Since the 2021 film version of "Dune" is based on the science fiction series of the same name, "Dune", it is necessary to introduce the overview of this series of novels "Dune" before talking about this movie. The author of the original book is the American science fiction writer Frank Herbert, because of the Dune series of novels that made him win the highest honor award in science fiction: the Hugo Award, the Nebula Award. One of the more pertinent comments was that of The New York Times: "With climate change, the situation in the Middle East, and the energy crisis emerging, Dune is more relevant than it was 50 years ago." If you haven't seen it yet, you should really read it. In addition, Dune this IP not only enriched the film and television creation, but also derived the game industry, laying the basic model of the most magical real-time strategy game, which swept the world.
The author here naturally wants to talk about the 2021 film version of "Dune", and compared to the original 1984 version of "Dune" strong costume and opera charm, compared to the 2003 "Dune Castle" TV short series that pursues the dramatic conflict effect of the TV series, and this 2021 film version of "Dune" seems to be more abundant and rich in terms of production technology, film art, or theme.
Dune is a science fiction film directed by Dennis Villeneuve and starring Timothy Chalame. This 2021 version of "Dune" is only two and a half hours, in fact, it is only an excerpt of the first half of the original book, within this limited time limit, the director also lives up to expectations in retaining his own film aesthetics, but also for everyone to understand the film as much as possible, so it is also based on the original theme to create a "Prince's Revenge" about science fiction.
The story probably tells the story of the talented teenager Paul Ertridi (Timothy Chalame) whose family controls the desert planet Alakes, and controlling Arakis star is equivalent to controlling a precious resource on the planet, "spice", which can unleash the maximum potential of mankind. Such enticing rights have led to disputes between various forces. When Paul's family was betrayed, he decided to accept the guidance of fate to defend his family and people.
First of all, the big director is Villeneuve, the director of the current year, who has brought us a lot of surprises, such as "Scorched Earth City", which was shortlisted for the Academy Award, and "Arrival", and the more mature work is "Blade Runner 2049". Yes, as you can see, his works are atmospheric, grandiose, and the pursuit is the pursuit of a slow-motion narrative approach, as well as a rich wasteland aesthetic and mystery, but also as solemn as medieval oil paintings.
Of course, in his "Blade Runner 2049", the author once commented: Sometimes it is too much pursuit of formalization and pleasing to literary and artistic audiences, such as through a large number of empty buildings and grand scenes; in addition, the narrative story is not rich and tense enough, and the theme is not exquisite enough. And the development to such a "Dune" is a fairly mature work of his, of course, this is more than a heavy original book and script itself, so that his unique slow-motion narrative technique is once again vividly displayed, without dragging down the entire movie, and even for the future of the second nth part to do a very good preparation. Therefore, the slow narrative rhythm brings together personal growth, science fiction, philosophical thinking, human nature, good and evil, political struggles, and ecological issues.
Secondly, during the filming process, the director's performance method was to exert his most infectious talent. We know that his style is solemn, and this time it is the desert background that coincides with his wasteland aesthetic, which makes it even more obvious that this film is completely sprinting for the Academy Awards. We can pay attention to some of this wasteland aesthetics, or ecological aesthetics in the play, such as the film is set in Budapest, Hungary, which is a typical pure sand desert, weathered huge rocks like castles, adding jumping changes for the gentle lines; and Jordan's Wadi Rum, known as the beautiful desert "Moon Valley", as well as the tropical desert climate of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, the Streant Peninsula in Norway, etc. Through contrast, through the tall and beautiful composition, we can well interpret the beauty of the dunes. Or a terrifying mysterious desolate and hot scene. The director also shows an ecological black humor through the problem of spitting when the Freymans meet. In addition, the scientific and technological design of objects such as flappers, gauze, distilled suits, hunting darts, and crystal tooth blades is naturally for the audience to see the art style of this kind of wasteland aesthetic film.
