Dune - A Hero's Journey

 

Denis Villeneuve's Dune is a solidly acted and well-paced adaptation of the 1965 Novel by Frank Herbert

 

Dune Tells the Story of a Hero's Journey - the Man Who Might be the Chosen One

"I must not fear. Fear is the mind killer. Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration. I will face my Fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its' path. Where the Fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain." - Frank Herbert, Dune, 1965

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Canadian Director Denis Villeneuve's Dune is actually the second time that Frank Herbert's 1965 epic Science Fiction Novel has made it to the Silver Screen. The first time was in 1984 with David Lynch sitting in the Director's chair. There was also an aborted attempt in the 1970s' by French-Chilean Director Alejandro Jodorowsky which produced a script, "the size of a phone book," in Herbert's words.

A bit of background about the Novel before I dive into a review of the movie. Dune tells the story of Paul Atreides, Heir to the House Atreides. Paul's family is given control of the planet Dune, or Arrakis, by the Emperor of the Known Universe. The planet is of key strategic importance because it is where Spice is mined, a precious substance that facilitates Interstellar travel, and heightens the intellectual abilities of its' users, among many other uses.

Except this 'gift' of Arrakis is actually meant to lure the Atreides into a trap devised by their rivals, the villainous House Harkonnen. The Emperor is setting the Atreides up for a fall in order to maintain his own influence and power.

So rich in information is Herbert's book that it became used as a teaching aid in Universities for Architecture, Economics, and Political Science courses, among others. Herbert, no intellectual slouch, worked in his lifetime as an Investigative Reporter, Speechwriter and Researcher for a United States Senator, as well as a Ghostwriter before he went on to become an Author in his own right. He was also an Environmentalist who was decades ahead of his time in the measures he advocated.

Denis Villeneuve's Dune does several things right at once, which makes it a very good movie, though not without flaws. His choice of cast, selection of settings, and the amount of attention to detail in every frame make this a cut above most movie-going fare out there today. There is a lot of mood and atmosphere here, with the colours being an earthy palette of greens and browns on Arrakis, contrasting with shades of black and oily brown when the Harkonnens appear onscreen.

It is Dune's pacing, also evident in Blade Runner 2049, which makes this film stand out. The measured pace allows for details both large and small from the Novel to make it to the Silver Screen. Timothée Chalamet is an inspired choice to play Paul Atreides. Especially when we get to see him shirtless. He's a sexy and smart Hero for our time.

However, this is only Part One of the story. If Villeneuve's adaptation has a weakness, it appears in the last third of the film. This part felt to me like it was dragging on before reaching an ending. That said, I certainly hope Dune gets the Box Office revenue it needs in order for Part Two to be made. This is a solidly told story. 

I want to see how it ends.

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Sky Gilbert's New Novel 'I, Gloria Grahame' and The Little Show at Chez BonBon

This past weekend on Sunday, October 24th, I was fortunate to attend the book launch for Canadian Theatre legend Sky Gilbert's novel I, Gloria Grahame. The Novel tells the story of shy, effeminate Professor Denton Moulton. In his head Moulton is really the long dead Movie Star Gloria Grahame. I am looking forward to reading my copy, as I'm sure it's filled with Sky's sharp observational humour. 

Also on the 24th was a performance of The Little Show, a Theatre Show featuring Keith Cole, Shaun McComb and Veronica Hurnik, with Stewart Borden on Piano. The show was very funny - particularly a sketch dealing with buying stuff off of Amazon to ease the emotional pain of a breakup. The piece went from Sad to Funny and back again. Everyone involved in the production did fantastic work.

For me, it was the first time I have attended a Book Launch and Theatre Show since the Covid-19 Pandemic began. Both events were well worth it. Judging from The Little Show, Sky Gilbert has some keen insights about the slightly absurd effects this Pandemic is having on modern society.

Blade Runner 2049 - Welcome to the Future

Agent K (Ryan Gosling) is singled out for seduction by a larger-than-life size hologram. Blade Runner 2049 takes the original's dystopian future and makes it relevant to the here and now.

Blade Runner 2049 Expands on the Original's Big Question: "What does it mean to be Human?"

