Review of the IMAX film ‘Dune part one’ (2021)

‘Dune’ is the name of a science-fiction six-book series written by Frank Herbert, and expanded later by the duo Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson with twenty-two more books. ‘Dune’ is also the name of the first book, a two-part novel that is one of the masterpieces of the genre. ‘Dune’ is also the name of the 1984 film that used 137 minutes to adapt the two parts. Finally, in 2021 we get a new film that uses 155 minutes to adapt the first part alone, hence the titular ‘Dune part one’.

The Dune series offers one of the most complex fictional universes ever created. It is vast in time: its action, set in the future, spans from about 10,000 AD to 27,000 AD, with the story of the film happening around the year 22,000 AD. It is vast in space: it happens on a Empire extending over several star systems. It is vast in complexity: there is a feudal regime, with noble houses governing the planets and an Emperor governing the Known Universe; there is the Guild of navigators that hold a monopoly on space travel; there is the religious order Bene Gesserit; there are no computers but Mentats, human calculators. And all of these groups keep a delicate balance because of their common dependency of the spice, produced only in the desertic planet Arrakis, also known as Dune. It is never clear why spice is so much vital to all of them, and only the 1984 film makes an attempt to provide a good explanation by saying it allows space travel by folding space, but it doesn’t really matter: every reader and spectator assumes that it is a metaphor for petroleum, as it is something of great value extracted by advanced people in deserts populated by undeveloped people.

The plot revolves around the power struggle between the different groups. By Emperor orders, the House of Harkonnen is to leave Arrakis and the House of Atreides is to take charge of it and its spice-extraction operations. In parallel, the Bene Gesserit is close to culminating their secret millennia-long plan: by subtly influencing the mixing of the bloodlines of the nobility, they expect to obtain the Kwisatz Haderach, an individual with supreme mental abilities. Could Paul Atreides be the one? The script shows all the important scenes, but fails to explain the full complexity of the universe and loses the focus of some scenes, leaving the impression that reading the book is required in order to understand them. In particular, the dialogues are unremarkable – a huge mistake, with so much magnificent prime material as the book provides. Villeneuve is an unbalanced storyteller that loves images but hates words.

The direction of Villeneuve is aesthetically brilliant as usual. The visual aspect is amazing, with the help of great visual and special effects; and the sound is great, with an excellent soundtrack by Hans Zimmer. Maybe the settings are excessively minimalistic, with many rooms appearing to be empty. Maybe the use of very low-pitched brass, which seemed exotic in films like The Arrival, begins to appear a bit too much repeated. Villeneuve keeps the film at a slow, adequate pace that allows for exploring the characters in depth without getting boring. As for the IMAX format, it makes the visual aspect amazing and makes it worthwhile to watch the film in this format.

On the other hand, Villeneuve doesn’t appear to be a director of actors, for the acting lacks tone in general. Sharon Duncan-Brewster looks like it’s her first week on the job of planetologist. Jason Momoa lacks containment both in acting and shape. Rebecca Ferguson and Charlotte Rampling are just about. Oscar Isaac, Stellan Skarsgård, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Dave Bautista are good. As for Timothée Chalamet, he looks adequately young for the role; strong and fragile at the same time, his excellent performance makes the story believable more than the special effects do.

All in all, an excellent science-fiction film. 4 out of 5.

Comparison with the book: Herbert only regretted the 1984 film to leave out the banquet scene, which gives a glimpse of the Dune society – well, it is left out again. True, it has the hindrance of introducing characters that never appear again. Besides that, let’s admit it: the book has a defect. The survival of Paul Atreides is not in the interest of the Harkonnen nor the Emperor nor the Guild. But then, how on the Known Universe are the Harkonnen intent on killing the Duke Leto but afraid to kill Paul, who would quite certainly try to avenge his father sooner or later? The unbelievable reason is that they are afraid of Mohiam, the Emperor’s Truthsayer, exposing the crime. Really? No worry at all to be exposed as killers of the Duke, but unbearably afraid to be exposed as killers of the son? Oh, come on. But this defect is made even worse in the Villeneuve film, where Mohiam is shown to meet with the Baron Harkonnen on behalf of the Emperor in order to conspire. For starters, that is never in the role of Mohiam for the Emperor knows too well that the Bene Gesserit has its own agenda and relies on Count Fenring instead for that matter; but wait, it gets even worse – at the meeting, Mohiam seizes the opportunity to request in the name of the Emperor that Paul survives, something which is in the interest of the Bene Gesserit but in fact against the interest of the Emperor. So, Villeneuve gets Mohiam to actually betray the Emperor. This defect passes unnoticed for now because the Emperor doesn’t appear in Villeneuve’s adaptation of part one, but it will be certainly a disappointment for the spectator to watch part two and be told, ‘Request? What request?’. Also, Villeneuve commits a second mistake: when learning the Voice, Paul puts his progress to the test by using the Voice against Jessica – something that doesn’t make sense, as users of the Voice have to be immune to it.

