Year: 2021
Director: Dennis Villeneuve
I am surprised that no-one has yet reviewed Dune, so here we go. We saw it at the IMAX in Birmingham and would certainly recommend that you see it on the biggest screen possible. It’s an utterly immersive visual and sound experience. It will be no surprise, and has been much noted, that Villeneuve can craft a visual world like no-one else currently in film. Whatever you thought of the plot of Bladerunner 2049, it looked amazing from start to finish, as did Arrival in turn before it. There’s very little actual outer space , and the visuals of the movies are dominated by the vast open sand and rock scapes of Arrakis, appearing even dryer by contrast with the lush Northern European grasslands of the Atriedes homeworld, and the murky storm and rain of the Harkonnens. Moving through these three worlds are armies, medieval in feel, transported by enormous spaceships whose weight is so oppressive they appear to be sculpted from stone rather than metal. By contrast the ornithopthers hop, buzz and flit around the world.
In terms of plot Dune is so well known that there’s perhaps not much to add here. I suspect the whole project became much more viable after Game of Thrones: the powerplays between noble families are heavily foregrounded, with the more mystical elements that perhaps chimed with readers in the sixties reined in. The scriptwriters have only the first half of the novel to cover, and certainly do a better job of untangling Herbert’s dense set-up than the eighties Lynch version. I watched it with a friend who had not read the novel or seen the Lynch movie and she understood what was going on.
It’s Paul’s story, and Timothee Chalomet carries a huge amount of this film – from callow heir and chosen one in training, to offworlder going native as his family is betrayed and destroyed by the Harkonnens and the Emperor. He’s very convincing and if there’s one overall tone that dominates the film its seriousness. In intergalactic game of throning and spice trading there are no laughs: George Lucas ripped off a vast amount of this for Star Wars but he did add in some lighter characters. No comedy robot sidekicks here. Backing Paul up are Oscar Isaac doing a great doomed noble and Rebecca Ferguson in the always-a-bit-weird role of the chosen concubine who is also a member of the Bene Gesserit mystical witches order. The supporting cast are also more than adequate with the various mentor, villain and bodyguard roles required (aka the ‘Sean Beans’).
What do you feel after emerging from the cinema? A bit of exhilaration from the sound and light spectacle. A bit of exhaustion from the light and sound spectacle (it’s loud, really loud at times). A bit of relief that this time it’s been done as well as maybe it can be.
Postscript: The next film I watched after this was The Lobster. Never underestimate the power of an original story that you’ve never heard before. ‘So in the future everyone single has 45 days to find a new partner or they get turned into an animal of their choice’. It’s 90 minutes of not knowing what on earth will happen next. Unlike Dune, which unfolds with the strength and inevitability of some Biblical prophecy. Exactly as Herbert intended.
Might appeal to people who enjoyed:
Well, the novel. Villeneuve’s previous work. The holy grail of the ‘arthouse blockbuster’ which this gets as near as anyone has.
With Avatar parts 2-5 incoming its great to think that the scifi blockbuster can be done with some intelligence and respect for an adult audience.
I saw this on a big screen and was slightlly disappointed. I’m a big fan of the books and enjoyed the David Lynch film quite a lot. I think my expectations were too high.
This is a faithful replication of the first half of the novel. That’s the trouble: there were absolutely no surprises. It’s good to look at but pretty much big budget sci fi by the book. There was not enough WEIRD. The Harkonnens are not nasty enough: the funny guy from Guardians Of The Galaxy was just plain wrong. I would have liked to see more of the Guild Navigators – there is only a two second glimpse of them here.
Still, it is well worth seeing but not the Film Of The Year I was hoping it would be; that honour goes to Summer Of Soul with an honourable mention for The Sparks Brothers.
Incidentally, Amazon Prime’s adaptation of Robert Jordan’s The Wheel Of Time begins next Friday (19th November). I read all 14 books in between other stuff over a period of maybe 10 years. The series starts and ends brilliantly but there are longeurs in between that were quite a slog to get through. Fingers crossed for a good editing job!
