Dune, Part 1: The Best Film of The Year

Film Reviewed: Dune  

Director: Denis Villeneuve

Date Watched: 24 October 2021

jamesintexas rating: **** (highest rating)

Simply stunning, Dune, Part 1 is a marvelous achievement of cinematography, broad storytelling, color and light, and economy of storytelling. 

I will review it again once I have seen it twice, but Timothee Chalamet is Paul Atreus, the quasi-Messiah, the son of Duke Leto (Oscar Isaac) and heir to the House of Atreus who has inherited the spice-rich planet Arakis, a troubling development that puts them in the crosshairs of the Harkonnens, who were forced out by the Emperor, and the Fremen, the mysterious nomads who live in the nature of the gorgeous planet, preserving their water in elaborate recycling suits.  

The film has great performances and even more impressive imagery.  Much of this film could be printed and put on a wall as a painting.  It feels like it is just ramping up, and then it ends.

Thank goodness we have a second film on the way, but Dune contains an examination of imperialism, religious zealotry, ecological survival, and humanity's relationship with technology.  From the dragonfly-type ships they fly in to the sand worms, which deserve their own Oscar for visual effects, Denis Villeneuve triumphs here by going all-in on the emotional beats of Paul and his mother Lady Jessica (a standout Rebecca Ferguson), by hinting at more to come in the sequel, more of the mysterious Chani (essentially a cameo so far by Zendaya), while also telling the story of this world.

The cast is incredible.  I have not mentioned Jason Momoa, Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem, Dave Bautista, Charlotte Rampling, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Sharon Duncan-Brewster, and Stellen Skarsgard.  All performances are pitch-perfect, charismatic, emotionally powerful, and resonant.  The Dune of our time is a reflection of diverse casting and multiple languages and customs; the director's steady hand guides all through the greater purpose of crafting the beginning of the grand story.

My criticism is the same criticism I had when Kill-Bill, Volume 1 was released six month before Volume 2.  What I really want to see is the entire story, and I think we are only 300 pages through a 1000 page novel.  This book was one I read in December and January, the favorite of my late father-in-law Keith, and I think that way these artists put people and place together in such a compelling way is truly marvelous and memorable and magnificent.  I do not think it is hyperbolic to compare my emotions watching this film to when I first experienced Star Wars: Episode 4: A New Hope or Avatar.  I cannot wait for more.  Bravo.  

Dune, Part 1 is the best film of the year.