"Dune" - a grandiose film adaptation of Herbert's novel, which not everyone can stand

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

2, 5 hours of great visuals and acting and almost complete lack of action.

On September 16, one of the most anticipated and discussed films of recent years was released on Russian screens. And this is not an exaggeration. Dune, based on the novel by Frank Herbert, is supposed to unite literally all viewers. Director Denis Villeneuve knows how to shoot large-scale and beautifully, while remaining an adherent of complex and personal stories. The cast of the film recruited the stars of the first magnitude. And the great primary source provides attention from the fiction lovers.

That is why writing something about the new Dune is pretty useless. The film will still be seen by all fans of the book, the director, Timothy Chalamet, Oscar Isaac and Jason Momoa. And with them all the fans of the big cinema. Film ticket pre-sales in Russia are already breaking records in recent years. And even on Thursday morning shows, district cinemas are not empty.

Still, viewers should adjust their expectations before watching. After all, it is the scale of the plot and the overly intrusive advertising campaign, because of which many consider the new "Dune" to be almost a turning point in science fiction, that can become the main reason for discontent. The film adaptation turned out to be really grandiose. But this is just a beautiful and very slow film, which also ends in mid-sentence.

Best Film adaptation, which the book did not fit

Duke Leto Atreides (Oscar Isaac) with his concubine Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) and son Paul (Timothy Chalamet) arrives on the planet Arrakis, or Dune. It is ruled by the evil Baron Vladimir Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgard).

By order of the padishah-emperor, Leto must replace his old enemy, taking over his leadership. But the hero realizes that the plans of the House of Harkonnen are more complicated and dangerous. No one will just give up power on Dune, because spice is mined there - a substance that makes interstellar travel possible.

However, this story is not about Duke Leto, but about his young son Paul, who, under the supervision of his mother, develops unusual abilities in himself. There is a popular belief that he should become the new messiah. And Paul will also have to inherit the title of his father. But a teenager, obsessed with strange dreams, doubts his destiny. But the hero will have to grow up dramatically, because the Harkonnens conceived a treacherous attack.

The irony is that this is a retelling of almost the entire film. It would be silly to find fault with spoilers here. After all, the plot of "Dune" is probably known to those who read the original, watched one of the previous film adaptations, or at least visited social networks, where they have been discussing the premiere in detail for a year and a half.

It is much more important that there are not enough events in the picture for large-scale fiction. Of course, a lot of interesting things happen on the screen. But Villeneuve adapted less than half of Herbert's book. Exactly at the moment when the most amazing plot twists begin in the original, the credits are allowed into the movie. As one of the heroines in the last scene will ironically say: "This is just the beginning."

Such a slow pace is a problem not only for the new film, but for all adaptations of the legendary work in general. Alejandro Jodorowski encountered her in the early 1970s. He wanted to make a film based on "Dune", but the script turned out for the whole season of the series. Since the Netflix format was not even dreamed of then, the project was canceled. And George Lucas is rumored to have stolen some of Jodorowski's work into his Star Wars.

Because of this, the 1984 version of David Lynch failed. The director did not have enough timekeeping or the ability to add his own style to the action. Only the 2000 Sci Fi miniseries can be considered a successful film adaptation. But the project budget did not allow showing even a small part of the beauty of "Dune".

Mentioning all previous versions in the context of a new film is inevitable. Indeed, in addition to the need to correspond to the level of the book, Villeneuve is required to correct errors in previous versions.

Add to this the advertising, which has crossed all the boundaries of what is permissible: the descriptions declare that this is "a film that the whole world will talk about." And the result is some kind of too grandiose picture, and a huge responsibility lies on its authors.

But Denis Villeneuve, it seems, was not going to correct and prove anything. For him, the adaptation of "Dune" is the embodiment of a childhood dream, as for others a visit to Disneyland. The director said that he fell in love with the book at the age of 12 and for a long time could not believe in the opportunity to personally take on the production.

That is why he allows himself to turn the film for an unbearable two and a half hours into an acquaintance with the world and the main characters (in Star Wars, two minutes of text flying away into the distance would have been allocated for this). Villeneuve, apparently, simply has no idea that such slowness can tire someone. Every character and every scene is important to him. He does not even try to explain the reasons for what is happening on the screen and the very structure of the universe of "Dune": everyone should remember the book by heart anyway.