I think the point I was making with The Lobster was that with a story as well-known and loved as Dune (perhaps like the Harry Potter films) all one can do onscreen is hit the beats, cast well, and make sure the film delivers. Surprise and shock are really difficult to deliver for that group who know the books, though of course still possible for someone new to the story.
I think my reaction was similar to you Artery. However, I’ve never read the books, but always had a sneaking appreciation for the Lynch film.
Some scenes and setpieces really stood out in the Lynch film and have remained embedded in my subconscious ever since. The Navigators you mention – is that those big weird looking things that live in glass vats, then float about to open up spacetime portals (or whatever)? I was desperate to see what Denis V would make of these and… nothing! The interstellar travel bits were just a bit run of the mill, nothing we hadn’t seen before and certainly not as weird and ingenious as Lynch’s version. (I understand however, these guys aren’t really in the books so much, is that right?)
So yes, overall it was nicely filmed and designed and all that, but just a little bland.
Oh, and what didn’t help is I had no idea it was just “part one”. That wasn’t really made clear in the marketing! I was looking forward to some big worm action and then the film just ended before it got good. A bit sneaky actually. I’ll definitely go and see the sequel (if and when it appears) as I have every hope that it might redeem itself, but I do feel a bit cheated.
The sequel? That`s 2023, it got the go-ahead after good Box Office takings for Part 1. There was quite a bit of publicity about the film ending 2/3`s way (not 1/2) through the book before the film release.
I agree about the Navigators, I expected more. However there is next to no intersteller action in the book(s).
As someone who has read 95% of the books, I have the latest Brian Herbert/K.J. Anderson `Caladan` books at my bedside, I enjoyed Villeneuve`s adaptation. I`ve always been a fan of Lynch`s film but having watched that the evening before Dune `21 I prefer Villeneuve`s version. I`m looking forward to the Bluray release and disecting the film scene by scene.
@moselymoles I did a bit of a review in this month`s Blogger Takeover but it paled compared to your fine review.
@Arthur-Cowslip
They should have called it “Dune, Where’s My Big Worm?”
Does the fillum take the yarn as far as the Gom Jabbar bit? When I read the first book that was the bit that gave me the willies.
I’ll be watching this at some point, as i loved the books, but I confess I can’t imagine enjoying being locked in a cinema screening with a large number of other people just yet.
Alternative title: “Old Spice – The Mark Of A Man”.
The `Gom Jabbar` scene takes place very early in the film.
The DVD.Bluray will be released early next year.
And indeed the book.
“The DVD.Bluray will be released early next year.”
It seems I was a bit off with that date, according to the Dodgers it`s December 2025!!!
Though I would bet I`m a great deal closer to the Dodgers date.
Surely Young Spice – Run Free @vulpes-vulpes
It’s a long time since I read the novel (45 years+) so my memory isn’t too clear, but I thought the exposition of the politics of the thing were muddled.
Why did the Emperor decide to shift the Harkonnens off the planet and install the Atreides, only to then betray them? Why are the Bene Gesserit playing both sides?
Within the overall spectacle, this probably doesn’t matter, but it does to me.
The Emperor was afraid of the influence House Atreides was getting in The Landsraad, the body that represented all the Great Houses. So he set the Atreides up for a fall.
Your question about the Bene Gesserit? That`s what they always did, hoping to gain greater influence with the winning side. To put it simply.
Thank you.
Were you true to your family in hoping for Paul and his mother to be captured or were you a turncoat rooting for their escape?
It felt like a couple of hours of scene setting for a hopefully better part 2 to me.
Long periods of boredom, but picked up a little at the end.
I don’t understand why Dune is held up as a sci-fi masterwork.
I tried reading it many, many years ago but found it very dull and I didn’t continue.
Have never gained the enthusiasm to watch filmed versions because of that.