Squinting in the sunlight on this early September morning in this very expensive corner of paradise, wearing a rumpled blazer over a plain black T-shirt, Denis Villeneuve is looking for a place to sit.
Sandy, sun-baked, alien landscapes, however, are exactly what the tall man who’s just wandered into this hidden nook of Eden has brought to Italy. To the naked eye, there is not a grain of sand in sight. It’s a green oasis located within a sprawling hotel complex that covers the entire area, complete with conference rooms, suites and private bungalows - think “luxury military compound” or “five-star fortress.” This quiet, green patch of serenity, however, is like an oasis dropped into the middle of several acres of casual-aristocratic chic.
On an island in Venice, about a 20-minute boat ride from the mainland and several million light years away from the arid desert planet of Arakis, there’s a small garden overlooking the water.
