Arrival’s Denis Villeneuve and Amy Adams on the challenges of filming sci-fi drama

One of the most original science fiction movies in years, Arrival had Amy Adams, nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance, dreaming in Chinese as she prepared for a vital scene

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Amy Adams and director Denis Villeneuve on the set of Arrival.

Published: 9:01am, 7 Jan 2017Updated: 4:37pm, 11 Jan 2017

Growing up in the Canadian province of Quebec, director Denis Villeneuve was a bit of an outsider. “As a teenager, I had not a lot of social abilities,” he admits. “Bad hockey player, bad with girls ... so I had science fiction [novels]! I was in love with the exaggeration of reality or exploration of the world from a different point of view, which is science fiction. I love that. I was dreaming to do sci-fi for a long time.”

With urban thrillers ( Prisoners , Sicario ), psychological horrors (Enemy) and family dramas (the Oscar-nominated Incendies ) dominating his slate, it’s been a genre that’s eluded him until now.

When we meet, the 49-year-old Villeneuve is dealing with not one but two science-fiction films – having jetted in to promote his much-admired Arrival from the Budapest set of Blade Runner 2049, the hugely anticipated sequel to Ridley Scott’s seminal 1982 sci-fi that’s due later this year.

The reality behind this long-held dream is not quite what he expected. “It’s tough to find good science fiction material,” he admits.

“And the truth is, it’s tough to make science fiction. It’s expensive most of the time. Now I’m able to have a bit more money to make films, I can approach this genre. But making two sci-fi movies in a row – I must say it’s exhausting. I thought it will be like a game and it’s a bit of a nightmare to create worlds. So many decisions you have to make!”

Amy Adams (right) as Louise Banks in a still from Arrival.

True as this may be, there can be no doubt Villeneuve’s work on Arrival positions it as one of the most original science fiction films in years. Adapted by Eric Heisserer from Ted Chiang’s novella Story of Your Life, it’s a unique twist on the classic aliens-landing-on-Earth trope – a subject Hollywood has covered in everything from Close Encounters of the Third Kind to Contact over past decades: 12 giant spacecraft descend into our atmosphere, everywhere from Shanghai to Siberia, Sierra Leone and the Sudan – black, shell-like monoliths hovering in the air, silent and still.