Peninsula all-media reporter Huang Jingfei
On October 24, the film "Dune", directed by Denis Villeneuve and starring "Sweet Tea" Timothy Chalame, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac and others, exceeded 100 million yuan at the box office, once again setting off a wave of "science fiction". It brought a long-lost freshness to many viewers, and also caused discussion among science fiction fans, while driving the hot sales of the novel of the same name.
Despite the controversy
But be prepared for the future
The movie "Dune" can be described as its own traffic, adapted from the 1965 novel frank Herbert, the original book is hailed as the "originator of science fiction" and "the most imaginative work ever". But it has also been called "the most difficult novel to be adapted into a movie" because of its grand worldview construction, complex narrative structure, and profound philosophical thinking.
This super IP has created a cultural phenomenon, not only "Avatar", "Alien", "Star Wars" and many other science fiction classics are influenced by it, but also derived classic games such as the "Dune Magic Castle" series. Most of the audiences with higher ratings for the movie have read the "Dune" novel or played the game of the same name, and have a deeper understanding of the "Dune" IP.
It is not easy for the film to compress the first half of the "Dune" novel into 2 and a half hours, and many complicated worldview settings are explained between the pictures through the refined film language. As the audience commented, "as beautiful as poetry" and "the feeling of pores opening", wonderful, shocking, immersive and poetic, all in the movie "Dune".
Although controversial as an independent film, as a prelude to a grand series, Villeneuve made all the preparations for the follow-up: the construction of the worldview, the laying out of the relationship between the characters, the background and the narrative of the previous plot, and most importantly, the atmosphere creation of the dune world alone.
Not a cool piece
You need to calm down and enjoy it slowly
The original work of "Dune" needs to be calmed down to watch slowly, which also dooms the pace of the movie to be relatively slow, in order to show the details in front of the audience in a very delicate way.
The name of the movie is "Dune", but this "dune" is not on Earth. In the depths of the distant universe, there is a planet called "Erlakos", because the entire planet is covered with yellow sand, so it is often called - sand dunes. In the future world, spices become a scarce resource like oil, and after the erredit family that controlled the resources suffered betrayal, the heir of the family, Paul, decided to accept the guidance of fate to defend his family and people.
Simply put, "Dune" is more like a space version of "The Prince's Revenge", except that Prince Paul wants to change the fate of not only the family but also the entire universe. But "Dune" is more than this, its connotation and core are richer, the background is very large and complex, as a viewer who has not read the original work, the premise is to make psychological expectations: this is only the first part of "Dune", the story is not finished. The film adaptation will be divided into a trilogy, "Dune" is the beginning of the series, there are many details worth considering, but also a lot of foreshadowing worth exploring.
The director has extensively cut down the complicated story of "Dune", focusing mainly on the dispute between Erridi and the Haknan family. The beginning of the film involves a long family struggle, with a bit of a Game of Thrones flavor.
This movie is not a "cool film" in the traditional sense, and in the process of watching "Dune", unfamiliar friends will have a strange sense of separation. For example, there are already various advanced science and technology, but the world of Dune is still a "monarchical system", and Paul's mother still teaches him many spells in private.
Dream assemblage
Sweet Tea perfectly plays the role
A film can make the main actors in the 4 IPs of "Avengers", "Aquaman", "Mission Impossible" and "Spider-Man" join, and its charm can be imagined. With the blessing of Hollywood's mature film industry, the film is enough to provide a colorful visual feast for every audience who runs "science fiction" or starring "sweet tea" Timothy Chalame. I have to say that Sweet Tea plays this role very perfectly. Whether it is youth and confusion, or awakening and perseverance, just one look can make people immersed.
In the original novel, "Doctor Yue", who should have taken a firm stand in the family struggle, was forced to get involved in the conspiracy of resource competition and became a key role in driving the gears of the story.
Dune may not be the most commercial film, nor the most literary film, but it is one of the most successful films that brings together business and literature and literature. Although this kind of classical science fiction is different from the soft and hard science fiction that Chinese audiences are familiar with now, as a prologue to an epic, "Dune" is absolutely qualified. Just as Paul crosses the fourth wall at the end of the film and tells the audience that "the road is still very long", for the average audience, the charm of "Dune" is also a long way.
■Related news
The Dune Six was published in its entirety for the first time
Recently, the world's first "Hugo Award" and "Nebula Award" double award work "Dune", launched the finale "Dune 6: Temple Dune". It is reported that this is the "Dune" on every "must-read" book list, and it is the first time that six complete works have been published in China.
According to the publisher Reader Culture, Dune has sold more than 12 million copies worldwide since its inception, making it one of the best-selling science fiction novels in the world. Avid fans even make their own "sandworm" sleeping bags, themed cakes, Dune Planet passports and other peripherals to show their love for "Dune".
"Dune" has a traditional science fiction novel that focuses on the sea of stars and the development of science and technology, and it makes the core of the contradiction revolve around human beings themselves. Through the ability of the epochs of the epoch-of-hero of the Ertridi family, and their tragic fate, it reveals its spiritual core: the confrontation between humanity and destiny. This spiritual core is derived from Greek mythology, but Dune elevates it to the heights of all mankind. Science fiction can do this only in Dune. The complete publication of the Chinese edition of Dune's six-part series may be the best tribute to this "must-read" science fiction masterpiece.
Source: Peninsula Metropolis