Dune (1984) – The underseen, underappreciated, misunderstood, masterpiece

We have around a year to wait until Denis Villeneuve’s Dune is set for release.  This seems like a good time to revisit David Lynch’s underrated gem.  I first saw the film when on its original VHS video release in the mid 80’s.  I would have been around 10 or 11 at the time.  I loved it and watched it twice in the little over 24 hours before the tape had to be returned.  I immediately told anyone who would listen (and a few who weren’t listing) how amazing it was, I think I said “better than Star Wars”.  Nobody agreed!  Everyone I convinced to watch it hated it.  It wasn’t until years later after I had watched it many times that I understood that the film, bombed at the box-office, was universally hated and received terrible reviews.

For those not familiar with Dune, it is based on Frank Herbert novel from 1965.  Set around twenty-thousand years in the future; the universe is split into what essentially amounts to medieval fiefdoms.   Two are these House Atreides, and House Harkonnen are sworn enemies.  The former is ordered by the Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV, the effective ruler of the universe to replace the latter as rulers of the planet Arrakis aka Dune.  Arrakis, an inhospitable desert planet, and the only place the only source of melange, or “the spice”.  Spice is the most valuable substance in the universe, a drug that heightens awareness, prolongs life, and is essential for intergalactic space travel.

The aforementioned medieval fiefdoms are the crux of both the setting and the plot.  The overlying story is Paul Atreides bith as a hero.  The birth of a hero is an age old concept; the hero experiences loss, followed by hardship, and often exile.  He overcomes his circumstances and then graduates to hero status by confronting and defeating firstly his personal daemons, then his adversary, and the source of evil.  If you wish to explore the character further, there is a strong argument that Paul’s story is a white saviour narrative.

The film looks amazing.  Director, David Lynch had by this time made two stunning movies:  Eraserhead (1977), and The Elephant Man (1980).  He amassed a fantastic, and experienced team including: Cinematographer: Freddie Francis (winner of two Oscars (one at the time)), Production Designer: Anthony Masters – (Oscar nominated for 2001: A Space Odyssey).  The large practical sets have combine Venetian, Victorian, and Art Deco architecture that looks simultaneously futuristic and historical.  The production design include elements of Nazi symbolism, cyberpunk and steampunk.

I can see some of the reasons why people don’t like the movie.  There are two things that stand out that are at odds with peoples expectations.  Firstly there is an almost entire lack of humour or brevity.  Second the film doesn’t have the clearest narrative.  Most of the plot is set out at the start.  The film is about mood and character, once you accept this, it is more satisfying than a typical formulaic movie.  The film is also more cerebral than emotional making it difficult to fall in love with.  A plotline common to many stories describing the birth of a hero. He has unfortunate circumstances forced onto him. After a long period of hardship and exile, he confronts and defeats the source of evil in his tale.

The film is packed with fantastic characters steeped in back story, some of which is explored, others are left as colour. The cast is perfect; Kyle MacLachlan has the fresh innocence of a young actor giving him space to grow into the part  This is perfectly balenced with the gravitas of the more thespian Francesca Annis, Siân Phillips, Patrick Stewart, Jürgen Prochnow, and Max von Sydow.  This is further enhanced by the over the top Kenneth McMillan, Sting, and Dean Stockwell.  All the characters, as well as a lot of supporting characters I haven’t mentioned inhabit their parts making them totally believable in the fantastical setting. Key amongst the characters are:

House Atreides – Rulers of a water planet of Caladan.  Noted warriors, they have created a new sound based weapon.

Paul Atreides (Kyle MacLachlan): The hero of the story

Lady Jessica (Francesca Annis): Mother of Paul, concubine of the Duke and a member of the Bene Gesserit

Duke Leto Atreides (Jürgen Prochnow): head of House Atreides

Gurney Halleck (Patrick Stewart): Areides military leader, Pauls teacher, fiercely loyal to Paul and Leto.

Doctor Yueh (Dean Stockwell): Doctor for the Atreides, with an important role in the plot.

House Harkonnen – A brutal house, and the villains of the movie.  They have hey have been involved in a feud with House Atreides for a thousand years (in the book it dates back to a slight ten thousand years earlier).

