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The sleeping person has woken up! The first half of Denis Villeneuve's adaptation of Frank Herbert's seminal sci-fi novel "Dune" has been released.
Herbert's awareness of the Department of Agriculture's plan to relocate tons of encroaching sand dunes in Florence, Oregon inspired the novel. This was a futuristic work of singular significance that encompassed themes of religion, politics, and ecology and was a part of the world of feuding houses vying for control of a valuable substance called the spice melange. This commodity is only found on Arrakis.
This project is the third Hollywood version of "Dune", the other two being the respectable TV version in 2000 and the legendary movie in 1982. Alejandro Jodorowsky, the first to mount an assault on the work, had a version that would have featured Mick Jagger, Salvador Dali, and a burning giraffe. If you're wondering where to watch the new movie, check out our guide to where to watch.
A documentary titled "Jodorowsky's Dune" chronicles his efforts.
Denis Villenueve directed the "Dune" version of which Timothée Chalamet is a part. The image is from Warner Bros.
David Lynch took up the quest to bring "Dune" to life after the failure of Jodorowsky's wild dreams. The first "Dune" feature adaptation was released in 1984 by Universal Pictures.
Audiences were enchanted with the film's scope and stirring score, but were confused by the movies' hallucinatory tone and head-spinning mythology. It's still an ambitious attempt.
The material in Villeneuve's hands seems like the definitive cinematic version of the source novel, at times, as it takes on a magnificent 21st century sheen. This attempt at a novel adaptation is ponderous and boring. It has visually arresting moments. The spaceships instill power and austerity and the Ornithopters seem to be straight from the novel.
We are whisked from the arid wastelands of Arrakis to the harsh prison planet of Salusa Secundus in one of the most startling scenes of the movie.
In the former homeworld of Emperor Shaddam IV's House Corrino, we see thousands of fanatical Sardaukar terror troops in formation during a sinister ceremony while an unnerving war cry drones. It's a chilling scene that shows the fierce warriors' recruitment process as they're marked with fresh blood from upside-down victims crucified inside tiered stone fortifications.
Herbert's novel briefly mentions the secret hive where the Sardaukar are spawned and trained, but Lynch's treatment doesn't mention it. Their legendary status as the fiercest fighters in the galaxy is supported by seeing their rituals.
The biggest challenge was to keep the audience interested in the film. It took a long time to find the right equilibrium so that people who don't know 'Dune' will feel part of the story.
Regarding the casting process, Timothée Chalamet is up to the task of portraying Paul, the young messianic member of the Atreides clan who will bring salvation to the desert planet of Arrakis. Doubters should watch his performance in "The King" because he is riveting.
The character of Paul is played by a young man who has a hint of naivete but is quickly turned into a determined leader who is compassionate but also reserved in his vengeance against the Harkonnens and the machinations of the Emperor and the Spacing Guild. The guild and its Navigators from Lynch's version are the ones who alert Shaddam IV of the necessity to kill Paul Atreides. They have a monopoly on space travel. The downfall of House Atreides can be traced to the paranoid events of the Spacing Guild.
The 1984 film features an eerie scene when a Third Stage Guild Navigator in his glass travel tank with orange spice gas glides into the Emperor's throne room to warn him of the Atreides' prophecy and implications of his threat to Arrakis' future.
The Weirding Modules, which transform sounds into high-intensity bolts, are not found in "Dune." Herbert did not mention these devices in his novels. The books' martial arts form known as the Weirding Way used the special weapons.
Lynch decided to use sonic modules instead of seeing "Kung-fu on sand dunes." I'll miss those vocal-triggered neck guns when "Dune: Part 2" unfolds.
Hans Zimmer is the conductor for the musical score of "Dune". This is in stark contrast to Lynch's use of Brian Eno's Prophecy Theme and pop rock tracks. It gave that movie an operatic grandeur which feels lost in the film beneath deafening action-oriented drums and primal chants. The music of the composer seems to fall somewhere between "Black Hawk Down" and "Man of Steel." There is nothing new to hear.
The rest of the casting choices are a bit predictable but often daring, especially the skin of the swordmaster, Duncan Idaho, played by the always daring, and charismatic, Dave Bautista.
The Baron Vladimir Harkonnen portrayed in the film by Stellan Skarsgard is a bloated brute who is a power-addicted despot, far different from the Kenneth McMillan role in the 1984 film. Remember the blood-gushing heart plugs? Oscar Issac is the short-lived leader of House Atreides, and he is joined by Josh Brolin as the troubadour-warrior Gurney Halleck. The thick-accented Bardem is playing a character.
Rebecca Ferguson feels too young to have a son of Paul's age, but she is engaging and vulnerable as the Lady Jessica. I was pleasantly surprised by how well Sharon Duncan-Brewster did as Dr. Liet-Kynes, the Imperial planetologist.
The pacing for "Dune" feels too relaxed, especially the first act, which is very slow. The project being delivered in two chapters can cause the director to start with a languorous start. One extra-long cut was chosen by Lynch.
There is a scene from "Dune". The image is from Universal Pictures.
The monster sandworms are depicted in modern computer-generated imagery, instead of the intricate puppets created by "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial's" Carlo Rambaldi. These giant creatures erupt from the sandy oceans and wreak havoc in the fertile harvesting beds. We're treated with some gaping maws, but not a full-length glimpse of their immensity.
If you want to see Zendaya in "Spider-Man: Homecoming", you better not blink as her Chani consists of seven minutes of total screen time made up of pensive glances inside Paul's dreams and a lack of lines in the film's final scenes. It seems somewhat misleading for someone to be featured so prominently in all the trailers.
It's not what is shown in "Dune" that makes it feel adrift and absent. The Baron's nephew, who was played by The Police's Sting, was a member of the Spacing Guild and the royal domain of Emperor Shaddam IV.
"Dune: Part 1" is an introduction to Frank Herbert's influential masterpiece. I hope the sequel will offer a more energetic pace and emotional climax to expand our minds like Arrakis.
The cast of "Dune." The image is from Warner Bros.
It will be interesting to see if Villeneuve keeps the Harkonnen secret as his mother was once part of the Baron's concubine. This needs to be included in the David Lynch adaptation. Herbert did not include the stance of banning all artificial intelligence and computers across the universe.
The movie is about Paul and I brought in a little bit of the Harkonnens to understand the story. The movie gives a glimpse into the Harkonnens. The second movie is more about them.
The source material is weird and eccentric, and I hope that the follow-up will be less sterile and boring.
I might pop on Lynch's "Dune" until then, and soak up some radical ‘80s nostalgia. The spice must move.
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