"Dune", the best science fiction blockbuster in Hollywood in 2021, has recently re-set off a "dune frenzy" around the world, and has been regarded by countless people as a "science fiction god" since its national release on October 22.
An interstellar world that is well known to hundreds of millions of readers, an immortal masterpiece that has undergone many film and television adaptations over the decades, under the efforts of Dennis Villeneuve, a famous Hollywood director who has directed "Blade Runner 2049" and "Arrival", it has finally appeared on the big screen with an unprecedented image.
Both readers of the original series of novels and fans of interstellar science fiction can find their own place in this movie.
<h1 class="pgc-h-decimal" data-index="01" data-track="5" > from novels to movies</h1>
The protagonist of Dune is the talented heir of the Ertridi family, Paul, the story of how Paul and his mother, Lady Jessica, fled in a bloody war, defeated the family feud Baron Haknuman with the help of the Freymans of Therakos, and successfully brought the Interstellar Emperor to his knees.
Many readers and literary critics have said that frank Herbert, the author of the original novel, portrayed much more than just a prince's revenge in the Dune series of novels.
He places the science fiction elements in the extremely bad future world, synthesizes multiple elements to construct the so-called desert ecology, and from the depiction of the novel, he can deeply feel that the original author expressed his views and thoughts on global climate change, the disputes caused by oil resources in the Middle East, and how modern society should deal with the traditional energy crisis decades ago.
From a young boy to a decisive monarch, the entire story of Dune revolves around Paul's growth and the rise and fall of the family, and explores many real dilemmas and problems that are detached from the plot of the story.
The forward-looking and extensive nature of the ideas is an important reason why this work has attracted more young readers even after decades of publication, and it is also the core of its continuous attention to Hollywood studios. But it is also one of the important reasons why this science fiction masterpiece is still facing difficulties in adapting after many adaptations.
Alessandro Zodlowski was the first director to want to bring the "Dune" series of novels to the big screen, and in order to be able to present his "Dune" on the big screen, he did his best to find the most luxurious performance and production lineup at that time.
But the huge project was eventually aborted because the film was too expensive to shoot and the lack of investors. Then there's the film version of The Dune in the 1980s, directed by David Lynch, and the TV version of Dune, launched by SyFy TV in 2000, both of which are arguably less than satisfactory.
The 2021 film version of Dune chose a filmmaker with a personal style in the field of science fiction films, and he is Dennis Villeneuve, who has directed "Arrival" and "Blade Runner 2049".
In his representative works, the environment and space are not only the place where the story plot takes place, but also an important part of the story, playing an important role in metaphor and setting off the atmosphere. The different spatial compositions and environmental atmospheres also indicate the next step of the story to some extent.
The close combination of aesthetics and science fiction is also particularly evident in his works, with delicate compositions, brilliant and varied tones, a variety of styles of architecture, and the clever use of audiovisual language... "Blade Runner 2049" and "Arrival" were described by many media as extremely difficult to create before their official release, whether it is the rich ideological connotation and humanistic emotions contained in the work itself, or the perfect interpretation of the original story plot, which brings great difficulty to the film and television adaptation. But these doubts and judgments are reduced to a wisp of green smoke under the ingenious deconstruction of Villeneuve...
In order to make the film a safe winner from the beginning of production, the producers also assembled a luxurious starring cast while finding a famous director, including Timothy Chalame, the male star of "Please Call Me By Your Name", Rebecca Ferguson, a Hollywood first-line actress who had a wonderful rival with Atango in "Mission Impossible 7", Josh Brolin of "Thanos", Jason Momma and so on.
<h1 class="pgc-h-decimal" data-index="02" data-track="15" > prologue</h1>
The main story of the film takes place on the grass-free dune planet Erlakos. In addition to the desert or the desert on this planet, human beings have spent a huge price in order to survive on this planet, and gradually developed a special protective clothing.
This protective clothing can collect every drop of moisture in the surrounding environment as much as possible, and at the same time use its own high-tech device to recycle the exhaust gas, sweat and excrement excreta excreted by the human body, and convert it into drinkable drinking water. To explain why humanity chose to take root on such a grass-free planet, we have to mention the precious strategic resource of spices.
The film describes spices as follows: "For the Freymans, spices are sacred hallucinogens. Not only can it maintain life, but it is also beneficial to good health. For the Empire, spices can help the navigators of the Space Guilds to find a safe path between the planets, without which interstellar voyages cannot be carried out, which also makes spices the most valuable substance in the universe. ”
Spices are an important resource for the Galactic Empire to rule over other planets, but also an important support for communication and exchange between planets, in short, whoever possesses the spices is the master of this world, but the problem is that such an important strategic resource only exists in the desert star of Erlakos.
In order to compete for valuable spice resources, several major forces in the empire are in the midst of a constant struggle between you and me, open and secret, especially the emperor of the Empire who is trying to be powerful and the planetary lord who is constantly expanding, and the relationship between them is very tense, and the war is about to break out...