Baron Vladimir Harkonnen (Kenneth McMillan):head of House Harkonnen.

Feyd-Rautha (Sting): Nephew and heir of the Baron.

Glossu “Beast” Rabban (Paul Smith): Older but somewhat inept nephew of the Baron

House Corrino – The ruling house of the Known Universe (often called the Imperium)

Shaddam IV, Padishah (José Ferrer):Emperor of the Known Universe

Princess Irulan (Virginia Madsen): Daugter and heir to the Emperor, and the narator of the movie.

Bene Gesserit – Female social, religious, and political organisation.  Members  train from a young age to obtain superhuman/magical abilities.

Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam (Siân Phillips): Head of the Bene Gesserit, loyal to the Emperor.

Fremen: The Fremen, Natives of Arrakis, noted for their bright blue eyes.

Stilgar (Everett McGill): Fremen Naib chieftain

Chani (Sean Young): Freman warrior and Paul’s lover

Spacing Guild – Organization that runs banking and commerce, but most importantly has a monopoly on interstellar travel thanks to their ability to fold space with the help of Melange.  The real power in the universe!

I have heard fans of the book criticise the film for differing too much from the book.  I don’t see this, Having read the book a few years after seeing the film, it is very faithful to the themes and spirit of the book.  Author Frank Herbert spent a lot of time on set, and in a interview suggested it was one of the most faithful book to film adaptations ever.  I understand Lynch’s preferred cut was three hours long, around 45 minutes longer than the released versions.  It is my understanding that there are two longer cuts available, but not a director’s cut, quite the opposite, Lynch had his name removed from one of them!  In the same way that Star Wars is an adventure story and the TV show Firefly is a western, Dune is a historical epic.  A key theme of the story is how a group of people is a distillation of their leader.  This comes though in the look and costumes of the “houses” as well as their actions.  Arrakis could be seen as colonial Africa, Asia, or the Americas.  The spice Melange is a clear metaphor for the rescores striped from the developing world, such as oil.

At the heart of the story we have a prophecy, this is the most Sci-Fi/Fantasy thing about the movie.  This gives us both the setup and the conclusion to the story.  The Spacing Guild’s power over the Emperor tell us so much, it could be seen as a historic story such as precarious or declining empire such as Rome.  However it could also be seen as a very modern statement about how corporations can be bigger and more powerful than nations.  This may appear to be a very modern idea especially for the 1960’s when the book was written, however, look at William Randolph Hearst in the early 20th century.  There are themes of the book that don’t make it to the film, but they ate more subtext in the first book, but they do become more overt from the second book Dune Messiah.  Frank Herbert has spoken of the underlying idea of being beware of heroes.  Paul is a man who acts, and more importantly is treated like a god.  This fanaticism is clearly frightening and dangerous.  The book ends with Paul setting the Fremen on a Jihad that he knows he cannot control or stop.  This becomes more important in the later books.

It is a film I love, and hope that with the publicity leading up to Denis Villeneuve’s version, I hope more people look it out.  And those who have seen it and dismissed, it, give it another go! 

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That gum you like is going to come back in style!

On Saturday morning I received a text message from a friend who is a huge Twin Peaks fan:

“So Dale Cooper first arrives in Twin Peaks at 11:30am.  Yesterday at that exact time both David Lynch and Mark Frost sent the same tweet”:

Dear Twitter Friends: That gum you like is going to come back in style! #damngoodcoffee

— David Lynch (@DAVID_LYNCH) October 3, 2014

The text also quoted Dale Cooper “When two separate events occur simultaneously pertaining to the same object of inquiry we must always pay strict attention”

The immediate reaction.  Lynch and Frost are going to re-team for a new Twin Peaks series or Movie.  The speculation was ended on Monday when they tweeted their intentions:

Dear Twitter Friends… it is happening again. http://t.co/r0l9rhK4eB #damngoodcoffee

— David Lynch (@DAVID_LYNCH) October 6, 2014

The Show Time website confirms the series is set to return in 2016, to mark the 25th anniversary of the end of the original run.  Original creators/producers David Lynch and Mark Frost are on board and will write and produce all nine episodes and Lynch will direct them.   No plot details have been released but many original cast members have expressed an interest and I understand Kyle MacLachlan (Special Agent Dale Cooper) has confirmed he will be reprising his role.

