Theres a tension inSicariothat has bubbled away in many of Villeneuves recent films.
What is it that interests you in that, as a kind of through-line in your films?
Film always explores reality, you know?
And realitys quite intense!
So I have space to go to the darkness, I feel.
I would love to.
Because its very demanding to go to dark places like this.
I should imagine it is.
So whats the atmosphere like on set?
Are there efforts to keep this very serious story light?
The thing is, I was working with three actors who are close friends.
And Emily loves to laugh!
So it was sometimes more like a kindergarten I had to make discipline!
Im making jokes, but its true.
New Mexico in the summer, as you’ve got the option to guess, is very warm.
We were at very high altitude, so it was very dry.
It was tough, physically, so it was good to have that lightness.
I rewatched Dennis Hoppers filmColorsrecently, which like Sicario, shot in real, quite dangerous locations.
But what I love about the project is that were seeing things from the victims point of view.
Did you know that El Paso is supposed to be the safest city in America?
A few feet away, theres the worst city on Earth.
I was looking for a story set there.
As you say, it does seem to reveal something about our wider society.
Theres a great quote I have here from [Sicarioscreenwriter] Taylor Sheridan: Massive profits trump human decency.
Yeah, yeah, yeah!
I thought that was a great line.
Taylors a very inspiring screenwriter.
A very strong artist.
When I read his screenplay, I felt a strong voice.
Have you spoken with him?
I havent, unfortunately.
Hes a brilliant guy.
He knows what hes talking about.
He did a lot of research.
First, it was like that in the screenplay.
When you read the screenplay, youre exhausted by the end.
Nothing is happening; everything is still.
One of my favourite scenes is where you have two samurai waiting for thieves to pass by.
They know the thieves are coming.
But theyre just waiting.
The violence will arrive soon.
The feeling of that, waiting for that moment to happen, was so strong.
For me, it was my reference as I was doing Sicario.
The pressure of time, to stretch time just long enough so you create the necessary tension.
[Laughs]
I think its close to reality.
Does this make sense, what Im saying?
Im trying to create this conflict by getting out of the path that action cinema usually takes.
So I go to something smaller, more precise, to create a feeling of freshness?
Its a bit pretentious what Im saying right now, because a lot of people do this.
Im just saying that… [pause] its amazing when you spread time and create tension.
More so than if you attempt to compress it.
Also, youre constantly aware that theyre flesh-and-blood human beings.
You take the time to show that theyre frightened, vulnerable.
I always thought they were brilliantly edited.
He brought a lot to its inner rhythm, and also its sound.
The way he slams the water bottle on the ground is terrifying.
You know it means something awful will happen.
Its the power of suggestion.
I think those are cinematic images, because its evocation.
Its more powerful than seeing…thats poetry for me, in some ways.
Even if its talking about something ugly.
Its ugly poetry, yeah.
Whats your approach to a scene like that?
Do you storyboard a lot?
And whats your working relationship with Roger Deakins like, given that this is your second collaboration?
Part of the movie was storyboarded, like the battle sequence that was storyboarded very precisely.
But other sequences, like the interrogation scene, that wasnt storyboarded.
Its a very fluid process between Roger Deakins and I, that is very strange for me.
Because I feel like I am the mouse and he is the elephant!
I feel were two different animals coming from two different cultures, two different backgrounds, two different experiences.
He is the master I am the beginner.
In a way, I do feel like a beginner.
But still, theres a fluidity about the way we work; theres something that makes sense.
Thats a good example, that [interrogation] scene.
I dearly love working with Roger Deakins.
I recognise totally how enormous his contribution to this movie is.
I owe him a lot.
Im aware of that.
And Im a bit humbled.
Youve built up to the profile you have now.
Oh yeah, yeah.
First of all, I started in documentaries.
I started alone with a camera.
Shooting, editing short documentaries for a French-Canadian part of CBC.
So to deal with the camera alone, to approach reality alone, meant so much.
I always give a shot to remember that joy and that relationship with reality that freedom.
Making poetry with a camera thats the essence of what I do.
After that, my first films were really like sketches for me.
They have some qualities, but they also have a lot of faults.
I was not a good screenwriter at the beginning I needed to learn more.
I just felt that it was badly written.
I needed to be more humble.
In the beginning, I was very arrogant, and I tried too hard to impress other people.
I came back with more humility, and the will to be at the service of great stories.
And thats a great joy.
Or they make one low-budget indie film and go on to make a huge, $100m movie.
Everyone has his own path as a filmmaker.
Im a slow learner.
In French, theres the wordempirique, which means to learn by doing things.
Im not good at theory Im good at practice.
And I said no.
I wasnt ready until recently.
Is that a genre youre excited to get involved with now?
Ive been dreaming of doing sci-fi since I was a kid.
I was born loving movies through sci-fi.
So for me, it was my ultimate dream as a filmmaker to at least do one sci-fi film.
So right now Im blessed!
Has it been the case of waiting for the right things to come along?
But I also feel ready.
My first feature was about a woman drinking tea, you know?
So theres a stretch.
I felt like I needed to learn.
So fromPrisonerstoSicario, its always levels of difficulty.
I believe in steps.
I need to do something in between.
I convinced them that I needed to explore acting with someone.
Then I was ready to do something technically a little bit more difficult withSicario.
After that, Im doing something more ambitious [theBlade Runnersequel].
So its layers, where I feel comfortable with my work.
Denis Villeneuve, thank you very much.
Sicariois out in UK cinemas on the 8th October.
