Dune - Cheap Thoughts

“It’s not an easy task to adapt Dune the novel”, that’s a sentiment that has been expressed since this adaptation was first announced, and there is fair reasoning behind it. Dune’s status as a classic work of science-fiction and incredibly influential on the genre as a whole has in some ways reflected back on it negatively, now many elements of the novel have become standard tropes for the genre that can sometimes make it seem basic and predictable, even worse it’s a story that thrives on its details rather than the grand picture. Two elements that work against adapting it into a film for modern audiences. Combine that with the prior adaptations less than stellar reception and director Denis Villeneuve’s back catalogue of work which consists of well-produced and received works of art but not exactly high in financial returns, it’s amazing this film got green-lit to begin with.

All of this is to say, the newest adaptation of Dune brings exactly what one would expect knowing this information prior. Villeneuve has concocted an incredibly well-crafted film that presents a story with beautiful cinematography and production design to create such a visual delicacy that is at times grandiose in scale and in power, it combines the fanatical world of fiction with the realism of the science. It is at times gorgeous and other times disgusting, all purposeful and a wonderful treat for the eyes. There are few sci-fi films to be held in comparison, it truly creates an iconography that holds up to that first syllable.

This is all a way of saying Villeneuve’s presentation holds up what is at the end of the day a very neutral story, to no fault of its own. As stated this is a very influential book, which puts the film in a difficult position to either be disloyal to its source material for the sake of originality, or stay true at the risk of being derivative…of itself. Villeneuve made the right choice of sticking to the latter, as one of the goals this film clearly had in mind is to give Dune fans a truly great and loyal adaptation of the book, to provide a visual component to the original text. Helping him uphold that is a truly great cast that bring such nuance and history to these characters even when the script is unable to support them.

Dune the film is best described as a very expensive arthouse picture, many would argue it would not the big box-office hit it would need to greenlight a sequel to complete the story, and yet Lionsgate already announcing a part two mere days into the film’s release shows promise of the studio wishing to tell a story first and profit second. It is unheard of for this to happen. This is not to say Dune is a revolutionary work of cinema, but it is rare for a film of this size to have such clear authorial intent behind it, to allow the filmmaker’s thumbprint to be clearly seen on every frame. This is not going to be a film to appeal to every audience member and good riddance, allow it to be divisive if that allows it to exist.

-Danny