'Arrival' talks very little about language and how to precisely dissect a foreign language. It's more a film on intuition and communication by intuition, the language of intuition.

Denis Villeneuve’s quote speaks to the deeper themes of intuition and communication in his film Arrival, rather than focusing on the technicalities of language. While the movie involves the study of an alien language, Villeneuve emphasizes that the film is less about the dissection of a foreign language and more about understanding how we communicate beyond words. The language of intuition represents a more instinctive, emotional way of connecting with others, one that transcends verbal expression.

Villeneuve points out that Arrival explores how people can connect and communicate through intuition, an immediate, unspoken understanding that goes beyond grammatical rules and syntax. In the film, the alien species communicates in a nonlinear way, which requires the human characters to tap into their intuition to truly understand the message being conveyed. This shift away from traditional language forms underscores the film’s broader exploration of perception, time, and human connection.

By focusing on intuition rather than language, Villeneuve invites the audience to consider how much of human communication is driven by emotional and cognitive understanding rather than just the spoken or written word. The film suggests that communication is not limited to words alone but also involves a deeper, often unspoken understanding that can transcend cultural and linguistic barriers.

The origin of this quote lies in Villeneuve’s creative direction for Arrival, a film based on Ted Chiang’s novella Story of Your Life. Villeneuve's focus on intuition and its role in understanding the world around us reflects the film’s philosophical approach, which delves into how language shapes our perception of time, memory, and identity. His quote underscores the film’s core message about the power of non-verbal, intuitive communication.