Obviously, the metaphor of spices is actually oil in the real world, and around the development and use of oil resources, the Middle East has been in a turbulent social environment in recent decades, and tens of thousands of ordinary people have unfortunately fallen victim to armed conflicts between various forces. Corresponding to the formation of these ordinary people are the Freymans who have been under the oppression of foreign forces for a long time and cannot obtain freedom and liberation. They grew up on a planet that was pregnant with mysterious resources and at the same time spread to the desert, which was their home, but at the same time became a source of their pain and misfortune.
What is very rare is that the film not only brings the depiction of the cruel living environment of the dune planet in the original story to the big screen, but also preserves the humanistic ideas and realistic thinking of the original work. Although due to the length of the narrative, many classic plots and scenes cannot be restored in the film one by one, but the flashpoints of ideas can be inherited. It is worth mentioning that the Freymans in the original story were later able to get rid of the cruel fate under the leadership of Paul, and where should the middle Eastern people outside the story go?
At the beginning of the film, the Emperor of the Empire, jealous of the Ertridi family's great influence among the planet lords, sends the Ertridi family to the dune planet, which has no grass but is the only source of spices.
In the end, however, the ghostly Haknam family joined forces with the Emperor's forces to stage a coup d'état to overthrow the Ertridi family's rule on the planet Dunes, and killed the family's power, only the eldest son of the Ertridi family, the male protagonist Paul and his mother, Lady Jessica, managed to escape with the help of the aborigines, and a rebellion against the existing order began...
"Dune" is not so much an epic as it is a prologue to an epic, and the plot of the whole movie is actually only the first in the series.
In the subsequent novel story, the young Paul escalates all the way to fight monsters, and finally forces the Emperor to submit and truly grow into the legendary savior, of course, this is all an afterthought. In today's movie era when popcorn blockbusters are rampant and are accustomed to fast-paced special effects scenes, it actually takes a lot of courage and confidence for the creative team to choose to spend two and a half hours to describe the prologue of an epic.
But because of this, many media outlets began to call it the beginning of a science fiction trilogy of this era, just like Star Wars: A New Hope and The Lord of the Rings: The Lord of the Rings: The Messenger of the Rings.
<h1 class="pgc-h-decimal" data-index="03" data-track="24" > an unprecedented audiovisual feast</h1>
Before the film's official release, director Dennis Villeneuve had vigorously opposed Warner's plan to have "Dune" released in theaters and streamed at the same time, and in his opinion, a film like "Dune" should be immersed in the theater. Before the film was released, I was skeptical of his claim. But it turns out that Dune can only get the best viewing experience in the huge screen and immersive atmosphere of the theater.
How huge is the giant starship? How huge are the sandworms at the top of the biological chain? If you just use the narration to make a simple data statement, it does not seem that the audience can get a most intuitive and realistic experience. Villeneuve cleverly uses contrast in the film, so that the audience cannot help but lament the vastness of the universe and the great power of life in the huge contrast.
In the film, there is an impressive scene of sandworms swallowing a giant spice car. In this episode, when the protagonist and his party are inspecting the spice collection work in the desert in a flapping plane, they suddenly encounter sandworms that are about to devour the malfunctioning spice collection truck, and the group saves the workers trapped in the spice truck at the risk of their lives.
From the comparison between people and airplanes, to the comparison between airplanes and giant spice trucks, to the comparison with giant spice trucks when the sandworms open their blood basins, how huge the sandworms are, the answer to this question is clear through this bridge section. Such detailed depictions can only be felt more deeply on the big screen.
There are many big scenes like this, such as the opening scene of the movie, the vast spaceship arrangement and army array when the Hakenan family evacuated; a visual representation of the Etridi family from the giant starship to the landing capsule to the people when they first arrived on the dune planet; the shocking look and feel of the male protagonist Paul when he faced the giant sandworm in the desert; the future battle picture that appeared in the dream...
In addition to creating stunning visual spectacles, the film is also an aural feast. Audiences familiar with Christopher Nolan's filmography know that the reason why large-scale films such as "Batman: The Dark Knight Rises", "Inception" and "Dunkirk" can be remembered by many fans is that in addition to the success of the characters and plot, the soundtrack is also indispensable behind the scenes.
The soundtracks of these films, without exception, are composed by Hans Zimmer. However, zimmer was deeply attracted by the story of "Dune" this time, and chose to push away the old partner Nolan's new film "Creed".
In order to make the soundtrack highly consistent with the plot of the film and create a magnificent and windy sand dune atmosphere, Zimmer creatively combines traditional European instruments with electronic music in the soundtrack process, and blends female vocals with electronic synthesis. Thanks to the efforts of Hans Zimmer, audiences can watch Dune at IMAX in an atmosphere that resembles alien music, fully immersed in this epic story full of religious mysteries and science fiction.
Director Villeneuve said before, "If you watch "Dune" on TV at home, it is like driving a speedboat in the bathtub", when sitting in the movie theater and watching the end credits, recalling the picturesque pictures in the movie, I can't help but sigh in my heart, "Dune" seems to be a hollywood top science fiction epic movie born for the big screen!