A Sense of Doubt blog post #2441 - Seeing DUNE today - some stuff
I am seeing the DUNE movie today. I am very excited.
One note about the re-read. Herbert seems obsessed with showing emotional state in how people swallow. There was a lot of swallowing as an emotional reaction in the book, and in multiple cases, the character "swallows in a dry throat," which apparently is worse than a wet throat.
I have decided to keep reading in the universe for now. I am on to a re-read of Dune Messiah. I will also re-read Children of Dune and God Emperor of Dune before I go on to other things, though I may move on (and soon) to the books I have not read, like Heretics and Chapterhouse.
I have shared some posts about Dune, a year apart, because of how long we have been waiting for this movie.
A Sense of Doubt blog post #2005 - DUNE previews
A Sense of Doubt blog post #2416 - More stuff about DUNE
Denis Villeneuve on Bringing Dune to Life: “I Made This Movie for Me”
Dune is coming to theaters tomorrow officially and I personally am looking forward to rewatching the film in theaters (this time without a flood waiting for me). Villeneuve’s Dune is not only an ambitious piece of science fiction storytelling, it is a love letter to his younger self.
“It’s a book that stayed with me almost 40 years,” Villeneuve said when I asked him about what made him want to adapt Frank Herbert’s science fiction classic. “Every time I open it [I feel] the same deep melancholic, pure joy, I find myself home. This book gives me so much energy. ”
“When I decided to make an adaptation, I didn’t, frankly, I didn’t think about what other people will think,” Villeneuve explained. “I made this movie for me. I mean, I am a hardcore Dune fan. I deeply love this book. And my challenge was to try to please the teenager I was.” He chuckled at this as he described that teenage version of himself. “As a teenager, I was arrogant. I was dreaming big, and I was trying to be in a relationship with that energy I had when I read the book.”
It is clear that Villeneuve connects to the text, and the fact that it is such a personal love also informs why he made so many apt creative choices to visually diversify the world that Dune belongs to.
He knew one of his goals was to make sure the film was accessible to newcomers, and I think one of the biggest ways that happens is through making sure the political elements of Herbert’s work are at the forefront of the film. While I have my own criticisms of this cinematic Dune, one thing I can absolutely say is that it cares about translating this book in creative ways. The mythos is solidly applied (sometimes even a bit too much), and everything feels well put together.
Of course, it does make the overlooking of casting MENA actors in the roles of the Fremen seem even odder. It is clear Villeneuve understands the Islamic and Arabic roots of Dune, but, like many, doesn’t feel comfortable with filling those roots in with actors from that background.
What also interests me is the introspection of the teenage self Villeneuve recounted. Because I think on some level, the protective nature so many Dune fans have for the series can tip over into excess, and it comes from that. Dune, at least the first novel, is the story of a young man who is given all the power and has to make bold choices that will signal the direction of the universe. It is a power that feels arrogant and big, and only as the series progresses does the true scope of what the story says come to light.
Dune: Part One understands Paul’s arrogance at the moment, and if we get a Part Two, we will be able to see the downfall of not knowing the difference between vengeance and justice.
Things We Saw Today: Dune Making Solid Numbers on Big Screen With Projection of $39.1 Million
The spice is flowing very well for Dune with the Denis Villeneuve film expected to top the North American box office this weekend.
According to Variety it should meet the targeting a $33 million opening weekend haul, while other industry projections have the film opening as highly $39.1 million. Overseas the film has already made $130 million from international markets heading into the weekend. This is a huge success for Villeneuve, Dune fans such as myself, and sci-fi in general.
Even though I have some issues with the film, I have a lot of respect for the love Villeneuve poured into the film and just because I don’t think the film was perfect, doesn’t mean I wasn’t rooting for it to go far. The decision for a hybrid release of the film was met by derision from Villeneuve, but I think it will allow audiences who might not usually check out a film like this to get invested and then come back for more. Plus having subtitles is always a plus, since the sound mixing is still weird.
Now announce Dune: Part Two!
(via Variety, image: Warner Bros.)
SPOILERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Review: Dune: Part One Predictably Leaves the Adventure Half Finished
3 out of 5 Sand Worms
Walking out of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part One, I found myself trying to get into the mindset of someone who has never actually read Dune. Part One closes, narratively, at the equivalent of Lord of the Rings ending right after The Council of Elrond. Would someone who hadn’t read the source material be intrigued and drawn into the world Frank Herbert created? And would that be a failure of Villeneuve’s vision or just the evolving nature of what film looks like now?
