seen on 22 October 2021 and again on 1 November 2021
Denis Villeneive directs Timothée Chalomet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Charlotte Rampling and many others in this long-awaited attempt to film the supposedly unfilmable novel Dune by Frank Herbert. Notoriously David Lynch's version from 1984 gave us some striking images while lacking coherence, not least due to the interference of the studio producing it. Unfortunately for Lynch he was working long before the idea of multi-film adaptations of complex novels was considered viable; Villeneuve has the luxury of subtitling this film 'Part One' and covering barely half the novel. (It remains unclear whether the project will receive the financial backing required to complete the second film, though the signs are promising.)
The new film is visually stunning in its set-piece effects, which serve as a spectacular counterpoint to the intimate scenes in which the characters deal with personal growth, political shenanigans and environmental challenges. The attention to detail in visualising different environments - the rainswept planet Caladan in striiking contrast to the desert planet Arrakis - and initimating diferent human cultures - desert nomads being relatively easy to crib from known societies on Earth, but the Atreides family traditions cleverly nodding towards ancient Persian motifs in a predilection for bas-relief hunting scenes and cuneiform-like inscriptions - is most impressive. (Though the characters generally speak English, the writing script used in documents and carved into stone definitely does not use the Latin alphabet.)
Timothée Chalomet makes an engaging young Paul Atreides, whose extraordinary career is the main concern of the novel. He still looks believable as a teenager, and the esteem in which he is held by his father's subordinates is nicely matched by his still boyish enthusiasm in greeting them. The more troubling aspects of his growing awareness of his path are well conveyed, particularly in his generally loving but at times tense relationship with his mother Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson). The full mysteriousness of her background is less powerfully conveyed, though the appearance of the enigmatic Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam (a steely and imperious Charlotte Rampling) is sufficiently threatening. Chani, the third woman in Paul's life, played by Zendaya, is present largely in the predictive dreams assailing him; they only meet in the waking world in the last scenes of this film.
I've read Dune several times since its publicaton in the 1960s, so it is impossible for me to say whether the film is clear enough in its narrative structure for someone coming new to the story. I thought the film script was well- adapted, with some vital scenes given due space and significance, and some elisions for clarity which were entirely justified. On a technical level the soundtrack suffered from the modern fashion for loud effects and music which make it all but impossible to catch softly spoken dialogue. It may well be difficult to hear what someone says in the middle of a sandstorm, but if it is important the audience needs to hear it clearly even if the characters could not.
It's exciting to see a gifted director wrestle with a demanding subject; this film was well worth waiting for and its sequel will (let us hope) equally be worth a viewing.
