Today, I will be talking about a movie I watched a few times within the last couple of weeks. So, if you are not a movie fan: Talk to you next week.
All rights are owned by the production company. No commercial use of this writing and no copyright infringement intended. Just a personal opinion using a publicly available movie poster.
Dune - Part One (no spoilers)
Denis Villeneuve is arguably the greatest movie director at the moment. His recent movies were all just amazing.
This is also what differentiates him from Christopher Nolan: Nolan's recent movies were not as well appreciated by his fans as Denis'.
What he also does better than Nolan is that he is not using expositions as a kind of world-building but he just creates such an environment of plasticity that you automatically get sucked in by the atmosphere.
Starting with Sicario - Movie: The movie is so intense, especially the scene when the squad enters Juarez (unfortunately in bad quality).
Going over to Bladerunner 2049, which is such an immersive experience of what the future will look like. Just watch the flight to the San Diego junkyard again.
Ending at Dune. Let's go over the reasons why I think it is the best movie in recent years and the best science-fiction movie since [[Star Wars: Rogue One]].
Look, atmosphere & special effects
This movie is made for a cinema. Everything from the design of the vehicles, to the clothing styles of the different peoples to the special effects (especially the personal shields and explosions), is just on point.
It is so aesthetically clean while giving you the sense to feel the sand in between everything.
Paired with the quite unconventional Hans Zimmer soundtrack, the movie will give you the chills multiple times.
Actors, roles & acting
The acting is superb across the board.
I am by no means a big fan of Timothy Chalamet, but he really gives you the chills when he is dreaming/having a vision. At first, I was not happy with the decision to give him the role of the "chosen one" but after having watched the movie a third time, I am beginning to appreciate that he does not seem like the traditional, perhaps cliché-main-male character.
But the hidden star of the movie is clearly Rebecca Ferguson playing Lady Jessica. She is the perfect fit for Paul Atreides' mother because she combines the "professional" distance of the Bene-Gesserit and the feelings of a loving wife (although she is not technically his wife) & mother.
The nuanced emotions shown by all the characters are just impressive. There is no point where you feel a suspension of disbelief.
The plot
Basically, the plot is about intrigues between powerful parties related to the very scarce resource spice which is essential for space travel. This resource is mostly found on the planet Arrakis (= Dune) where the Fremen live. The Fremen is a rather technologically disadvantaged people and is strongly religious. In general, religion plays a big role in the story.
Sounds familiar? Yeah, a lot of parallels to the reality-based conflicts about oil. Just keep in mind that the original novel was published in 1965 by [[Frank Herbert]].
To be a bit more detailed, the overarching story is about House Harkonnen, House Atreides, and The Emperor.
House Harkonnen is the "bad" people similar to the Uruk-hai in Lord of the Rings (short: LotR) who are conspiring with the emperor (Sauron in LotR) against House Atreides as they are becoming too powerful among the other Houses. They are ugly, unaesthetic, aggressive, rude & greedy.
House Atreides is the "good" people similar to the humans in LotR, trying to make use of the spice and the inherited knowledge about Arrakis of the Fremen to plan for war against House Harkonnen and the emperor to free the known galaxy.
The Emperor Shaddam IV. who you don't see, meet, or even hear during the movie.
The rest of the plot should be experienced during the movie.
The only issue I have with the movie
The biggest issue with the movie is that it ends. It ends randomly. Seriously!
When I watched the movie a second time, my friend Nora told me at one point during the movie that she was not really getting "into the story". And I get it: If you watch it for the first time, it is indeed overwhelming because of the number of characters and different contexts you get to know in the first hour. Also, the main character's visions do not help as they are very confusing.
Then, at one point, she said to me: "Now I am in!" and I had to smile because I knew it was the last scene of the movie.
Alright alright, in the beginning, it says on the screen: "Dune - Part one" but until recently it was not clear that a "part two" would be produced!
The final scene just cuts into the middle of a storyline. It makes the movie feel 15 min too long while 120 min too short. So, the problem is not the break of the movie in general; Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship - Movie does the same thing. The difference is that LotR finished a storyline, before starting a new one: Frodo and Sam departing for Mordor, Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli heading for the Uruk-hai having kidnapped Merry and Pippin.
To keep up the comparison: It is as if Frodo and Sam would have met Gollum, and then the movie ends.
So, as a final point: I need to watch part two in order to make complete sense of the first part. But I feel safe in Denis' hands.
Interpretation for reality
The moment in time, this movie comes into our movie theaters, is absurdly accurate with regards to the Afghanistan situation. The imperialism of "the West" has failed once more. New rulers, new ideologies are ready to exploit natural resources and the disadvantaged people. The cold-hearted truth is that there has never been an ethical background, but it was used as an excuse to get to the resources.
Decisions for the future harvesting of spice are not made based on values & ethics. Instead, the movie illustrates politics for what it really is: The fighting over conflicting interests.
While making clear that the conflicts are not personal, the movie keeps up the discussions as well as the conflicts on the macro-level without getting too much into the micro-psychological details of the characters.
So, the basic question that House Atreides is confronted with (and especially Paul) is about universalism of values versus personal individualism.
The universalism of specific values: Some values are to be seen as higher than their own existence, which is why you should always defend them (e.g., basic human rights)
Personal individualism: My interests are the most important (e.g. surviving)
Climate change is also mentioned in the movie when Paul is asking a Fremen how the 20 palms were surviving in the desert. The Fremen answer with the remark that they need the amount of water of what 100 people would need, but justifies the nurturing with the "holiness" of the trees. The question could be raised: Why is it ok to live as we do in the West while other people are not able to afford enough food?
The political discussions between the Houses can be seen as the diverging interests of multinational corporations which are deciding within their function for an inestimable amount of people, respectively the impact they will suffer.
Bottom line
Cinemas are not dead. They exist exactly for movies like this. You completely forget the world around you, do not feel the urge to check your phone, you get sucked into a world far away from this one.
You need to watch this film!
Sure, the movie starts very slowly and calmly. But if
you feel bored, you should wonder why. In my opinion, you
feel bored because you are completely overstimulated by
explosions, comic reliefs & oversimplified
storylines.