Comparison of the two films: The 1984 film, in spite of being done 37 years earlier and having consequently worse special and visual effects, stands up to the 2021 film. In spite of having to adapt the two parts of the novel instead of a single one, the script of the 1984 film manages to explain everything, while the 2021 film leaves scenes unclear. The 1984 dialogues are sharp, while the 2021 ones are dull. There’s the always controversial choice of having voice-over or not, which always divides people – maybe this was the film to leave the voice-over, because it is so much important in the novel. Anyway, Lynch does better screenwriting than Villeneuve, but then Villeneuve gets back by doing better direction than Lynch. As for the music, is better in the 2021 film. As for the cast, is clearly superior in the 1984 film - being one of the most expensive films of its time, it was provided with an excellent cast with some renowned European actors. The most clear examples are Reverend Mother Mohiam, where the authoritarian presence of Siân Phillips is unmatched by Charlotte Rampling, and Doctor Kynes, played by Max von Sydow with a charisma that Sharon Duncan-Brewster lacks. Also superior in the 1984 film are the roles of Lady Jessica, Duke Leto, Piter De Vries, Shadout Mapes, Thufir Hawat, Duncan Idaho and Doctor Yueh. On the 2021 film account, Paul Atreides is superior, and the Harkonnen are better performed, looking less brutish and more scheming. As for the role of Gurney Halleck, let’s call it a tie: Patrick Stewart has better voice, but Josh Brolin has more presence. So, to recap: the 1984 film has better script, dialogues and cast, while the 2021 has better direction, music, and special and visual effects.

Title:	Dune part one
Genre:	Science-fiction
Year:	2021
Nationality:	United States, Canada
Colour:	Colour
Director:	Denis Villeneuve
Writer:	Jon Spaihts, Denis Villeneuve, Eric Roth, Frank Herbert
Cast:	Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Jason Momoa, Stellan Skarsgård, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem, Sharon Duncan-Brewster, Chang Chen, Dave Bautista, David Dastmalchian, Zendaya, Charlotte Rampling, Babs Olusanmokun, Benjamin Clémentine, Souad Faress, Golda Rosheuvel, Roger Yuan, Seun Shote, Neil Bell, Oliver Ryan, Stephen Collins, Charlie Rawes, Richard Carter, Ben Dilloway, Elmi Rashid Elmi, Tachia Newall, Gloria Obianyo, Fehinti Balogun, Dóra Kápolnai-Schvab, Joelle Amery, Jimmy Walker, Paul Bullion, Milena Sidorova, János Timkó, Jean Gilpin, Marianne Faithfull, Ellen Dubin
Producer:	Cale Boyter, Joe Caracciolo Jr., Fuad Khalil, Mary Parent, Denis Villeneuve
Co-producer:	Chris Carreras, Jessica Derhammer
Executive producer:	Herbert W. Gains, Joshua Grode, John Harrison, Brian Herbert, Kim Herbert, Tanya Lapointe, Byron Merritt, Richard P. Rubinstein, Jon Spaihts, Thomas Tull
Production designer:	Patrice Vermette
Cinematographer:	Greig Fraser
Film editor:	Joe Walker
Casting:	Jina Jay, Francine Maisler
Art Director:	Karl Probert
Set Decorator:	Richard Roberts, Zsuzsanna Sipos
Costume Designer:	Robert Morgan, Jacqueline West
Music:	Hans Zimmer
Running time:	155 minutes
Language:	English