10/22/21 - Dune (2021) - 8/10
I love Dune. I love all of its majesty, complexity, ingenuity, and machinations. It is my favorite novel of all-time and obviously the inspiration for the name of my site/username. So, the question doesn’t become: did I like or love this Denis Villeneuve version of the tale, but to what degree did it capture my heart. My answer: mostly.
Voracious spectacle for the eyes, with mood and meticulous detail. The production design, the sets, the costumes, ship design - it's all captivating and on par with the highest & greatest of science fiction and fantasy. Every shot and minorest detail is enthralling and brilliant - a unique and magical interpretation of elements that I love so deeply and have envisioned so often. Its dreams made manifest with visual storytelling at an absolute high.
The casting is nigh perfect all around. Chalaemet is a protagonist adrift at sea and must learn to swim. This can manifest as aloof but his passion comes through as well as his fear of what is to come. Isaac’s Leto and Ferguson’s Jessica stagger with their intensity and acting prowess. They make the most of each scene given to them. Skarsgård sets the table for more villainy to come, Bardem’s Stilgar is rigidly stoic, and Momoa injects the electricity that calls to what may come.
There is a paring down of elements, characters, and schemes as to focus-in on what we see. Exposition is more dutifully dripped out and a focus on emotions rules. This allows for a more immersive and personal experience with the material, but details are absent. It expands and expresses particularities but not wholes. Examples are Jessica is given more time with more ethos but less agency. You feel her motherly necessity and she serves as the emotional ballast but we miss out on her martial strength, her matrix of motivations, nor the multitudes that exist inside her. It is a cost benefit that usually pays off - but I naturally crave the totality of what I know to be shown to me.
A few particular and unique expressions of the Duniverse that thrilled me: The Sardaukar - the death commando religious zealots of the Emperor are exquisitely realized and terrifyingly menacing. The shields are as brilliant as my imagination. I’ve already gushed about the production design, sets, ships, and world details but they literally make me vibrate with appreciation. I also loved the fallibility of prescient vision and the emphasis on feeling rather than fact - distinctly the use of Jamis, Paul’s friend for the future, all tinged with a golden hue down the middle.
As an adept, I am intimately acquainted with the schemes, desires, and personalities of all those involved but I do have serious doubts for those uninitiated in the Duniverse whether the pieces fit as smoothly or intricately. So many plot elements and “plans within plans' ' are excised, diminished or rushed through; sacrifices at the altar of time and book density. I wanted more love between Leto and Jessica. I wanted the Baron and Pieter to be conniving. I wanted Yueh to be established as to make his actions all the more impactful. Perhaps a better distillation of what spice is. I wanted Thufir to be anything. But I certainly understand that to dwell in the cinematic architecture and imbue the empathetic torrent swirling through the clockwork of the story, some of what I love must be left out.
The comparisons with a Fellowship or A New Hope are obvious but this film lacks in fleshed out characters and complete storytelling that those do not. It doesn’t mean that they are fair comparisons or that I didn’t enjoy it or not love it, but so many here get short shrift and have little to do. Removing Pieter, Thufir, Mapes, or Halleck doesn't devolve this film. And elements like lasguns, the Guild, CHOAM, the Emperor, mentats, computers, and space folding don’t receive any to enough description or importance. This is part 1, but as those films deliver standalone enjoyment and successes, fair or not, this is truly only a beginning. It is difficult for me because I am so well rooted in my passion, but I fear losing non-readers, especially with the deliberate meditative pace and bland desert palette - will it capture the imagination with the barest of details and prudent action? I know not, but I hope this is the Golden Path which this film franchise can stride.
Any reductive analysis as white savior is pissed on; this is a Fremen story being told, by design. The yoke of messianic myth is laid bare as is it’s coming usage and unpleasant ends - Paul is burdened with terrible purpose and despises its means & ends. Perhaps because I know the true intent of the story, of Paul’s journey, but they do express the bitterness in exploitation of religion and its seemingly fraudulent face. The story of the mahdi is a long one, far beyond this film or even the next, and I would love to see it play out, especially for those who see Paul as a white messianic dime-a-dozen.
I love Dune. It is imprinted on my brain, indelibly on my skin, and transmuted in my soul. This was a glorious and righteous film experience, full of joy and wonder. It isn’t the perfect film I hoped for - perhaps that can’t be done - but it is a brilliant and magnificent cinematic experience. Art, full of love, mastery, and promise. It is my home, gritty imperfections and rustic nostalgic magic, and I am at peace with the love with which it was created. Bless Denis. Bless the coming and going of him.
