Dune (2021)
(Dune: Part One)
Country: US/CAN
Technical: col/2.39:1 155m
Director: Denis Villeneuve
Cast: Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Jason Momoa, Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem, Zendaya
Synopsis:
The planet Arrakis holds the key to control of the cosmos: melange, the mind-bending spice that makes space travel possible. The Emperor holds the competing systems, or Houses, at bay by dividing them and allotting stewardship of the desert planet to each in turn. However, he now plans to crush the strongest of them by concealing an iron fist in this velvet glove.
Review:
And so Frank Herbert's many-layered, minutely described universe gets the two-part treatment, and in the process both gains in depth and loses in emotional heft on Lynch's disputed version. The themes of planetary ecology, religion and technology (never more relevant for our own world) are given space to breathe alongside the dominant fabula of the messianic deliverer; but in stopping proceedings halfway we lose the elements of fulfilment and retribution: even the Lord of the Rings films knew to end on a good scrap. Still, it's a magnificent achievement, with an unostentatious colour palette emphasising browns and greys, an off-world techno sound mix, and a casting gambit of having the weedy Chalamet play the steely Paul that just about pays off.
(Dune: Part One)
Country: US/CAN
Technical: col/2.39:1 155m
Director: Denis Villeneuve
Cast: Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Jason Momoa, Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem, Zendaya
Synopsis:
The planet Arrakis holds the key to control of the cosmos: melange, the mind-bending spice that makes space travel possible. The Emperor holds the competing systems, or Houses, at bay by dividing them and allotting stewardship of the desert planet to each in turn. However, he now plans to crush the strongest of them by concealing an iron fist in this velvet glove.
Review:
And so Frank Herbert's many-layered, minutely described universe gets the two-part treatment, and in the process both gains in depth and loses in emotional heft on Lynch's disputed version. The themes of planetary ecology, religion and technology (never more relevant for our own world) are given space to breathe alongside the dominant fabula of the messianic deliverer; but in stopping proceedings halfway we lose the elements of fulfilment and retribution: even the Lord of the Rings films knew to end on a good scrap. Still, it's a magnificent achievement, with an unostentatious colour palette emphasising browns and greys, an off-world techno sound mix, and a casting gambit of having the weedy Chalamet play the steely Paul that just about pays off.
(Dune: Part One)
Country: US/CAN
Technical: col/2.39:1 155m
Director: Denis Villeneuve
Cast: Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Jason Momoa, Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem, Zendaya
Synopsis:
The planet Arrakis holds the key to control of the cosmos: melange, the mind-bending spice that makes space travel possible. The Emperor holds the competing systems, or Houses, at bay by dividing them and allotting stewardship of the desert planet to each in turn. However, he now plans to crush the strongest of them by concealing an iron fist in this velvet glove.
Review:
And so Frank Herbert's many-layered, minutely described universe gets the two-part treatment, and in the process both gains in depth and loses in emotional heft on Lynch's disputed version. The themes of planetary ecology, religion and technology (never more relevant for our own world) are given space to breathe alongside the dominant fabula of the messianic deliverer; but in stopping proceedings halfway we lose the elements of fulfilment and retribution: even the Lord of the Rings films knew to end on a good scrap. Still, it's a magnificent achievement, with an unostentatious colour palette emphasising browns and greys, an off-world techno sound mix, and a casting gambit of having the weedy Chalamet play the steely Paul that just about pays off.