Dune – 2021
In recent years, I am very happy to notice a trend in movies that are being nominated for the coveted Best Picture award. More films from the science-fiction category are being given consideration. This includes super-hero films, as well as pure sci-fi fantasy movies like this one, not just the dramas and the dramatic or historical biopics that usually get nominated. The Best Picture category needs to be more than just the best dramatic films of the year. Because, you see, this was just a good movie, despite the fact that it is in the science fiction genre.
Another trend that I’m really liking is that movies that stay close to the source material like books or plays, are ultimately better movies. Filmmakers are finally starting to realize that there was a reason those books were popular in the first place, and that if you change what was in them, you not only anger the fans of the books, but you invariably lose what made them popular in the first place. And from what I have heard, Dune did a pretty good job of remaining loyal to the book.
This, of course, is the third adaptation of Frank Herbert’s Dune to be filmed. The first was the critical and commercial flop that was the David Lynch version, released in 1984. It was confusing and hard to understand, though to be fair, it was originally supposed to be a three hour film that was cut down to a little under two hours and twenty minutes. Then there was the made for TV miniseries from 2000 that, while superior in many ways, suffered from a made for TV budget and pacing issues. A good try, but ultimately too small.
But here, I think they finally got it right. Not only had technology advanced sufficiently to do the fantastical story justice, but it was a big-budget production that had the funds to create the sets and visual effects needed for the enormous scale of the narrative. They could afford to hire the best costumers, the best set designers, the best production designers, and the best visual effects artists in the business. Not only that, but they were able to hire a director, Denis Villeneuve, for whom directing Dune was a passion project. And it was clear that he cared about the story he was telling.
The cast was amazing. Timothee Chalamet played the lead, Paul Atreides. When I first heard of this casting choice, I remember thinking that it was an odd one. I though he looked too young and too slightly built to do the character justice. Happily, I was wrong. Chalamet was wonderful, and embodied not only the innocence the character required, but the toughness as well. The rest of the cast was very much an ensemble, but if you could pick out a second lead among the cast, it would be his mother, Lady Jessica, played by Rebecca Ferguson, who really did a fantastic job. She was beautiful and yet dangerous at the same time. I particularly liked her in the scene where Jessica and Paul escape from their captors using the Bene Gesserit skill known as “the Voice.” Very cool scene!
Other great actors in the film were Oscar Isaac, playing Duke Leto Atreides, Josh Brolin as Gurney Halleck, Jason Momoa as Duncan Idaho, Stellan Skarsgard as Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, Javier Bardem as Stilgar, and Zendaya as Chani. Add to them such names as Dave Bautista, Sharon Duncan-Brewster, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Chang Chen, Charlotte Rampling, and David Dastmalchian, and you have a great cast that really did a phenomenal job inhabiting their roles.
In particular, I really liked Josh Brolin’s performance. He is such a skilled and accomplished actor. He is incredibly handsome, but can really pull off the part of a bad-ass tough guy. Jason Momoa also did a great job, though at first, I almost didn’t recognize him when he appeared on the screen. He looked so different than when he played Aquaman or Kal Drogo. There was one member of the cast who I feel was under-used, though honestly, I don’t see how they could have given him more screen time than he had. Stellan Skarsgard is also a very good actor, and here, he played the Baron Harkonnen so well! His performance was brief but powerful. And the scene where he had to be covered in black slime? EEEWWW!!!
The score for the film was written by Hans Zimmer, one of the best in the business. There was a grandeur and power to his music that elevated the film and enhanced its scale immensely. And what a scale it was! This is a true epic, and if it is handled right, it could very well be the next major franchise that everyone is so desperately looking for. The original series of books by Frank Herbert is made up of six novels, and this film is only the first half of the first one. I have read that the sequel is already planned to be released in 2023. I’m glad because they finally seem to have gotten it right, and I’m looking forward to seeing the surviving cast return to reprise their roles.
Dune garnered ten nominations at the Academy Awards, more than any other movie in 2021, including Best Picture, Adapted Screenplay, Original Score, Costume Design, Sound, Film Editing, Makeup and Hairstyling, Cinematography, Production Design, and Visual Effects. It took home Oscars for six of those categories, and I believe they were absolutely deserved. Well done everyone!