Dune (2021)
Director: Denis Villeneuve
Writers: Jon Spaihts, Denis Villeneuve, Eric Roth
Actors: Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgård, Dave Bautista, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Zendaya, Chang Chen, Sharon Duncan-Brewster, Charlotte Rampling, Jason Momoa, Javier Bardem
Warning: story spoilers of both the book and the movie. However I will try to keep book spoilers to a minimum, just use them to compare to the film’s plot
“Grand” seems to be the operative word on everyone’s mind as they exit the theater after having watched Dune. It is the perfect word to encapsulate this experience. It’s grandeur felt too massive for an IMAX screen at times, yet Villeneuve did a good job at capturing the epic scale that Dune requires. However, the focus on scale comes at a deep cost that Villeneuve failed to account for. The larger you go in scale the more you have to fill. A grand temple means nothing if it’s interior is barren. Dune is exactly that, as it focuses heavily on creating a massive adventure with little regard to filling that experience with something meaningful. Villeneuve, similar to Jodorowsky, had his sights set on Dune to be his magnum opus. While the book does let off a deep feeling of grandeur it certainly is not its core. That honor belongs to the deep emphasis on politics along with the heavy symbolism on imperialism and how it effects those being exploited. The book’s parallels to the middle east are also quite obvious as Herbert manages to create a story that unfortunately still applies to this day. Yet all of that is completely lost as Villeneuve worried on how to accurately translate scale, without giving thought to the core of what made Dune special in the first place. Dune has always been touted as an impossible adaptation, something I have been guilty of as well. So far Villeneuve has proven the saying to be true as he fumbles to create his passion project.
It’s easy to see how this project can go well with the general audience especially those who have not touched Herbert’s book. Coming off the success of Blade Runner 2049, Arrival, and Sicario, Villeneuve felt confident enough to tackle a project as massive as this. He may have won the hearts of the general audience, yet he let down every person who ever loved Herbert’s story. The main crux of Villeneuve’s Dune is his absolute disregard for what made the novel so great, the characters along with the intergalactic politics. A huge part of the book and an aspect that made every plot point matter, Villeneuve throws that to the side in place for an epic cinematic experience. Yet all that means nothing when the soul of Dune has been ripped from its very core. This is mainly due to the abysmal writing, one that relied heavily on hitting the major plot points of the book without understanding what made those moments memorable. Leto’s demise felt insignificant because the emperor’s decision making that led to that death was cut from the film. It did not hold any weight because the main reason for his murder wasn’t even included in the movie. Yeuh’s reveal as the spy flopped so hard because he wasn’t given the proper screen time he deserves to build his character. Leto’s shock at Yeuh’s betrayal meant nothing because the audience watching barely even knew why Yeuh was important. The heavily inspired Arabic themes and the effects of imperialism were washed to the side for a couple of nomads crazily bowing down as Paul walks by. All of what made Dune an impactful story was gone, and what is left is a skeleton of what was an incredibly nuanced and impactful story.
One of the main aspects for Herbert’s success with Dune was how it’s story could be applied to any period of time. Any civilization being oppressed by imperialists could feel the anguish that the Freman felt. Obviously its Arabic influences were apparent but they could still apply to any situation, which is the marker of a great story. Villeneuve blatantly disregards all of that in favor for big name actors to fill out the role of the Freman. No where aside from a few minor instances does Villeneuve go over the Freman’s deep culture and characteristics, which unsurprisingly made their reveal and encounter underwhelming. Which in turn ended up being the conclusion of the first part of Dune as Villeneuve pulled the wool over everyone’s eyes when the title screen showcased this was only half the experience. After spending 155 minutes, I was shocked at the place in which he decided to bookend this part. Knowing what is to come in terms of the book, I am wary that the second film will be just as bad to the source material as the first part. Especially since he has finished 3/4ths of the book already and has managed to ignore the core of Herbert’s version. This is not to say Villeneuve should have chosen to blindly follow Herbert’s book to the letter. An adaptation needs to be meaningful, and decisions on what to keep as well as what to omit need to come with great care. Villeneuve decided to keep all of the main plot points of the book without including the reasons for their significance, which is my main criticism. Many films that deviate or follow its source material have been impactful. Two films where I have read the books prior to watching the movie are The Shining and Inherent Vice. The Shining deviated heavily from King’s version yet still managed to be great because the changes made were fully fledged and felt perfect for the film’s narrative. On the other hand Inherent Vice (which I felt was an impossible adaptation) was nailed by PTA as he manages to capture the chaotic feel that Pynchon intended in the book. It is a shame that Dune manages to be in neither category as Villeneuve tries to follow the source material while leaving behind its soul.
It is not all bad though. The visuals are stunning as Villeneuve really did deliver on the grandiosity aspect. The epic vistas along with the gargantuan machinery was very close to what I had imagined when reading the book. Villeneuve knows how to translate Sci-Fi to cinema, but it came at a cost as explained above. All of the actors were great in their roles and they all fit perfectly. I feel like everyone did their roles justice even with little screen time some characters got,. While she wasn’t in the film as much, Sharon Duncan-Brewster was my favorite performance out of everyone as Kynes. She left a lasting impact which was lost on many other characters such as Mapes and Yeuh. I just hope we are able to see more of this in the second installment with a heavier emphasis on characters and themes.
The more I think about Dune the more disappointed I become. I genuinely feel sad for what happened to this story that I love. All of it’s heart and soul was lost in translation and what we were left with is a carcass of what once was an amazing story. Dune is not known as an impossible adaptation for its grandiosity or its complicated story. On the contrary, its plot is fairly simple when you boil down its key events and its grand nature has been a staple in Hollywood for a long time. It is known as an impossible adaptation because of its rich depth in every page. For an almost 600 page book it never felt like a drag to get through, yet each page is filled with an ocean of depth that could be interpreted in so many ways. It is just not something that can be translated to cinema, even with all that taken into account I feel as if Villeneuve missed the ball hard on this adaptation. It may have captured the hearts of the general public but I honestly cannot in good faith say that this film delivered a meaningful story. Even disregarding my knowledge of the book and its lore, it was not able to put forth fully fledged characters and a rich story to meet the grand nature of its visuals. As I said in the beginning, the bigger you go the more you have to fill. It is not enough to create such an epic film if its story and characters are not in line with that epic vision. A great example of this is Lowery’s The Green Knight. While it may not be for everyone, that film felt as epic as Dune with such a small budget. Yet that grand nature employed in The Green Knight was filled to the brim with the depth of an ocean, which led to every single moment being impactful. It saddens me to write this review, but it must be said that I was honestly disappointed with what I saw. As the days pass and I have had more time to reminisce on the film, all I see is a shadow of what once was something great.