"The World is built on a wall that separates kind. Tell either side there's no wall... You bought a war" - Lieutenant Joshi, AKA: Madam (Robin Wright) to K

Blade Runner 2049 is nothing short of spectacular. A dystopian science fiction updated for the future humanity is creating for itself. It simultaneously pays tribute to the original while expanding on the key themes of climate change, concentration of corporate power, and what it means to be Human.

We enter the story in Los Angeles, circa 2049. There is fog, endless rain, and snow. As with the 1982 original, a pulsing electronic soundtrack sets the mood. Everything is meant to ratchet up feelings of dread and a loss of control. The fact that Blade Runner's sequel depicts snow in Los Angeles shows just how much irreversible damage human beings have done to Earth, to say nothing of the damage people deal each other here. 

Many of the elements from the 1982 original are faithfully recreated here and updated accordingly. The taciturn Detective whose body language and facial expressions do most of the talking. Dialogue straight from one of the old school hard boiled Detective novels. A Villain who represents the monolithic power corporations have in this future world. And the settings - the golds, yellows and deep shadows of his stronghold recall the Tyrell Corporation of old.

In the first few minutes of Blade Runner 2049 we are introduced to Agent K (Ryan Gosling). He is one of a number of new Nexus 8 Replicants. These obedient models were created after corporate food titan Niander Wallace (Jared Leto) salvaged the Tyrell Corporation's remains. Apparently Tyrell went bankrupt after too many of the original Replicants - sent 'off world' to do slave labour - killed their masters.  

There are still a few of the older model Replicants out there. Creations that look human, but were created in laboratories. Some of them come with pre-programmed expiration dates, after which they will die. Others have no such date and can live on indefinitely.

Like Rick Deckard before him, Agent K is a Blade Runner. A division of the Los Angeles Police Department whose members are assigned to track down and kill rogue Replicants. K doesn't speak very much, though as brought to life by Ryan Gosling he doesn't need to. Sadness is written all over his face. Loneliness too. 

K's girlfriend Joi (Ana de Armas) is a 2-dimensional hologram. We learn from seeing advertisements later in the movie that Joi is just one of thousands of such programs. No real lovers for the working man in this darker future - the idea of one will suffice. 

This review will not give much of the plot away, save for a bare outline. In pacing and structure Blade Runner 2049 hits a home run. There are 3 Acts:

Act 1) Introduction of the Problem (involving Replicants, of course) and the Principal Characters

Act 2) Fleshing out the Characters - their wants, needs, and what makes them tick. Main characters begin trying to solve the central Problem

Act 3) Action building to the climax and denouement

Of course, there would be no problem or dramatic tension without a worthy villain - and Blade Runner 2049 gives one to us.

Niander Wallace is a man of incredible wealth who, the plot suggests, helped save humanity from starvation after he patented new ways to farm food. Mainly protein in the form of Worm farms. After buying up what remained of the Tyrell Corporation, Wallace set about creating his own Replicant workforce. With his beard and soft speech, Wallace could be the anti-Jesus. He who gives life, and just as easily takes it away.

Leto's character is a symbol of the concentration of corporate power. In 2049 the very few have so very much. Wallace lives in a temple-like structure complete with a showroom packed with older Replicant models. His focus is on giving Replicants the ability to procreate - thus giving humanity a disposable workforce to take it to the outer reaches of our solar system and beyond. He refers to his creations as Angels - making explicit what the original only hinted at. Think along the lines of Satan being tossed from Heaven and falling to Earth.

Like any evil boss worth his salt, Wallace leaves the work of maiming, killing and intimidating to his Personal Assistant Luv (Sylvia Hoeks). She is herself a Replicant. There is something unsettling about watching Luv do her evil creator's bidding. There is a sense of steely control, and also a simmering rage barely kept in check. 

If the character of Luv represents hate and all its associated negative emotions, then Joi represents what is still right with the world. During one scene she and K share a moment in the rain. K has bought a device to liberate Joi from the confines of their shared apartment. For all of Joi's 2-dimensionality, there is real feeling whenever these two share the screen.

Which brings me back to the movie's central question: "What makes us Human?" Do memories make it so? Or is it in our Genes? Or is it simply as Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) says near the film's end: "I know what's real."

I won't give you any of the answers here. Though Blade Runner 2049 certainly guides us toward them in a more definitive way than its predecessor. Go see this one. It's a special sequel indeed to equal the power of its namesake.

Welcome to the Future.