I missed this in the cinema but watched the DVD yesterday with the sound cranked up and house vibrating. Excellent! I enjoyed it. A very expansive film which suited the huge scope of Frank Herbert's 1965 original novel. This is Part 1 covering on the first half of the book. Part 2 will follow as soon as they can reassemble the cast and crew spurred on by critical acclaim and box office success.
It is said that there is nothing new under the sun and this film felt a bit like The Matrix on the beach with added Jedi as the Bene Gesserit. Everything is derivative of something else and Herbert predates both George Lucas and the Wachowskis.
Dune can be read many ways but I saw it primarily as a morality tale. The noble house of Atreides mysteriously given the planet Arrakis to govern by the Emperor, only to find themselves wiped out by the house of Harkonnen - the house they displaced. All for power, control and wealth wrapped up in a web of deceit and conspiracy. It all sounds horribly familiar!
Set roughly 20,000 years in the future, it is clear to see that human moral and ethical behaviour development has not, on the whole, kept pace with technology. This is no Star Trek humanist utopia. The same weaknesses and foibles continue to beset the different races, all very reminiscent of a prototypical Edenic Adam. The new Adam or Saviour, with special powers he does not yet fully recognise or know how to control, is Paul Atreides (Timothee Chalamet) who is guided by his father's top courtiers and of course his mother, Lady Jessica Atreides (Rebecca Ferguson) of the Bene Gesserit.
The planet Arrakis is the sole source of 'spice', a granular substance blowing on the winds of the planet and mixed in with the sand that covers most of the planet's surface. Within the sand live giant sandworms that travel at high speed and devour anything that gets in their way. They respond to rhythmic sounds such as walking or the operation of spice harvesting machines. Because of this and the extreme waterless climate, existence on the planet's surface is challenging. Spice is a valuable substance that bestows its users heightened vitality and expanded consciousness. It is critical for interstellar travel as it allows Space-Guiding Navigators to use a limited form of prescience to safely navigate interstellar space. Whoever is fief ruler of Arrakis, controls spice harvesting and supply across the universe - a powerful and lucrative thing.
With so much skulduggery at play, it is of course hard to know who to trust and who to avoid (or kill). The universe is a brutal and violent place. Paul Atreides will, of course, face many challenges on his quest to deliver salvation to the planet by bringing peace with the indigenous Fremen, maintain the honour of his house and capture the love of his life Chani (Zendaya), a Fremen.
If you like sand, worms, battle on an epic scale, heroism and love, then this is a tale for you. This is a faithful adaptation of Herbert's book and captures the ambiance and feel of Arrakis very well. The cinematography is stunning as is the original soundtrack - not to mention the sound effects in full Dolby Atmos. I am sure this will do well at the awards ceremonies and hasten the delivery of Part 2. I'll give it 8/10.
2 comments:
I think you missed out by not seeing it on the big screen. The visual palette which painetd the different worlds, as well as the sheer sense of scale, were gripping in themselves, apart from the storyline. If I had one complaint about the film, it was the ending. Despite the source material, I would have brought forward Paul's first ride on a sandworm, rather than seeing a Fremen riding one in the distance. It needed more of a climax than Chani's promise of what was to come. Otherwise, I was enraptured by the film.
Thanks Doug - I am sure you're right.
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