We are long overdue for a serving of cherry pie and some damn fine coffee!

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The Final Frontier

At the start of the film Iron Man (2008) you would be forgiven for thinking that you were watching a film set in the real world. As it went on it remained on the edge of reality with the only science fiction being the technological advances of Iron Mans suit. Later the same year The Incredible Hulk (2008) added more sci-fi and fantasy to the story as did Captain America: The First Avenger ( 2011), Thor (2011) and The Avengers ( 2012). Later this month will see the release of Guardians of the Galaxy, a film within the same fictional universe as the Marvel movies but set “In the far reaches of space”. This leads me to ask the question; have you ever noticed that is space set Sci-Fi movies we can never get too far from earth? When I say too far, I am talking I am not talking physical distance. With the exception of Star Wars (1977) most notable “space operas” tend to be set a few (or many) years from now and feature humanity exploring or colonizing other worlds. The other common plot involves returning to a Earth after some near apocalyptic event. I am not suggesting there is anything wrong with films that are tied to earth, humanity and reality but the freedom that George Lucas gave himself and the makers of the new films by setting the first film “A long time ago in a galaxy far far away…” is immeasurable.

Serenity (2005) Set mainly in the outer worlds away from the Alliance government, it is basically the American west or frontier in the late 19th century, with the addition of space travel. The towns on many of the planets look intentionally like those from western movies. There are no alien life forms or creatures, everything has an old fashioned look to it. This is contrasted with the new and shiny cities on alliance planets. The film uses its settings and the idea of humans colonising the universe to its advantage in the plot of the film. I can’t remember any reference to Earth in the Firefly, the TV show that spawned the movie, but the film starts with the explanation of earth not being able to sustain us so new planets were found and terraformed. This comes back to bite humanity later as we learn what was created in the process. There is a nice symmetry about the way the story creates its own monsters “like the bogeyman from stories”, this gives an extra dimension and meaning to the plot. It makes the back story of the setting integral to the current plot but also grounds it somewhere near reality.

David Lynch’s Dune (1984), is a more complicated story, there is no reference to earth in the film, but there is in Frank Herbert’s source novels (a reference to Chaucer as I remember it). It is the film, after Star Wars that best creates a believable universe. There are planets with different ecosystems and inhabitants. The Spacing Guild acts as an antagonist in the story, with a monopoly on banking and interstellar travel, I have always suspected they were an inspiration for the Trade Federation in Star Wars. At the time of its release, it was hit with the duel criticism of not being faithful to the book at the same time as being unintelligible to anyone who hadn’t read the book. I have never understood this, I saw the film on its initial release when I was around ten years old, several years before I read the book and had no trouble following the plot. We only see a handful of the planets and the people who populate them, as the story is mainly set on the planet Arrakis (also known as Dune) rather than the rocketing around the galaxy. Dune is the centre of the universe because of the presence of Spice, the most valuable substance in the universe. Unlike the McGuffin Unobtainium (Avatar) Spice becomes central to the plot of the film.

Alien (1979)and its sequels are all about humans in space, despite the extraordinary alien creatures the film always has a sense of realism. There is always an unbalance between the working man and the plans of big business. There is always a desire to capture the alien to study and weaponise it, this is both a plot point and the bases for the movies subtext. The themes explored give it more in common with a Bruce Springsteen song or a John Steinbeck novel than with Star Wars. Most of the action in Alien takes place onboard a spaceship. Aliens (1986) relocates the action to the surface of the planet, that is undergoing terraforming leaving the action mainly in an industrial interior.

There is then sub genre of films about protecting the world from an alien invasion or attack. Notable among these are The Fifth Element (1997), Flash Gordon (1980), Starship Troopers (1997). Notable, not for how good they are, but because they leave the confines of earth and are set in part on alien planets. Of these only Flash Gordon does any notable “world building”, but this is largely inspired by earlier film, TV, and comic versions of the story. One of my most anticipated films of the year is Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar, a film that appears from the trailer to be a film about space exploration set in a near future of depleted resources. I’m sure there is more to it than that but the less I know going in the better. 

