Films and Fiction

There are some books that seem to be unadaptable. Lord of the Rings is one, which had an unsatisfactory first attempt, followed by a much more successful one a few decades later. Another story that followed much the same path was James Herbert’s Dune. First there was the largely unloved 1984 movie, then in 2021, Denis Villenueve did the impossible, and made a good movie based on the story of Paul Atreides.

I should say that I’ve never read the books, so maybe there are some things the movie gets wrong, but what I’m basing my review on is two things: how good the movie is in comparison with the 1984 version; how good the movie is in its own right.

It is difficult to talk about the Denis Villenueve movie without referencing the failed attempt by David Lynch forty years earlier. It can’t be ignored that the 1984 film wasn’t just bad as an adaptation, it was bad at being a coherent, watchable movie. Seeing the recent version, I actually realised for the first time just what Lynch’s film was about, who the characters were, and what this world was. This is a big win for the 2021 film, it had all the same worldbuilding challenges, but managed to execute them effectively without dragging down the story. I was actually surprised by how few exposition dumps there were. True, it’s hard to remember all the complex names right off the bat, but they get mentioned so many times you eventually catch up, and while it can feel like it’s pushing hard to reveal all the intricacies of its story, it never gets too overwhelming. Once you’ve gotten into the swing of things with this new world, it all progresses quite smoothly.

If there was one negative criticism I’d give to the worldbuilding, it’s that it doesn’t look that individual. It’s a common problem with sci-fi that it never really does anything wildly different. There’s not much in the architecture, technology, or fashion that really stands out as being specifically from Dune. The Ornithopter is a pretty unique design, but other than that, there isn’t much that’s instantly recognisable at a glance. As most of the action is confined to a single planet, it’s not as big a problem as it would be if the went hopping between different cultures and planets across the galaxy.

Praise has to go to the large, all star cast. They all put in good performances and seem to be chosen for their talent, rather than the appeal of a popular name. One big problem with such a large cast is that many only get brief moments on screen, so they have to make every second count and instantly draw you in with their performances. Fortunately they all do.

Timothee Chalamet is a strong lead who isn’t afraid to act, while you get the solid turns you’d expect from stars like Oscar Isaac, James Brolin, and Stellan Skarsgard. If there was one actor who worried me, it was Zendaya. I wasn’t sure if she could handle a role in such a heavy film, but after seeing her in Part Two, I take this back.

Despite its two and half hour long runtime, it never gets boring. With such a long film, there’s always the risk of it starting to drag, meaning you lose interest and tune out. That doesn’t happen here. There’s always some new thing to keep your interest, though it probably could have lost ten minutes or so from the third act without suffering.

Having seen the ’84 film, I had a rough idea where the story would go, though it offered a lot of twists I wasn’t expecting. Whether this is because it’s a more faithful adaptation or not, I’ve no idea. It certainly takes its time more than that movie, and goes deeper into the story. Much like The Fellowship of the Ring, it’s a film that ends with a beginning, leading into the second part as much as providing a resolution.

It’s not what I’d call a simple film. If you’re looking for light entertainment, it’s not here. It goes quite tragic in places, with the deaths of major characters, even the truly heroic ones, leaving the young duke Paul Atreides in a role he doesn’t want. There are the high political maneuvers, where lives are traded and even the most powerful can be pushed around. Life isn’t valued, and no matter how noble you are, you can still die an ignominious death.

All these things make it a different kind of movie. There’s no pleasing dramatic end. Not even small victories for the heroes, leaving the story hanging in the balance with everything still to play for. If you want to be satisfied by the end, then this isn’t the movie for you. But if you’re willing to put in the effort to get invested in this dark, real, brutal world where actions have terrible consequences, you might just find something to like in Dune.

You can read my review of Dune: Part Two here.