“Dune” is a literary classic. The Frank Herbert novel is so widespread and iconic, the inspiration can be seen in some of the biggest film and TV franchises today. (“Star Wars” owes an incredible amount to “Dune,” for example.) And that means there are going to be quite a few people that have very specific ideas as to what makes a good “Dune” adaptation. One of those men, obviously, is Alejandro Jodorowsky, who famously tried to adapt the project for a feature film in the ‘70s. And as you might expect, he has thoughts about what filmmaker Denis Villeneuve is doing with the project that is scheduled to arrive in theaters later this year.
Speaking to the French outlet, Le Point, Jodorowsky not only talked about his vision for “Dune,” but also why he can’t help but be disappointed in the forthcoming Warner Bros. film. The filmmaker said his version of “Dune” would have been “a bit like André Breton’s ‘Nadja.’” He further explained that his “Dune” would have lasted 14 hours and would have felt like Breton’s work in the sense that it would have been “a manifesto to penetrate the minds of individuals and cause a pandemic, but which is focused on life and not on death like the one we know today.”
Of course, if you want a deeper dive into the filmmaker’s vision for the feature, you should definitely watch “Jodorowsky’s Dune.” As for what he thought of Villeneuve’s version, he was complimentary but not a fan.
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“I saw the trailer. It’s very well done,” Jodorowsky said. “We can see that it is industrial cinema, that there is a lot of money, and that it was very expensive. But if it was very expensive, it must pay in proportion. And that is the problem: There are no surprises. The form is identical to what is done everywhere. The shape of it, the lighting, the acting, it’s all predictable.”
He added, “Industrial cinema is incompatible with auteur cinema. For the former, money comes before. For the second, it’s the opposite, whatever the quality of a director, whether my friend Nicolas Winding Refn or Denis Villeneuve. Industrial cinema promotes entertainment, it is a show that is not intended to change humanity or society.”
The filmmaker does say that he “has no doubt” that Villeneuve’s film will be viewed as a success. But clearly, Jodorowsky has other ideas for what would have made a truly great “Dune.”
Villeneuve’s “Dune” is still set to arrive on December 18. For now, at least. If you want to watch “Jodorowsky’s Dune,” that doc is can be streamed on Amazon Prime Video. You can watch the trailers for both below: