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diff --git a/content/reviews/movies/part-one-2021.md b/content/reviews/movies/part-one-2021.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..24d02f4 --- /dev/null +++ b/content/reviews/movies/part-one-2021.md @@ -0,0 +1,145 @@ ++++ +title = "Dune: Part One (2021)" +author = ["Michał Sapka"] +date = 2024-04-13T21:33:00+02:00 +categories = ["reviews"] +draft = false +weight = 2012 +reviewSection = ["Movies"] +image_dir = "reviews/screenshots" +image_max_width = 765 +abstract = "My review of an adaptation of the first part of an amazing book" +aliases = ["/brain-rot/dune/part-one-2021", "brain-rot/american-scifi/dune/part-one-2021/"] +rating = 4.75 +image = "reviews/covers/dune.jpg" +related = ["Dune movies"] +relatedName = "Dune: Part One (2021)" ++++ + +I'd like to call myself a Dune fan, but I am not. +I have finished my Dune adventure on _Heretics_ and only now am I planning to finish the saga[^fn:1] +Though, I think this still puts me well above most people calling themselves fans now. +I loved eveything I've read, but I have never reached the end. + +_Dune: Part 1_ is the second movie based on the 1956 Frank Herbert's classic SciFi epic. +Well, it is not. +It is the third attempt to show the first half of the book. +There was the David Lynch verion (which I adore) and there was a TV Series. +There were also games, but only two of those have any resemblance to the plot of the book. +So yeah, Dune was considered impossible to transfer to any other medium. +Sadly, I still have to agree. + +I think everybody (and their dogs) know what _Dune_ is about but: +_Dune_ is a story of distant future, where all powerful houses rule the known universe. +The technological progress was halted thousands of years ago, after a thinking machines raged a war against humanity. +After their defeat it was forbidden to create such machines. +Arrakis (aka Dune) is a sand planet, the only known source of _Spice_ - a narcotic allowing humans to traverse time, and therefore spaceflight. +Spaceships are operated by mutated humans, who after exposure to Spice can see into the future and steer the ships. +Now, the Emperor orders the control of the planet to be shifted to th House of Atreides. +The previous stewards, House of Harkonen will not make it any easier. + +Ignoring the mutants, this sounds like a run-of-the-mill SF series. +But _Dune_ It is also story of social engineering spanning millennia, of false prophets, and a million other crazy things. +The first book keeps it _almost_ sane, but there is a significant dictionary attached, and the first time reader will need to use it extensively. +Later the saga goes completely off the rails. +We'll get back to this. + +Note, that _Frank Herbert_ wrote only the first few books. +After his death, his son - _Brian Herbet_ took over and wrote dozens of other ones. +The quality differs significantly, as I've been told. +I've read the _Houses_ trilogy, and it was quite nice. + +Now that we've got the introduction out of the way, let's go to the movie. +Let me start with saying that I adore it. +It's not what I'd want (as the young vloggers say "hear me out face value it's as close to perfect SF movie as they go. + +_Dune: Part 1_ is directed by Denis Vileneuve, who previously directed some of the greatest SF movies of this century - _Arrival_ and _Blade Runner 2049_. +His other movies are also amazing (I can't recommend _Enemy_ enough), so I was pretty stoked when it was announced that he will direct _Dune_. +I am no longer a movie buff[^fn:2], but he may very well be my favorite living director. + +Technically, I can not find any fault with the movie. +The story makes sense (I'll return to Lynch in a second), which by itself is an achievement. +The acting is superb, and works as a reminder that TV series are still not on the level of the greatest movies. +The special effects are astounding[^fn:3]. +The music is, for the most part, at least great. +I hated the main theme with screaming lady. +Music is supposed to work with the movie, not to hide it with loud noises! +But that's the only thing I disliked. + +{{< image class="centered" file="dune-part1-001.webp" >}} +Jessicas portrayal is amazing. +{{< /image >}} + +{{< image class="centered" file="dune-part1-002.webp" >}} +ALL costumes are amazing +{{< /image >}} + +{{< image class="centered" file="dune-part1-003.webp" >}} +CGI is amazing. +The movie looks amazing. +{{< /image >}} + +{{< image class="centered" file="dune-part1-004.webp" >}} +Have mentioned how amazing this movie looks? +{{< /image >}} + +I loved the tempo of this movie, as I never enjoyed action-packed shoot fests of the _other franchise dominating cinema for decades_. +Everything is slow - the actors speak slowly, the scene have time to breath, the camera is moving on a low gear. +Even things fall down slowly! +This adds an amazing dream-like feeling to most scenes. +Sometimes I felt like I'm watching a _Tarkovsky_ movie and not a big budget Hollywood blockbuster. + +And this the greatest and worst thing here. +It's meditative. +You feel like yoy are in a trance. +You fully buy accept you see here. + +But the world of Dune is weird. +It is full of things that make you go "huh?". +It has mutants who traverse time, but it also got mutants who are computers. +There are reanimated corpses, living furniture, hollow planets, vision quests. +Denis omitted everything that was not essential to the plot, and what he left, he grounded in reality by omitting the _wtf_. +There are not even the crazy names! +Some strange things he left, but they are shown without explanation. +It's just there, without any context. +But, to be fair - context would only add confusion. + +But this is where _Lynchs_ version shines. +It makes little sense, it is rushed - sure. +But it conveys how twisted the world is. +It's not a trace, it's a full on narcotic trip straight out of some hippie story. + +And this is why I don't think that this movie is a _great_ adaptation of Dune. +It is a _great_ movie on its own. +It perfectly adapts the adaptable and pretends that there is nothing else. +It makes _Dune: Part 1_ the hit that it is, and it allowed us to get _Part 2_. +But since making this move appeal to mass audience is not my problem, I'd like to see the full picture. + +It'd also like to see the world less cold. +The architecture is devoid of heart, it's brutalistic. +It looks amazing (I think I mentioned that), but the crazy colors and abstract layouts we see in Lynch version is something else. +It's a Vileneuve style. +It looks exactly like his previous movies - it's controlled, clean, _cold_. +As much as I loved it in his other works, I'm not sure if it fits the degenerate houses we meet. + +But that's just me. +As it stands, this is a groundbreaking movie which makes me want more. +Not only more of _Dune_ but more of serious, intelligent SciFi movies. +We had those and may get more! + +It's better in any conceivable way compared to all previous attempts at adapting the source material, and I think all my nitpicks are kina moot. +It fits 2024 esthetic and it's crazy intelligent. + +Highest recommendation from me. +4.75/4 + +And, hey! +Sardukars no longer look like welders! + +[^fn:1]: Right after finishing the Witcher saga. +[^fn:2]: not to brag, but I was a semiprofessional film critic during college years. + I had a press pass and all! +[^fn:3]: Ornititopthers look just like in the _Dune_ game! + This strangely works with how believable everything is. + All flying ships have this strange physics, which I have hard time explaining. + They are not like you X-Wings, but they fit the world. |