You’ve already guessed that I’ve skipped over The Elephant Man. Well, as far and wide as I tried, I simply couldn’t find an available copy to watch either on streaming or physical. Rest assured that I will come up with the funds to review it. For the meantime, I think it’s appropriate to review David Lynch’s complicated film. And by complicated, I mean something where he disowned it. Right down to wanting nothing to do with it when the home video releases came out. And after reading what he went through, I can see why it was a nightmare for him.
1. Dune
If you’ve been following me over the years, you’ll know that I love "Dune". So much so that I’ve talked about the two Denis Villeneuve film’s as they came out. To me, they are one of the best film adaptations and one of the best sci-fi movies to come out in this decade. Prior to that, there was the David Lynch adaptation. I think what made me so put off by it was just watching an out of context scene on YouTube. That practically explains anything by the director, watching any scene or moment out of context and you’re weirded out by it.
Even before Lynch took a stab at it, there were multiple attempts to adapt the book. One of the most documented attempted was when Chilean director Alejandro Jodorowsky nearly came close to shooting it. What exists now is numerous concept arts of what the whole film would look like and it’s the subject of a documentary called Jodorowsky’s Dune. It’s one of those things where the film could have worked or gone wrong. Inevitably, the artists who did the concept arts would find work in future films that would be part of the sci-fi zeitgeist.
I think what’s even more interesting was that David Lynch came close to directing Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. After the success with The Elephant Man, he was fielding multiple offers for his next picture and he was invited to direct the third entry by George Lucas. He turned it down in favor of working with Italian producer Dino de Laurentiis, who had produced one of Lynch’s favorite works from director Federico Fellini. The initial deal was that Lynch would make Dune, it’s sequel and a third film where he would have total control.
2. Exposition Dump
You can say that I’ve been spoiled with the recent releases of the Dune duology. So much so that I reviewed them and why I think they’re each one of the best. I found myself seeing this adaptation on Netflix on a lazy day. I think it’s one of those things where everything that I saw was so wrong. And it’s another thing where I don’t want to be too biased and try to be as objective as I can. Which is easier said, since there’s the right way and well what’s presented from what I’ve seen.
In case you don’t know your “Dune”, or you have no idea what’s so special about the spice. Here’s the basic plot that the film covers. In the distant future, humanity is ruled by an intergalactic empire with planetary fiefdoms. Spice is the substance that all the ruling houses want and trade as it’s resourceful for galactic travel. We follow Paul as he’s part of House Atreides as they are assigned to rule over the fief where the spice is located called Arrakis. Behind the scenes, rival houses seek to eliminate the Atreides and to take over the planet.
I mostly skimmed the basic plot. There was no way I was going to mention the Bene Gesserit or the humans that ingest too much Spice, looking like a slug and a dolphin combined. I think it would turn people off when being bombarded with too much detail. And that’s what I feel is one of the biggest problems with the film. Before I elaborate on that, during the premiere there was a booklet that contained a glossary of words and definitions in case the audience wouldn’t understand what a Gom Jabbar is and what a Kwisatz Haderach is. For you, there’s the internet and a great book to investigate when reading what those things are.
With everything going on in the film, it’s unfortunate that there’s a lot of explanation of what’s going on. Like, the opening moments in the film start with Princess Irulan explaining what’s going on. She appears, fades out and appears once again which I have no clue what David Lynch was going for. And it’s compounded with the Guild Navigators, the slug people explaining their plan to the Emperor. Now, exposition works when it’s presented visually or read out loud. When it’s done in a sequential manner, it’s a real big problem.
Another factor that makes the movie bad is the fact that it tried to do everything within a two hour limit. Now, it’s a thing with Lynch that he initially envisioned the film to be three hours, but the studio overruled him and made David condense the film. So there’s moments where we don’t see everything played out and have Irulan’s narration telling the audience what they could already assume by just watching. It’s even bad when the second half of the film feels extremely rushed. In a sense where everything wraps up when Paul assembles the planet natives to fight against the rival houses.
One more detail that I noticed is that the characters have inner monologues. They mostly appear when something urgent or intriguing occurs. It’s one of those things that appears in the book, giving them more of a thought and what they’re listening can be of benefit to them. It works in a written way since we can infer what’s going on, and it’s sloppy when presented visually. When you establish the characters more or use creative shots to infer something visually, you don’t need inner monologues to explain what exactly is going on.
Among the many problems, including the characterization of everyone that is presented. Like, what the film failed to do is to adapt the very aspect of what made the book different from it’s contemporaries. When reading “Dune”, it’s not about the typical chosen one narrative where they rise and beat the enemy. The story subverts it where Paul leads an intergalactic Jihad and not wanting a war in his name. With the film, it’s basically a feel-good story where evil is defeated and Paul makes the planet rain. Which doesn’t make sense in the least bit since the rain is deadly to the sandworms.
3. Legacy
With everything that I listed, it’s no wonder that it was a commercial and financial flop. While I wouldn’t list the director as the main culprit, he gets part of the blame along with the producers and higher ups. The failure of the film also led to the cancellation of the follow-up film that was supposed to adapt the sequel "Dune: Messiah". I couldn’t imagine how David Lynch was going to present Paul’s son Leto II. Decades later, the Sci-Fi channel would adapt the first three books as a miniseries. They were received better than the film, but it wasn’t as good as the source material.
The film has gained a significant cult following even after it came out. It’s one of those things where “Dune” fans hate the adaptation and Lynch fans love his unique take. Universal released an extended cut on TV, but it had no input on the director. He was so incensed by it that he had his name written out and replaced by a pseudonym for his credit as writer and director. After the fact, there has been dedicated fans that have assembled a cut that it supposed to represent what David Lynch was going for. From what I gathered, it’s like putting a band aid on an open wound. When he was alive, he referred to the whole ordeal as a nightmare and didn’t want to talk or elaborate on it when asked.
It’s unfortunate that David Lynch had to experience the brief fall that he had. From reaching critical acclaim and even be nominated by the Academy with The Elephant Man, it’s a directors passage to experience the moments of rise and humbleness. I think every director has gone through it and still manage to have a decent filmography. Some don’t, but Lynch managed to bounce back with his next film. From there, he would have total control over his works and where we would see his style permeate. To which it is mostly referred to as “Lynchian” in his subsequent works.
4. Overall
Dune is not a good adaptation, but essential when appreciating the works of David Lynch.