Jodorowsky's Dune 2013
I had never heard of this documentary film, but it showed up in a Vudu collection that I was given access to and got very good reviews. The movie concerns an attempt to make a movie based on the Frank Herbert novel, Dune, in the mid-1970’s by avant garde filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky. Fortunately many of the key people, including Jodorowsky himself were still alive and were interviewed (a couple have died since the making of this documentary). Jodorowsky is a real character, passionate about the art of film with a strong belief in himself. Most of the movie is him telling stories about the movie. He had made a couple of surrealistic movies that brought him enough attention that he was able to get the film rights to a very significant book and then line up some serious talent for that film. Of course the movie was never made, but it is a great story for its ambition and it influenced later sci-fi movies, most directly 1979’s Alien. Star Wars came out after this project was abandoned, but opened everyone’s eyes about the potential of big sci-fi movies. The movie certainly overstates Jodorowsky’s influence since sci-fi movies were already coming out pretty regularly and they all sort of borrow from each other. It is still worth hearing about this effort, full of great small stories, and thinking about what might have been. Ultimately there was no way Jodorowsky was going to get to make what he envisioned, which diminishes the whole story, but it is fun listening to it while it goes on.
Written: 15 Jan 2022
Owned on: Digital