Dune 2021 Directed by Denis Villeneuve

Dune 2021

Directed by Denis Villeneuve

Denis Villeneuve was born on October 3rd, 1967 in Becancour Canada. The eldest of 4 siblings, his brother Martin also became a filmmaker. Denis grew up within view of a nuclear reactor and used to joke with people as a child that it was going to give him superpowers. This might have been reinforced when an aunt came by and gave him a couple boxes of European Science fiction, which kickstarted his own interest in the genre. I can relate to this since it was an older cousin handing me a box full of Conan and Sonja comics that really pulled me into Sword and Sorcery at a young age. Never underestimate the impact your handing off some old books or comics or movies will have on your younger relatives folks. 

This led him to American science fiction films, which I would argue is actually the weakest expression of American science fiction but I'm known for being snobby on this. That said, one film he kept coming back to and re-watching the many, many versions of? Blade Runner. While he flirted with actually studying science at the University of Quebec. He ended up attending the university's film school instead. After that, he would create several short films covering a wide variety of subjects. This was interrupted when he took a 9-year break to help care for his children but he would surge back into filmmaking. His two films released after his break Polytechnique and Incendes were independent films but got him Hollywood attention. At first, he was hesitant since Hollywood has something of a bad reputation when it comes to the treatment of foreign directors. However, he decided to roll the dice. 

His first Hollywood film was Prisoners with Hugh Jackson and Jake Gyllenhaal. After that, he filmed Sicario and the science fiction film Arrival. His own words were that finally getting to shoot a science fiction film was like a dream come true. It was then he felt ready for his big shot, shooting the sequel to Bladerunner 2049. We reviewed Bladerunner 2049 way back in 2019 and gave it a C+ better than average but kinda flawed. I stand by that grade, as I think the flatness of K and the slow pacing of the film held back what was otherwise a great movie looking at what it means to be a person and a number of other themes that made it worth the watch. But that's not what we're here to talk about, we're here to talk about Dune. 

Since I'll be reviewing the book soonish, I won't talk about Frank Herbert here or get to much into it. Here are the basics you need to know. Humanity is united under the throne of the Padishah Emperor and is utterly dependent on a material known as Spice. No Spice, no FTL travel, no FTL travel, and civilization collapses. That would be enough but taking Spice also grants certain abilities and powers to people. Everything from longer life to a limited ability to see the future. Spice can only be found on one planet, Arrakis aka Dune the desert planet. So while it's a wasteland, it's also the most valuable planet in the universe. Under the Emperor powerful Noble houses do most of the day-to-day work of ruling and maintaining the Empire, this includes making sure the Spice is harvested and transported off Dune and into the waiting hands of... Everyone. 

This brings us to our main character of Paul Atreides, only son and heir of Leto Atreides, Duke of House Atreides. Duke Leto's fortunes would seem to be on the rise, not only is he considered one of the most trustworthy men in the Empire but the other Great Houses increasingly look to him for leadership when they're having disagreements with the Emperor. He's got pretty decent relations with the Bene Gesserit Sisterhood, a group of women with skills and powers beyond that of mortal men, who act as spies, aids, and councilors to the nobles. In fact, he's actually sleeping with one, as the Lady Jessica, officially his concubine but in reality, his wife in all but name is a member in mostly okay standing with the sisterhood, but we'll get back to that. His army is powerful and skilled and his people love him because he's not a dick and rewards loyalty and skill. However, Duke Leto and therefore Paul, and everyone else is walking into danger and most likely death. Because the Emperor has taken Arrakis away from Duke Leto's mortal enemy Baron Vladimir Harkonnen and given it to Leto. 

House Harkonnen has been locked in a mortal feud with House Atreides for generations and every attempt to bring peace has been an utter disaster. In a lot of ways the Houses are mirror imagines of each other, Duke Leto is known as honorable and even-handed. Baron Vlad is known as brutal and grasping. The armies of House Atreides are skilled and possibly rival the Emperor, House Harkonnen is known for having enough wealth that they can drown most of their enemies in resources. The traditional homeworld of Atreides is a lush ocean world that fed entire star systems with a carefully maintained environmental balance. Geidi Prime is an over-industrialized hellhole focused on heavy industry with a wrecked environment and a population made up mostly of slaves. In short House Harkonnen, are the bad guys and Dune makes sure you can't dance around that fact. 