I understand the reason for tethering a story to earth and humanity, and the emotional connection it gives an audience to the plot and characters, however I want to see something different. Films will always be filled with meaning, metaphor and subtext. A films social and political stance will always be grounded in the era its is from, but cutting the ties from earth and humanity as we know it could be the start to it. I’m not sure if there is a film other than Star Wars set in a totally fictional universe, but if there is I would like to see it. If there isn’t it’s about time someone made it. With a new Star Wars trilogy and at least two stand alone films I think they will have the market cornered, but my hope, and the real reason for this article, can they inspire future generations of film makers the way Star Wars inspired a generation in 1977?

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Spreading the Net a Little Wider

When visiting my parents or talking to then on the telephone they often ask what movies I have seen, if I respond with the name of a film they haven’t heard of my mom, knowing I watch a lot of foreign language movies will ask “is it foreign”. On more than one occasion I have given the somewhat flippant and slightly rude response “yes, American”. It is funny that a movie made five thousand miles away in Hollywood is familiar and not foreign because it is in something similar to “The Queens English”, and yet something made across the channel in France, still on the same continent as England, is in some way foreign and exotic. Maybe we are two nations joined by a common language and not divided by it as George Bernard Shaw quipped. Whatever the reason, as we step below the surface of these idea we find an interesting thing, filmmaking does exist beyond the bright lights of Hollywood, both in Europe and in the rest of America.

When I talk about American independent cinema it isn’t just the obvious and seminal movies like Easy Rider (1969) (Dennis Hopper) or Two-Lane Blacktop (1971) (Monte Hellman) or the small no budget movies that you have never heard of. Think of some of the biggest name directors working today: Martin Scorsese, James Cameron, Ethan and Joel Coen, Christopher Nolan, then look at their independent films Mean Streets (1973), The Terminator (1984), Blood Simple (1984), Memento (2000) . Sam Raimi may be making money movies for Disney now but it all started with Evil Dead (1981) and Evil Dead II (1987). Would George Lucas have made Star Wars (1977), if he hadn’t already made THX-1138 (1971) or the hugely profitable American Graffiti (1973)? Then there are directors like David Lynch, Quentin Tarantino and Darren Aronofsky that are just more comfortable outside or on the edge of the system. There was a time before he started believing his own publicity that Kevin Smith was the darling of the indie scene thanks to the cult status of Clerks (1994), but before that came Richard Linklater’s Slacker (1991). A day in the life of various social outcasts and misfits held together by loose strands and an even looser narrative, the style and the realistic dialogue became a blueprint for a generation. Linklater wasn’t seduced by Hollywood instead he remained in Austin and two years later he came up with Dazed And Confused (1993).

The same can be said for foreign language cinema, it isn’t all about weird esoteric art house movies, there are many accessible movies not in the English language. Not that the weird esoteric art house movies are a bad thing, they are just not the best place to start. The test as to if a movie is accessible and worth seeing is simple, would you watch it if it were in English? If the answer is yes, it is worth a look. There were two movies that seemed to cross the language barrier that came out within a year of each other just over a decade ago: Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) and Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s Amélie (2001). Many of the people who watched and enjoyed them wouldn’t normally have seen a movie in another language. There have been some interesting examples too; the French thriller Tell No One (2006) is very American in its style, no great surprise, it is based on an American novel (of the same name) by Harlan Coben. A Hollywood remake was supposed to have been made but it doesn’t appear to have materialised yet. The same can’t be said for Anything for Her (2008), it took just two years for the American remake The Next Three Days to hit cinema screens. Both Tell No One and Anything for Her benefited from the presence of actresses familiar to English speaking audiences Kristin Scott Thomas and Diane Kruger respectively. On the subject of remakes the terrible Queen Latifah movie Taxi (2004) is a remake of a great French movie also called Taxi (1998). It has spawned three sequels (the first of which is also really good) the movies are notable for lots of things including significant early roles for Marion Cotillard.

