Denis Villeneuve hates dialogue and wants to make a silent film; He says “Movies have been corrupted by television”

Duna: second part director Denis Villeneuve not a fan of dialogue. In fact she hates it and wants to make a silent film. He believes that dialogue was never meant for movies and that movies have been corrupted by TV. He definitely has an interesting opinion here.

During an interview with the Times of London, the actor explained why he doesn’t like dialogue, saying:

“Frankly, I hate dialogue. The dialogue is for theater and television. I don’t remember movies for the good joke, I remember movies for the strong image. I don’t care about dialogue at all. Pure image and sound, that is the power of cinema, but it is something that is not obvious when watching films today. Films have been corrupted by television.”

He then went on to talk about his desire to make a silent film, saying:

“In a perfect world, I would make a compelling film that doesn’t feel like an experiment but doesn’t contain a single word. People would come out of the theater and say, “Wait, there was no dialogue?” But they won’t miss it.”

I agree that there are images in films that are burned into my memory, amazing sights and sounds. My mind goes straight to Steven Spielberg ET: The Extraterrestrial with the children riding bicycles across the sky, and the end of the film when ET, as the alien spaceship, descends from the sky and everyone watches in awe. It’s an image that makes my heart swell. There is minimal dialogue in that final scene and it breaks me emotionally every time.

But there are also incredible films with great dialogue! If the dialogue is good, then I have no problem! Without dialogue there would be no great movie quotes! There are many films that are remembered for their good jokes! I love movies with great dialogue and I quote them all the time! I think Villeneuve needs to sit back and watch The Big Lebowski.

While there is room to tell stories without dialogue, I think there is nothing wrong with dialogue, especially if the script is good. What do you think of what Villeneuve said here about dialogue in films?