I’m a science fiction fan. I usually enjoy the weird, the crazy or far-out science fiction stories over others, explaining why Doctor Who is my favorite television series. There are very few great science fiction movies – 2001, Blade Runner, and The Matrix, with the possible inclusion of Star Trek II:The Wrath of Khan and Star Wars (the original). Yet there is one which I enjoy way more than I should, and I think is a movie far better than people allow it to be: Dune.
Dune came out in 1984 I wanted to see it, but my father, also a science fiction fan, did not like the books and so had no interest in the movie. I had to wait until it was at the local dollar theatre where I could go see it by myself. When that time came, I immediately fell in love with it and started to read the Dune novels. While the books are far more interesting, far more complex, and probably can never be properly put to screen, I think David Lynch’s take of the first holds up on its own. True, it ignores much of the book, and creates subplots (wielding modules) that can make any fan of the books ponder what he was thinking. Yet, the film feels right. The film has the right atmosphere, the right look, for the series. Whenever I watch the movie (usually at least once a year), I get drawn into it, and cannot stop until it is over, reaching an ending which works for the movie but would never work for the books.
I have also felt the movie has a place within the Dune universe. It seems to represent the legend of Paul Muad’ib as the Freeman remembered him. It is hagiography which overlooks his flaws. This reinforces the point that Frank Herbert wanted with his series: do not blindly follow heroes; they will create a legend of their own that does not meet with their historical reality. Too bad David Lynch never made Dune Messiah and Children of Dune. I would love to see how he would have taken on the other aspect of heroes as Herbert wanted them to be seen: the mess they create to become a hero, and the lives that must be lost to create their golden age. To his credit, Herbert made a complex character out of Paul: he was a hero who ended up not wanting to be a hero; the hero who saw what it meant to be a hero, a man of destiny, and who desperately fought against that destiny he created. Only when he renounced himself did he find a kind of peace.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In