On the surface, the Baron losing Arrakis is a heavy blow to his ambitions and a victory for Leto. Everyone with two brain cells however knows this is a giant trap that Leto and his family have no choices but to stick their heads into. This pulls Leto and Paul out of their ancestral homeland where they are unassailable and dumps them into a strange new world where they are foreigners come to extract wealth. A world that equates foreigners with House Harkonnen oppression. This leaves Leto and his entire family exposed and a target for overt or covert attack because if all the Atreides are wiped out... Well, there's nothing to be done at that point.

Leto's counter-strategy is to enlist the native Fremen, if he can make allies of them then he can turn the deep desert into a stronghold that even Imperial forces will not be able to overcome. Paul has to come of age in this tense minefield of power politics, shifting loyalties and ideologically charged moments. Because the Fremen have their own agenda and it's one that the Bene Gesserit have been subtly molding for years. Just in case someone like Paul needs it. Because Paul isn't just heir to one of the 10 most powerful men in the Empire. He's also a man who has been trained in the Bene Gesserit disciplines giving him abilities and powers that most men can't access. This also makes him unique in an unkind universe and he has to struggle to come to terms with his identity and what role his upbringing and abilities play in that. As well as what his relationship with the Bene Gesserit sisterhood and other organizations is going to be. 

Because he's not supposed to have these powers. In fact, he's not even supposed to exist. Lady Jessica was supposed to bear only daughters for a secret Bene Gesserit breeding program.  Instead in defiance of her order, she not only bore the man she loves a son but taught that boy secrets that men were not supposed to know. These secrets mean that Paul if he chooses to can manipulate the Fremen into following him because his powers let him assume the role of the promised Fremen Messiah. As the jaws of the trap swing shut on the Atreides family Leto, Jessica and Paul must make life or death decisions under increasingly bad conditions.  Here, the Fremen might become the difference between life or death. Will Paul embrace his powers and through them subvert Fremen society on a quest to win a generational feud and finally bring safety to his family? Can they even survive the closing of the trap and confrontation with not just House Harkonnen but even more powerful forces? Well, odds are you already know the answer to that but if you don't gentle reader, I encourage you to go watch the movie and see. 

Mr. Villeneuve gives us epic visas and powerful music to accompany an almost laser-tight focus on Paul and his family. This is different from other film adaptations which have tried to show the scope of the Dune universe. Mr. Villeneuve however doesn't seem entirely interested in that compared to his interest in the choices that a 16-year-old Paul has to make. Which to be fair, these are choices that drive the plot and are going to be important to... Every human being that lives at some point. This means in real part Dune Part 1 is a character study of Paul Atreides and an attempt to get inside his head during a stressful and pivotable moment in his life. This is also the moment where he has to decide to grow up and what kind of man is he going to grow into? Most of us don't have to make that decision all at once. Nor do we have to do it under the stress, or for the stakes that Paul does. It's a new and honestly refreshing take on Dune, marking itself out as very different from Lynch's film or the Science Fiction channel miniseries. 

There are drawbacks to this, however. We don't get to see the Imperial maneuvering or the scheming of the Bene Gesserit first hand. Even our exposure to the brutality and industrial savageness of House Harkonnen is limited. This intense focus on Paul reduces the scale of the epic and makes the universe of Dune feel, smaller. Which I honestly don't care for. I also worry that we lose context that people who haven't seen earlier works or read the book won't have. I suppose the box office will tell the tale on that. For myself, as usual, the movie will receive 2 grades, as an adaptation, I'm giving it a B. What it shows us is fairly true to the book and the heart and soul are in there, but man is a lot of meat chopped out here.  Gone is the mentat training for Paul, in fact, mentats are just, in general, shoved to the side.  This honestly bothers me because mentats are one of the most fascinating ideas in Dune.  There are several subplots that are just gone as well which is deeply unfortunate and leaves me feeling like they cut very close to the bone here. 

  As a stand-alone film, I'm giving it a B+. It's beautifully shot, wonderfully scored, strongly acted, and written well. There's a lot I could quibble with but in the end, it gives us a very well-done film. However, several shots could be cut and traded for better scenes.  I feel as Mr. Villeneuve for example spends to much time with long lingering shots of his lead actor staring off into the middle distance. You could have used that time to at least give me the dinner party or the conservatory! Seriously see this movie, see it in theaters if you can do so safely because I'm not sure the small screen can convey the sheer amazingness of the film. 

This review was posted a week ago on https://www.patreon.com/posts/dune-2021-by-57828169 for my patrons.  My ever-wise patrons vote for what gets reviewed and what theme months we pursue.  If you'd like a voice in that join us at the website for as little as a dollar a month. This Friday I'll be reviewing the Dune Graphic Novel Part I and I hope you'll join us for that.  Until then stay safe and keep reading!