to be first the devoted son of Marwan, and then the unknowing rapist torturer of his indomitable and unbreakable mother and one who impregnated her with the J.D. Jedi twins.  Thus, Villeneuve implied his belief that Cameron had triumphed in the long run over the implicit roasting he got from SCC, Lucas and the STAR WARS Tragic Trilogy. 

As for Sir Ridley Scott, he implied that he was not fond of the implicitly SCC roasting intent of INCENDIES, for blockbuster alien disease killed the implicitly Villeneuve linked Doctor Charles “Charlie” Holloway-played by Logan Marshall-Green-while his partner, the implicitly SCC linked Dr. Elizabeth Shaw-played by Noomi Rapace-survived her brush with blockbuster alien impregnation at the end of the twilit, allegorical and CGI enhanced indie docufeature artbuster PROMETHEUS [2012], released on April 11, 2012.  And then ridiculously convoluted, complicated and nonlinear implicit allegorical web of INCENDIES did not return despite an implicit continuation in interest in Tarantino when Villeneuve donned the director hat and left behind implicitly anglophone film artist roasting indie francophone film art for implicitly anglophone film artist roasting indie anglophone film art with the more conventionally linear twilit, allegorical and CGI enhanced Villeneuve indie docufeature film PRISONERS (2013), released on August 13, 2013.

“Makes people lose their faith.

Turns them into demons like you.”

        Significantly, the film began with a cute blonde girl named Anna Dover-played by Erin Gerasimovich-going missing on her own quiet residential street one fateful and frightening night, causing her frantic, furious and implicitly Cameron linked father Keller Dover-played by Hugh Jackman-to spend the rest of the film looking for her.  Soon he was joined by the determined, idiosyncratic, indie, intrepid and implicitly David Lynch linked police Detective Loki-played by Jake Gyllenhaal-who evoked the equally determined and intrepid FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper-played by Kyle MacLachlan-in the twilit, allegorical and implicitly Spielberg roasting indie telemoving painting series TWIN PEAKS (1990-91) and the equally twilit, allegorical and implicitly Spielberg roasting indie moving painting TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME (1992) to affirm his implicit link to Lynch.  Indeed, Detective Loki even favoured a combed back Lynch hair style and white dress shirts buttoned at the collar just like Lynch, reaffirming his implicit link to Lynch.  The soundtrack of the film composed by Johann Johannsson also evoked that of favourite Lynch composer Angelo Badalamenti, reaffirming the implicit interest in Lynch in PRISONERS.  Allusions to the allegorical Lynch indie moving painting THE ELEPHANT MAN (1980) also affirmed the film’s implicit interest in Lynch.

        Just as significantly, it was noticeable that Det. Loki tracked down the child abductor and serial killer with the Hollywood evoking name of Holly Jones-implicitly linked to Connie McHugh-Zastoupil, the mother of Tarantino, and played by Melissa Leo-and succeeded in finding and saving Anna Dover before she was killed by Jones, in the end, implicitly affirming the fondness of Villeneuve for Lynch.  Alas, it was also noticeable that finding Anna did not help her frantic and raging father Keller, who was buried alive by Jones before she was gunned down by Det. Loki, perhaps Villeneuve’s implicit way of saying that Cameron had either killed himself, his humanity, the vital humanity of his film art or all three struggling to beat Spielberg at the box office, given his embrace of blockbuster CGI enhanced beasts like the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and implicitly Lucas and Martin Scorsese roasting indie animaction Zonebuster AVATAR (2009).  Indeed, the fact that Keller abducted Holly’s implicitly Tarantino linked nephew Alex Winterman-Jones aka Barry Milland-played by Paul Dano-and hid him in an abandoned building where he beat and tortured Alex pitilessly throughout the film affirmed the implication that Villeneuve believed that Cameron and his Zonebusting film art had lost their vital humanity.

At any rate, after implicitly coming to the support of Lynch, Villeneuve then scaled twin peaks of his own when he donned the director hat and returned to the Temple Theatre soon after the release of PRISONERS with Gyllenhaal, Telefilm Canada and costume designer Renee April and production designer Patrice Vermette-both from PRISONERS-to implicitly roast Tarantino again in the twilit, allegorical and slightly CGI enhanced indie docufeature film ENEMY (2013), released on September 8, 2013 and inspired by the twilit and allegorical Jose Saramago indie docufiction novel The Double (2002).

“I don’t…

I don’t really like movies.”