In-universe, House Atreides has been gifted the planet of Arrakis, known as Dune, the producer of the powerful and important spice melange necessary for space travel and can extend life. Duke Leto (Oscar Isaac), his son Paul (Timothée Chalamet), and concubine Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) travel to the desert planet apprehensive of the “gift,” knowing it is part of the Emperor’s plan to weaken House Atreides by putting them in direct conflict with their longtime rivals, the Harkonnen. Baron Vladimir Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård) plans to regain his profitable planet even if that means wiping out House Atreides.
All the while, young Paul has started having visions of the future that lead him on a journey to becoming much more than he could ever imagine.
A self-proclaimed fan of the books, Villeneuve tackled this project out of love and said during an interview with The Mary Sue that he did the film largely for himself.
That sort of fanboy love is clear in how he had thoughtfully constructed the world—taking from the book, but also switching things up to make it seem better. His interpretation of the Voice, which could easily be jarring, made it seem imposing, and the shields look like something out of a video game—futuristic enough to be cool, but still feudal in construction.
Dune‘s political story of imperialism, religion, and ecology is at the forefront, with Chani’s opening monologue highlighting the role that the Fremen have taken up in this society, their planet existing only to be harvested for its resources and its people subjugated.
Of the main cast, Jason Momoa is the one who clearly understood the assignment. Momoa is fantastic and magnetic onscreen as Duncan Idaho, the swordmaster of House Atreides, to the point where I truly wanted more of him.
Chalamet and Ferguson are the weakest of the bunch, with the latter playing a very weepy Lady Jessica that feels very tedious, especially because we don’t really get to see all the layers of her character. Those are mostly in Part Two. Chalamet’s Paul is doing his best, but it’s hard to play a sixteen-year-old who suddenly becomes a “god” in two and a half hours, especially when the scope of what that means is just words thrown out to the audience, like Kwisatz Haderach.
Oscar Isaac is as hot as the movie’s teasers highlighted, but again, Leto I is a character, much like Chani, that exists only to give Paul ties to humanity. If you were looking for there to be a lot from him, Zendaya, Josh Brolin, and Javier Bardem, then you will be disappointed.
In 1984, the first Dune adaptation was released under the direction of David Lynch. The film was a bomb and lambasted for the lack of faithfulness to the source material, to the point where even Lynch himself has denounced the film for not being his true vision. His “failure” and the failures of previous directors to bring the book to the big screen labeled the novel, as written by Frank Herbert, as un-filmable.
Much has been made about the experience of seeing this movie on the big screen, and personally, I had a horrible experience watching Dune at my screening. It was the day of the east coast flooding from hurricane Ida, so I went to the screening in the pouring rain and left as the flooding began to pick up. During a key moment in the movie, the fire alarm went off, making it difficult to hear or watch the film, but the former was already difficult with Hans Zimmer’s score booming majestically as people whisper-talk.
If I hadn’t read the book, I would have been lost.
Ultimately, the biggest issue with Dune: Part One is that it is narratively incomplete. It is all exposition and worldbuilding with some cool fight scenes, but it is all leading to something we don’t see in this film and might not get to see if the sequel doesn’t get made.
All I could think of was early Game of Thrones and how a product like Dune would thrive with Villeneuve’s vision on a weekly program like HBO. To me, Dune is not un-filmable; it is just not meant to be a movie. It has all the makings of a fantastic television series, but forcing Dune to fit into the big screen limits how much we are able to explore, every time.
Dune premiered at the Venice Film Festival on Sept. 3 and plays at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sept. 11. It opens in theaters and on HBO Max on Oct. 22.
(image: Warner Bros.)
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- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 2110.24 - 10:10
- Days ago = 2305 days ago
- New note - On 1807.06, I ceased daily transmission of my Hey Mom feature after three years of daily conversations. I plan to continue Hey Mom posts at least twice per week but will continue to post the days since ("Days Ago") count on my blog each day. The blog entry numbering in the title has changed to reflect total Sense of Doubt posts since I began the blog on 0705.04, which include Hey Mom posts, Daily Bowie posts, and Sense of Doubt posts. Hey Mom posts will still be numbered sequentially. New Hey Mom posts will use the same format as all the other Hey Mom posts; all other posts will feature this format seen here.
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