But because of this, it will take only an hour and a half to get to the real action. And Paul will begin to change altogether only in the very end. This leaves a clear sense of understatement: as if the first "Matrix" ended at the moment of Neo's awakening in the real world.

And there's nothing you can do about it. Better to be patient in advance for a couple of years in advance, but for now enjoy the other components of the film.

Exposition on an unprecedented scale

The director's fanatical love for the original not only made him slow down the already unhurried pace of the story, but also turned him into a big child who was given almost limitless resources. Literally every frame of "Dune" screams about the scale of the production.

But, fortunately, Villeneuve's taste is much better developed than the conventional Michael Bay. The director does not just pile up special effects on the screen, but actually creates whole worlds. Each planet here has its own atmosphere, both in the weather and in the emotional sense. The rainy world of the Atreides immerses you in melancholy, which creates an even greater contrast with the heat of Arrakis. And the surroundings of the Harkonnen homeland seemed to have been spied on in the designs of Hans Rudy Giger, who worked with Jodorowski.

If Nolan's Argument was promoted as a movie worth going back to the theater after isolation, then Villeneuve's work is bound to be the best advertisement for IMAX. Even in an ordinary hall, every appearance of a giant worm almost causes a tremor in the knees. And if you sit in front of the largest screen, then you can simply fall into the world of a sandy planet.

It's rather funny to look at the hand-drawn special effects and costumes from previous film adaptations now. So, in the 2000 series, the worms turned out even worse than in the Lynch film. And Villeneuve is at its best in every detail. For example, it seems that from the start of the next aircraft, sand will be blown into the hall from the screen.

Moreover, the director retained the aesthetics of retrofuturism so suitable for history: insane designs of spaceships coexist with palaces, carpets and almost medieval orders. It is not for nothing that edged weapons are preferred in this world. Although the fact that "Dune" does not belong to fantasy, but to works about a technological future, is constantly reminded. For example, crackling during fights with energy shields turned on, which, even when viewed, creates the feeling of a slight electric shock.

This, by the way, is partly due not only to the picture, but also to the sound. Sound design at Dune is one of the most important components. In his previous works, the director also paid a lot of attention to the noise part, intertwining it with the music of the best composers, in this case - Hans Zimmer. The latter again complements the action with a variety of melodies: from his favorite rhythmic drums (which go well with the sound of beaters) to ethnic vocal tunes.

There is no need to talk about the elaboration of costumes and all kinds of devices. This is best seen in the image of Baron Harkonnen. In previous film adaptations, they tried to make him just fat and as vile as possible - Lynch even added a skin disease to him. Here it is the same monster from the books: a mountain of fat that moves only thanks to the force field.

He does not inspire hostility, but almost animal fear. And this is the merit of the masters of make-up, special effects and, of course, the operator. If Greg Fraser does not receive an Oscar nomination for his work, then he will definitely receive praise from all the experts. Few people are able to capture completely unrealistic landscapes and houses so vividly.

You can continue to describe the beauty of filming a new film. But it's better to just sum it up in one sentence.

Dune is two and a half hours of incredible visual aesthetics.

Alas, because of the same slowness of the plot, the film does not have time to reach the most ambitious events. The only battle awaits the audience, and it is staged very cool. But at the race on worms and the uprising of the inhabitants of the desert - the Fremen - so far only hinted at in short scenes.

Most expensive conversational drama

For all the cool special effects, a picture with a budget of more than $ 150 million is largely tied not to graphics, but to characters and dialogues. This is unusual for Denis Villeneuve. If you look at his filmography, then his vivid characters often remained silent: that Kay in Blade Runner 2049, that Alejandro in The Assassin. The director has always preferred to reveal the characters with action.

In Dune, against the backdrop of the magnificent scenery, the characters talk almost endlessly. And sometimes it is felt that Villeneuve copes with this form of presentation worse than with the visual range. Dialogues start out sloppy and sometimes sound like a simple presentation of information. Fortunately, they are far from dryness of Nolan, but they still want to see more life and simplicity.

A significant part of Herbert's first book is devoted to the experiences of Paul Atreides: the young hero, who had previously felt strange, finds himself in a completely different world. He is looking for himself, communicating with his parents, then with various mentors. And everyone shares their knowledge and experience with him. But in the novel, all this happened against the backdrop of political intrigue, and the screen “Dune” finally turns into what in English-speaking countries is called a coming-of-age drama (literally, “the drama of growing up”).