        Curiously, the film was shot in the slow, cerebral, menacing and sensual style of Cronenberg, an implicit interest in Cronenberg reaffirmed by the fact that the film was created in Toronto and was one and a half hours like most of the indie docufeature film art of Cronenberg, and also featured a soundtrack composed by Danny Bensi and Saunder Jurriaans that evoked that of longtime Cronenberg composer Howard Shore.  The presence of Sarah Gadon as Helen also affirmed the implicit interest in Cronenberg in ENEMY, as Gadon was a Cronenberg find who played Emma Jung in the twilit, allegorical and CGI free Cronenberg indie docufeature film A DANGEROUS METHOD (2011) and Elise Shifrin in the equally twilit, allegorical and CGI enhanced Cronenberg indie docufeature film COSMOPOLIS (2012). 

However, despite these nods to Cronenberg, it was noticeable that the film revolved around the Jason Reitman resembling and implicitly linked University of Toronto-Scarborough History professor Adam Bell-played by Gyllenhaal-who discovered one night to his surprise while watching the twilit and allegorical Ellen Lipton docufeature film WHERE THERE’S A WILL THERE’S A WAY (2005) that there was an implicitly Tarantino linked actor in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) named Daniel Saint Claire-also played by Gyllenhaal-who not only worked under the name Anthony Claire in bit parts in films, bit parts that reminded us that Tarantino liked to work in bit parts in films to affirm Saint Claire’s implicit link to Tarantino, but also looked like Bell’s twin brother.  This resemblance of the two young men surprised and intrigued Bell so much that he tracked down Saint Claire at his condo in Mississauga to meet him and then slowly became obsessed with the actor at the same time that the actor slowly became obsessed with him.  So much so that Bell and Saint Claire eventually swapped lives and luvers-Bell’s Mary [played by Melanie Laurent] for Claire’s pregnant Helen-a steamy swap involving men who resembled twins which evoked a similar scenario involving the twisted Mantle twin brothers-both played by Jeremy Irons-in the twilit and allegorical Cronenberg indie docufeature film DEAD RINGERS (1988). 

Significantly, Laurent’s Mary openly linked Saint Claire and the film to Tarantino, as she played the vengeful Shoshanna Dreyfus in the daylit, allegorical and CGI enhanced Tarantino indie docufeature film INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS (2009).  Just as significantly, the luv swap ended fatally when Saint Claire and Mary died in a single vehicle car accident while quarrelling, in the end, a car crash that evoked those seen throughout the twilit, allegorical, CGI free and implicitly Lynch roasting Cronenberg indie docufeature film CRASH (1995) in another nod to Cronenberg.  Leaving Bell and Helen to their newfound luv, perhaps implying the hope of Villeneuve that Reitman would triumph over Tarantino in the Temple Theatre with more successful film art, perhaps due to the implicit roast Tarantino gave Reitman in the daylit, allegorical and CGI enhanced indie docufeature film DJANGO (2012).  Or did it, given the film ended with a surreal and CGI enhanced shot of Bell looking into the new bedroom he shared with Helen at Saint Claire’s condo and finding that she had been transformed into a giant tarantula that evoked the smaller one he had been seeing in visions throughout the film.  At any rate, Villeneuve soon donned the director hat and teamed up again with April, Johannsson, Vermette and PRISONERS director of photography Roger A. Deakins on the twilit, allegorical and CGI enhanced indie docufeature film SICARIO (2015), released on May 19, 2015.

“You are not a wolf.

And this is the land of the wolves now.”

        Curiously, after an explosive prologue in Chandler, Arizona, the film saw the ambiguously linked FBI Special Agent Kate Macer-played by Emily Blunt-team up with the laid back, genial and implicitly TIFF CEO Piers Handling linked CIA advisor Matt Graver-played by Josh Brolin-to battle Mexican drug cartels implicitly linked to the twilit and corrupt Hollywood studios.  Just as curiously, it was the mysterious, solitary, deadly and implicitly Landis linked CIA “advisor” Alejandro-played by Benicio Del Toro-and not Macer or Graver that tracked down and killed the film’s most wanted Mexican drug cartel leader, the implicitly Mark Boal linked Fausto Alarcon-played by Julio Cesar Cedillo-and his implicitly Kathryn Bigelow linked wife-played by Kim Larrichio-in the end, an implication affirmed by the film’s allusions to the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Boal written and implicitly Landis and Sarah Polley addressing Bigelow indie docufeature artbuster ZERO DARK THIRTY (2012).  Thus, Villeneuve implied his hope that Landis would redeem himself with a good film.         