When I first saw Oldboy (2003) it immediately became one of my all time favourite films. I didn‘t expect it to have gained the following that it has, I also didn‘t think Hollywood would dare to touch it, but they have the American remake of Park Chan-wook’s vengeance movievis in production and is set for release later this year, it is directed by Spike Lee. The other movie that plays well to British and American audiences is Run Lola Run (1998). It put its German star Franka Potente and director and Tom Tykwer onto the international stage both have worked in American and their native Germany many times since. But I can trace my first experience of a foreign language movie back a little further than that. In 1990 I read a review of a film I really wanted to see Nikita (1990). At fourteen years old I didn’t have a chance of getting into see it at the cinema to see the eighteen certificate movie, but a couple of months later (when I was fifteen) renting the video was surprisingly easy. Its impact in America was such that it spawned a Hollywood remake and two television series. Its director Luc Besson’s next two films Léon (1994) and The Fifth Element (1997) were in English.

I have done little more than scratch the surface of independent and foreign langue movies, but I hope I have inspired at least one person to look below the tent-pole blockbuster and popcorn movie and towards the smaller films that don’t get all the publicity. Many of them will get limited runs in big multiplexes but others are harder to find, but if this means you are also helping to support your local independent cinema’s it’s an added bonus. As you grow to love them as much as I do you will look deeper and further back at older movies and a whole world of cinema will open up to you. I know that I am to a certain extent preaching to the converted as many readers are film fans and bloggers themselves and are far more cineliterate than me.

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Star Wars, Space Cowboys and a Genre That is Yet to Fulfil its Potential

As I work on my inevitable list of best films of 2012 I started thinking about Argo. Not the Ben Affleck film that we saw, but the un-filmed Star Wars rip-off Sci-Fi movie that featured in it. For as long as I can remember Star Wars has been essential Christmas viewing, but why? Probably because as an action adventure fantasy film it is yet to be surpassed. It is often stated that Star Wars changed films for ever, it certainly built on the idea of the summer blockbuster that began with Jaws two years before. All this is most probably true, but surprisingly Star Wars has never inspired a successful and credible action adventure set within a alien universe. The greatest failing of most of them is an unnecessary attempt to ground the plot in the reality or to earth, this is true from The Last Starfighter (1984) through to Avatar (2009). It worked for Star Trek as the idea of humanity exploring space was central to the premise. After its cancellation in 1969, it gained cult status, around the time of Star Wars a plan to resurrect the television series as Star Trek: Phase II.  It was a planned and quickly abandoned, ideas from the pilot were however saved and became Star Trek (1979). The  highlights of the film series that followed are: Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982), Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991), Star Trek: First Contact (1996) and the reboot Star Trek (2009). 

The latest failed attempt of the genre was John Carter (2012) based on A Princess of Mars by (Tarzan author) Edgar Rice Burroughs. So uncomfortable in its own skin the producers dropped the Sci-Fi “of Mars” title from the movie shortly before it hit cinema screens. Telling the story of a civil war era gent who is transported to Mars that is going through its own Civil War. A lot of the story involves the fish out of water scenarios as Carter adapts to the culture of the society and then imports his own sensibility. Going back to the time of Star Wars, the biggest of the early attempts to cash in on the Star Wars was unsurprisingly by Disney. The Black Hole (1979) had a budget of around $20million, around double that of Star Wars but only grossed around the same as Star Wars took in its first weekend. There is a good reason, for all its technical accomplishments, the movie is just plain dull. I have seen it at least twice and remember very little about it. With a budget of around $4million Starcrash (1978) is certainly low budget but isn’t quite the Z Movie it is often claimed to be. Poorly acted with terrible effects and unintentionally funny moments it isn’t very good. However it does deserve a certain amount of praise as a low budget movie that has grander ambitions than many of its contempt competitors, it is also good silly fun at times.

The one success of the genre (artistically if not financially) was Flash Gordon (1980). The plot is a rehash of the original thirteen part film serial starring Buster Crabbe from 1936. One of the reasons the movie looks so good and worked so well is the retro design including long shiny almost phallic spaceships that were inspired by the original 1930’s comic books. The result is utter camp, the characters and the performances are totally bonkers and over the top in the vein of Barbarella (1968). All this was held together by a an equally camp and over the top score by Queen.

