If you have the right lever, you can lift the planet - convinces diabolical Baron Harkonnen in the literary original of "Dune". The above is not a bad metaphor for the challenge of adapting Frank Herbert's cult novel. Considering the momentum, ambitions and influence it has had on subsequent generations of filmmakers, "Dune" seems like a separate and extremely powerful celestial body in the firmament of pop culture. However, even such talented directors as Alejandro Jodorowsky and David Lynch were not able to carry its weight. The former failed at the pre-production stage as his sponsors refused to finance the absurdly expensive 14-hour colossus. The latter was a spectacular box-office flop, described by Roger Ebert as a film with one of the most incomprehensible scripts in the history of cinema. The failures of his prominent colleagues have not deterred Denis Villeneuve. The Canadian has already once performed a miracle, shooting after years the sequel "Android Hunter", which withstood comparisons with the classic original. Thus, the author of "The Burning" seemed an ideal candidate to colonize for Hollywood the world of "Dune". I hasten to report that the conquest was successful, but it was not without casualties.
Villeneuve followed the advice of one of the book's characters, who argued that the first step to avoiding the trap is to realize where it is. The director learned from the failures of his predecessors and persuaded Warner Bros. to film Herbert's magnum opus in two parts. In this way the creator of "Sicario" made sure that the epic story of the aristocratic family of Atreides, who take control of the desert planet Arrakis hiding the deposits of the precious Spice, would not turn into a chaotic series of pretty pictures. Unlike Lynch, Villeneuve does not have to use, for example, an incessant off-screen narration which explains the characters' motivations and gives details of what happened between the scenes. He has enough time to set up all the pawns on the chessboard and prepare the viewers for the oncoming storm of violence. So if you expect from "Dune" a dark sci-fi spectacle on the scale of "Star Wars", you will probably have no reservations after the screening.
The point is that the original novel offers much, much more. In Herbert's novel, the anecdote about the fight between good and evil is just an attractive facade, behind which lie issues that go far beyond the space opera formula. "Dune" is about brutal political and business machinations, religious fanaticism and exploitation of the natural environment. You will find in it philosophical reflections on determinism, human nature, and the eternally alive myth of messianism. Finally, it is a story in which even the positive characters, led by the main protagonist (Timothée Chalamet), carry a lot of darkness. Unfortunately, there isn't much of that left in the film. Given a choice of what to save - depth or a clearly told story - the filmmakers chose the latter. As a result, most of the starry cast members don't have much to do here and have to make up for all script deficiencies with charisma. As a consolation, there is still a nicely handled theme of dealing with the legacy of one's ancestors - unwanted baggage, the burden of which destiny forces the protagonists to shoulder.
Where the scriptwriters cannot, the director can help. Villeneuve - perhaps the greatest stylist of modern cinema - together with cinematographer Greig Fraser ("Latvia 1") and production designer Patrice Vermette ("The New Beginning") once again creates a gripping, highly visual vision of the future world. I don't know what I liked more: the visit to the Atreides' family cemetery taken straight from the paintings of the Romantic painters, the first encounter with the monstrous red creature inhabiting the desert, or rather the majestic panorama of the sunburnt capital Arrakis. It is not enough for Villeneuve to know that the audience is watching the effects of his work with their mouths hanging open. Visiting "Dune", the viewer has to feel the sand crunching between the teeth, the sun burning the skin, the roar of ornithopters tearing the ears and the sweet scent of spice filling the nostrils. Immersion all the way.
In the finale we are assured that everything we have seen so far is just a prelude to the story proper. So it remains to be hoped that "Dune" will earn enough in theaters for the studio to give the green light for a sequel. There is a chance that the second film will finally begin to explore the richness of Herbert's world. Another opportunity will not come soon enough.