Curiously, the film then ended after the termination of Alarcon with Alejandro dismissing Macer as a naïve lamb amongst cunning wolves who would not survive the battle against the implicitly Hollywood studio linked cartels.  Just as curiously, the world seen through night vision goggles that made an American raid in the darkness of Mexico near the end of SICARIO look like scenes from an all CGI film or first person shooter video game prepared viewers for the first major appearance of CGI in a Villeneuve film when he donned the director hat and teamed up again with April, Johannsson, Vermette and SICARIO editor Joe Walker on the twilit, allegorical and CGI enhanced indie docufeature film ARRIVAL (2016), released on September 1, 2016 and inspired by the twilit and allegorical Ted Chiang short story “Story Of Your Life” (1998).

“Language is the foundation of civilization.

It is the glue that holds a people together.

It is the first weapon drawn in a conflict.”

        Curiously, the film saw and heard the implicitly Kennedy linked linguist Doctor Louise Banks-played by Amy Adams-team up with the implicitly Lucas linked US Army Colonel G.T. Weber-played by Forest Whitaker-and the implicitly Disney CEO Bob Iger linked physicist Dr. Ian Donnelly-played by Jeremy Renner-struggle to figure out how to communicate with blockbuster CGI enhanced and squid evoking extraterrestrial heptapod beasts that arrived at Earth in twelve black and egg resembling spaceship “shells” one ne’er to be forgotten day.  The sight and sound reminded us that four years earlier, Lucas had appointed Kennedy the CEO of Lucasfilm and had her guide Lucasfilm and ILM into their new roles as subsidiaries of Iger’s Disney, a merger that had the potential of leading Dis, ILM and Lucasfilm to create brainless blockbuster CGI enhanced beasts.  Thus, the fact that Banks, Donnelly and Weber succeeded in learning how to understand the nonlinear pictographic logogram language of the heptapods and communicate with the beastly blockbuster heptapods before war broke out between humans and the beasts at the time of the film’s events or in the anticipated future implied the hope of Villeneuve that Iger and Kennedy would succeed in creating blockbuster CGI enhanced film art that would still retain its vital humanity rather than brainless CGI enhanced blockbuster beasts.  Indeed, the fact that Ian and Louise went on to marry and create a daughter named Hannah-played by Carmela N. Guizzo-affirmed Villeneuve’s implicit hope that Iger and Kennedy would successfully team up to make vitally human creations, in the end.

        Of course, the struggle of Banks, Donnelly and Weber to master logogram pictorial communication with the blockbuster CGI enhanced extraterrestrial beasts perhaps also symbolized the struggle of Villeneuve to master how to communicate in the new cinematic language of CGI enhanced film art.  A struggle to successfully communicate with CGI enhanced film art that Villeneuve clearly enjoyed, for even more spectacular CGI enhancement was on display when he donned the director hat and teamed up with April, Deakins, Walker and David Dastmalchian-who played the creepy and troubled Bob Taylor in PRISONERS-to chronicle the adventures of another patient and intrepid young investigator who evoked and was implicitly linked to Lynch like Det. Loki in PRISONERS in the twilit, allegorical and CGI enhanced indie docufeature artbuster BLADE RUNNER 2049 (2017), released on October 3, 2017 and another Great Flawed Film like its inspiration, the eerily and presciently twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed and implicitly Lucas addressing Sir Scott indie docufeature artbuster BLADE RUNNER (1982), both films in turn inspired by the allegorical and implicitly Disney animatronic people roasting Philip K. Dick indie docufiction novel Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep? (1968).

“It’s okay to dream a little, isn’t it?”

        Another Great Flawed Film, indeed, given that the film repeated all of the mistakes of BLADE RUNNER.  Along the way, Villeneuve also implied that the sight and sound of the cigarette and coffee luvin’ and implicitly Lynch linked Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Agent KD 6-3.7-played by Ryan Gosling-teaming up with his holographic sweetie Joi-played by Ana de Armas-to find the Greta Gerwig resembling and implicitly linked Doctor Ana Stelline-played by Carla Juri-the daughter of the implicitly Lucas linked ex-LAPD Blade Runner Rick Deckard and runaway Replicant Rachael Tyrell-played by Harrison Ford and Sean Young/Loren Peta, respectively-and reunite Deckard with that part human/part Replicant child symbolized the quest of Lynch to use his indie moving paintings to heal the wounds of the TZ disaster and reunite audiences and film artists with a luv of film art.  Along the way, Agent K’s standoff with the implicitly Cameron or Mark Boal linked Niander Wallace-played by Jared Leto-and his triumph over Wallace’s right hand woman, the implicitly Bigelow linked Luv-played by Sylvia Hoeks-symbolized Villeneuve’s belief that the film art of Lynch had held its own with that of Biggs and Cameron.  Indeed, the film’s allusions to the twilit and allegorical Lynch indie moving painting DUNE (1984) affirmed the implicit link of Agent K to Lynch.  Last but not least, the revelation that Dr. Stelline was the literal fused embodiment of human and Replicant and, hence, the literal embodiment of the CGI enhanced artbuster, implied the belief of Villeneuve that Gerwig was destined by fate to be the one to cleanse the universe, break film art free from the TZ disaster, end the dread allegorical Zone Wars, bring harmony back to audiences, film art, film artists and the Temple Theatre, and kick off a daylit neo eon of CGI enhanced film art.  !Kull wahad!