The story goes that David Lynch turned down Return of the Jedi instead opting to replace Ridley Scott as the director of Dune (1984). Unlike most people, I am glad he did. I first saw Dune on video in 1985 and loved it. A few years later I read the first three or four of Frank Herbert’s novels. It was the first David Lynch film I saw, I have seen and loved everything he has made since. The movie shares producer Dino De Laurentiis with Flash Gordon, that is where the similarity ends. While Flash Gordon is fun and camp, Dune is sombre serious but when you strip away all the religious symbolism, mythology and the ideas of loyalty and betrayal it is simply a story of trade and politics, possibly an allegory for the fight for the control of the worlds supply. The TV mini series is heralded as a superior adaptation, it may be but it is painfully dull, something the movie can not be accused of even in its three hour cut.

Star Wars often plays like a western set in space.  This is where the genre has found the most sucess.  A film that took this idea a stage further was the Roger Corman produced Battle Beyond the Stars (1980) that took its plot from Magnificent Seven/Seven Samurai. It has a certain degree of pedigree with a screenplay by John Sayles, a score composed by James Horner, and the special effects directed by a young James Cameron. A similar idea had been attempted in the “High Noon in space” Outland (1981) with Sean Connery in the Gary Cooper role. Not a classic, but far better than its reputation. The best space western is probably Serenity (2005) based on the too short-lived TV show Firefly (2002-2003). It is still rooted in the reality of humanity but unlike the movies that suffer for this, Serenity plays its hand perfectly.

The Star Wars prequels failed to live up to their billing, will the new Disney produced movies be more successful or will we have to wait for someone else to create a new Space Opera in a believable alien universe? Star Wars: Episode VII is expected in 2015.

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Who Directs Fragrance Commercials?

Have you ever noticed the number of actors and actresses who advertise aftershave and perfume? If you haven’t take a look at your TV as we approach Christmas and you may be surprised. The thing I didn’t realise until recently is how many of them are directed by big A list directors. This isn’t a new thing, David Lynch made an advert for Opium by Yves Saint Laurent in the early 90’s, he has since gone on to direct one for Gucci and a bag commercial for Dior starring Marion Cotillard.

Dior’s Midnight Poison Commercial starring Eva Green was made by In the Mood for Love director Kar Wai Wong. Sofia Coppola has made two adverts for Dior, the most recent feats “brand ambassador” Natalie Portman. With the help of CGI Charlize Theron’s second Dior, Jadore advert also feature Marilyn Monroe, Grace Kelly and Marlene Dietrich it is directed by French director Jean-Jacques Annaud. The inclusion of Marilyn Monroe is an interesting and potentially risky one as the actress is generally associated with Chanel.

On the subject of Chanel, they have really embraced the idea of using movie directors: The Bleu de Chanel advert featuring French actor Gaspard Ulliel (Hannibal Rising) was directed by Martin Scorsese. The Chanel #5 advert from a few years ago featuring the song Sea of love (the one that ends with an aerial shot of a swimming poor that looks like a perfume bottle) was directed by Ridley Scott. Do you remember Estella Warren as the Little Red Riding Hood? (also a Chanel No. 5 commercial) That one was directed by Luc Besson. Its no surprise that the Paris set Chanel No. 5 commercial had echoes of Moulin Rouge! Not only does it star Nicole Kidman but it was directed by Baz Luhrmann. The current Chanel No. 5 advert stars Audrey Tautou and is set on the Orient Express, it reunites the actress with the Amelie/A Very Long Engagement director Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Keira Knightley has made two Chanel, Coco Mademoiselle adverts the most recent one was directed by Pride & Prejudice and Atonement director Joe Wright.

The commercial that has been getting a lot of airtime recently is the Gucci Guilty advert featuring Evan Rachel Wood and Chris Evans and directed by comic book writer turned film maker Frank Miller. With an over stylised look and heavy use of green screen it is very reminiscent of Sin City.

A recurring trend in fragrance commercials is directors reuniting with actors they have made films with. Maybe one day Tom Tykwer will make a perfume commercial with Ben Whishaw and Rachel Hurd-Wood or Karoline Herfurth, that’s one I would like to see!

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