In part, I want to praise Villeneuve for such courage. He even managed to turn the main blockbuster of the year into a very personal and emotional movie. So were Blade Runner 2049 and Arrival. And here again it is impossible not to recall the "Argument", where Nolan finally abandoned the study of characters for the sake of the concept.

But, perhaps, it is the drama that finally stops the development of the plot: the alignment of forces is understandable from the beginning, and Paul just walks around the whole film and tries to understand himself. But it's one thing to watch Timothy Chalamet's experiences against the backdrop of summer Italy in Call Me by Your Name, and quite another to watch the hero wander sadly across fantasy worlds.

Stars that are cramped in the frame

In Dune, Villeneuve, like Wes Anderson and Adam McKay, turns the action into a kind of skit for cool actors. Familiar faces flicker even in secondary roles: someone for the future for a sequel, and someone just to please the viewer.

Because of this, it is sometimes even offensive: the director, although he tries to give at least a small outlet to each star, is sorely lacking in time. Is that Jason Momoa in the image of Duncan Idaho gives out almost his best role. But Gurney Halleck performed by Josh Brolin only flickers in the background, but also deserves more.

Someone did not find a place at all. For example, Zendaya, who advertises Dune at festivals throughout September, spent only four days on the site. In the film, her character Chani really appears very little. And most of the time she just invitingly looks at the camera, coming to Paul in her dreams.

The cunning Feyd-Rauta - the main assistant of Baron Harkonnen - is not at all in the plot yet. Even the actor who will perform this role is unknown. But it is he who will have to interrupt the vivid image of Sting from the Lynch film. But Dave Batista, who plays Glossa Rabban, like Skarsgård, becomes the best on-screen version of the villain. The book nickname Beast is perfect for this character.

But these are all minor heroes. The main action is focused on the Atreides family. And here we can say with confidence that the choice of Chalamet for the main role is an obvious success of the authors. In previous versions, both Kyle McLachlan and Alec Newman seemed too old and brave. But at the beginning of the action, Paul is only 15 years old, and after the death of his father, the hero wears his too large ring on his thumb (for Lynch, the character seemed to put it on his little finger on purpose).

Of course, in the new "Dune" the actor is also older than his prototype. But do not call Linklater, who will shoot a teenager for 10 years until he grows up. Timothy Chalamet at the right time retains the image and habits of an insecure youth who has to grow up too quickly. If you want, you can only find fault with growth: it would be better if Paul looked at the parents and mentors from below. And so he is on a par with his father, and with Gurney, who in the original was generally called lumpy. The situation is saved by a fragile physique. By the way, it does not prevent the actor from showing himself well in action scenes.

And Oscar Isaac literally turns into an example of aristocracy and nobility. Note that the artist has literally been taking screenshots in the last month. More recently, he was striking emotionality in Scenes from Marriage, and will soon appear in Paul Schroeder's Cold Reckoning. But at the same time, Isaac does not turn into an analogue of the equally prolific Dwayne Johnson: in all roles he is different. His Leto perfectly balances between the strength of a ruler and the sincerity of a loving father.

As for Ferguson, she once again shows her talent as a dramatic actress. It is enough to see the scene where Lady Jessica brings Paul to the test: this is an instant transformation from a determined woman into a frightened mother, who can barely contain her hysteria.

Of course, with such a visual range, "Dune" would have held up even without such a successful and subtle game. But it is this trinity that adds warmth to the story, not allowing the plot to be turned into a banal set of special effects against the background of the story of the hero's formation.

It may seem that the text lists many flaws in the picture that will interfere with the enjoyment of viewing. But this is not the case. The problems described are not a reason to skip this film or wait for it to be released in digital format to watch at home. The picture is striking in its scale, visual range and actors. It is worth going to "Dune" in a good cinema.

It's just that the tape remains captive to many factors: a complex original, from which Villeneuve is not going to throw out at least some pieces, overestimated expectations of the audience, the legacy of previous film adaptations.

Strictly speaking, we will be able to understand how successful the film was only by watching the sequel. I would like to believe that this will happen in a couple of years. Fortunately, Warner Bros. already states that the ROI of a movie in theaters is not that important. The indicators of the premiere on the HBO Max streaming service will also be taken into account. Then the action will develop into a full-fledged story with unhurried development, culmination and finale. In the meantime, the authors give the audience the most beautiful and large-scale plot that immerses them in the atmosphere, introduces them to the heroes and very quickly says goodbye.