        At any rate, Agent K’s implicit link to Lynch made it fitting that Villeneuve donned the co-writer/director hats and teamed up with Brolin, Dastmalchian, Vermette, Walker, Dave Bautista-who played the implicitly Kubrick linked fugitive Replicant Sapper Morton in BLADE RUNNER 2049-and Hans Zimmer-composer of BLADE RUNNER 2049-to create the twilit, allegorical and CGI enhanced indie docufeature artbuster DUNE (2021), released on September 3, 2021, given that Lynch had tried and failed to adapt the allegorical and implicitly Dick toasting and Robert A. Heinlein roasting Frank Herbert indie docufiction novel Dune (1965) into DUNE. 

“Almost there.”

Alas, Villeneuve continued his incensing approach to film art in this otherwise visually spectacular film by implicitly linking Spielberg to the young intergalactic Messiah Paul Atreides aka “Maud’dib”-played by Timothee Chalamet-first and only born son of the implicitly Lucas linked Duke Leto Atreides-played by Oscar Isaac-and his loyal and implicitly Kennedy linked Bene Gesserit concubine Lady Jessica-played by Rebecca Ferguson.  Indeed, the sight and sound of the loyal and implicitly Landis linked soldier and troubadour Gurney Halleck-played by Brolin-steadfastly supporting Paul and the rest of House Atreides throughout the first half of the film reminded us that Landis had also loyally supported Spielberg and taken the blame for the TZ disaster on himself to save the film art career of Spielberg, affirming the implicit link of Spielberg to Paul.  The presence of the loyal, thoughtful and implicitly John Williams linked Atreides Mentat Thufir Hawat-played by Stephen M. Henderson-also by the side of Paul and Duke Leto throughout the first half of the film reaffirmed the implicit link of Paul to Spielberg and Duke Leto to Lucas.  An implicit interest in Lucas that was also affirmed by the presence of the tall, commanding, fearless, loyal, Lucas luvin’ and implicitly Bigelow linked master Atreides swordsman Duncan Idaho-played by Jason Mamoa.

Thus, the sight and sound of young Atreides travelling to the unforgiving but unimaginably wealthy desert planet of Arrakis aka “Dune” with his parents, Halleck and Hawat and, to his surprise, becoming reluctantly and slowly accepted and embraced like Idaho by the planet’s fearless and indomitable Fremen, particularly the implicitly Coppola linked Fremen naib Stilgar-played by Javier Bardem-and the implicitly Amy Irving linked Chani, literally the girl of Paul’s feverish adolescent dreams-played by Zendaya-as their prophesied messiah, leading to hopes that he could lead them to a triumph over the beastly, soulless, and blockbuster loot lusting Harkonnen and perhaps Cameron linked Imperial forces, who returned after the arrival of House Atreides on the planet to massacre them and then lay waste to the planet in their madcap quest for profits from the life extending and consciousness expanding spice melange produced by the giant phallic sandworms of Arrakis, implied the belief of Villeneuve that Spielberg and not Iger was indeed the one who had led global film artists to a triumph over the TZ disaster and ushered in a daylit neo eon of CGI enhanced film art.  Indeed, the film’s allusions to the STAR WARS Classic and Tragic Trilogies, the TZ disaster, the eerily and presciently twilit and allegorical Landis docufeature film ANIMAL HOUSE [1978], and to the eerily and presciently twilit and allegorical Spielberg docufeature films CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND [1977] and E.T., THE EXTRATERRESTRIAL [1982] affirmed the implicit Kennedy, Landis, Lucas and Spielberg addressing intent of the film.  An implication that was as implicitly infuriating as the implicit meaning of POLYTECHNIQUE, given Spielberg’s implicit wrongdoing in the TZ disaster, and one that made the film deeply, profoundly, totally…incensing.

Bibliography

Fordham, Joe.  “2049 Foresight.”  Cinefex 155.  October 2017.

Nabokov, Vladimir.  Pale Fire.  New York: Vintage International,

        1989.