| Date Watched | October 23, 2021 |
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Yes, Dune...PART ONE. Queue Meryl Streep, "Now a warning?!?"
It's impossible to watch this version and not make some comparisons again David Lynch's 1984 version. So let's just go with it. Denis Villeneuve's half saga already clocks in at 155min vs Lynch's full story at 137. Assuming he keeps this pace, this new Dune will be about 225% the film time!
What is Villeneuve doing with all this extra time? It feels like one of Peter Jackson's disastrously long and self-indulgence director's cuts. We are treated to long and epic scenery and brooding art house shots – but actually less story. It suffers by trying to not be directly compared to Lynch's version. Where Lynch's dialog is stilted and artificial, trying to give as much explanation as possible and being economical with the time; this version takes deep cuts from the narrative and delivers obtuse dialog that is just as artificial. Replacing Lynch's voice overs and cut scenes of the Emperor and the Guild; Villeneuve uses subtitles over various languages - more distracting and less effective.
So much of this movie should have been left on the editing floor. There is no reason at this pace, to need 5+ hours of film! He wastes three scenes on Shadout Mapes; but doesn't use her to move ahead the plot or the characters. The movie is littered with wasted scenes that feel more like drudgery and just performing scenes from the book simply because they could exist.
I would be very excited for a 5hr Dune. It is a dense world that deserves the time. But this is not that version. This takes the time, but does less. It feels more like a companion to reading the Novel than a stand alone version. It doesn't interpret the characters or the narratives as much as simply visualizes them.
Visually is where the film excels. It is gorgeous and as rich as anything you could imagine. It is up to date, atmospheric, immersive. I have to point out thought, that several scenes seem like direct homages to the 1984 version.
The acting is still stilted and comes off more art school. And lastly, what the hell happens to Jason Momoa's beard halfway through? Oh, since it is part one, I guess it is one quarter of the way through.