In addition, as a director who loves classical painting, he also left a lot of composition and light and shadow about this classical image in the film, one of which is that because of the existence of small people on the left, there is a huge spice collection truck on the right, and the contrast between the big and the small, the strong and the weak naturally reflects the ecological problem, as well as the theme of human greed and lack of return. In addition, in classical painting, we can also notice that when the male protagonist's father was captured by his opponent before his death, he was completely naked, but the beauty of his muscle lines was indomitable, like the beauty of the majestic famous statue David.
Of course, in the theater not only to see the composition of the beautiful scenery, but also to hear the appropriate soundtrack, the film's soundtrack hero is naturally Mehans Zimmer, he has the appropriate bgm in each scene of the film (there is percussion when shooting the army, sand flute and chanting when shooting the desert, etc.), which is very ritualistic, and this soundtrack is very conducive to the development of the narrative rhythm of the story, which has aroused the emotional resonance of the audience.
In terms of character shaping, the director's cleverness lies in both business and attention to the character development of the original novel, such as the choice of Timothy Chalamei, his fame in North America can be described as a popular hot chicken, film and television works have last year's "Little Women", as well as "Pretty Boy", "King of Lancaster", "Please Call Me by Your Name", etc., of which his masterpiece "Please Call Me by Your Name" was nominated for the 90th Academy Award for Best Actor, which can be seen that the beautiful boy's acting skills cannot be underestimated. In this movie, his acting skills are also fully reflected, such as from the beginning of the image of the prince's brother, and then to the desert star, facing the demise of the family, while learning that he is only a pawn of the "sisterhood" group behind his mother, and there is a stubborn and indomitable personality, especially in the desert survival, he roared at his mother for his mother's dissatisfaction with his life, which fully reflects the acting skills of this male protagonist. It turned out that he was a vase, or a vase with strength, but it was not easy to break.
Of course, there is also the Mission Impossible series, as well as "King of the Circus" played by Rebecca Ferguson, who played the mother of a male protagonist, embodying a submissive nature subject to people, but also very child-friendly, Jun did not see her teach her son voice control to kill at key moments, which is to reflect that she is also an excellent mother and a wonderful female fighter image. Of course, there is also a good female artist in North America, who has participated in "Girl Undercover", "Spider-Man: The Return of the Hero", "King of the Circus", Zandaya Coleman, which is her growth work, and hopes that she will continue to shine. Of course, there is also the male protagonist's father is an Oscar winner, and the male protagonist's fighting master is the actor of Thanos in the Marvel series, which can be described as a big production where stars gather. But the problem is that such a large production is not a gimmick, but in the director's big film and television effect and the film art presentation that does not lose the literary style, it seems to complement each other so well.
Finally, let's talk about some metaphorical techniques in literature and art, which are all good for the future series of Prince's Revenge. For example, at the beginning of the story, there is a shot of a sculpture with a bullfighter, and a huge bull's head hanging on the door frame. This is the story of the male protagonist, Paul's grandfather, who died of a serious injury from a bullfight. The metaphor behind the statue here is another theme of the story, symbol of the political and dramatic struggle, that is, the Erridi family is about to face the Haknan family (fierce bull) attack and suffer a devastating blow.
In addition, there is a very literary and artistic expression method, that is, whether the male protagonist is in the water star or the desert star, we can see the male protagonist Paul repeatedly put his hand into the water sand, as well as the body of the desert star. We know that the male protagonist's Erridi family is in Karadan, relying on the power of air and water. The first time the male protagonist touches the sand, it shows that Paul says goodbye to the "water planet" Karadan, and also to his past fate. So when the male protagonist goes to the desert star, there is also a touch of sand, and the subtle correspondence of these sand touch shots plays a role in connecting the plot before and after the movie. Of course, there are also emotional conflict scenes that show the light and dark sides of human nature, good and evil, and the director has also used backlit and smooth lighting effects many times to reflect the image of different characters, making such a film aesthetic more in-depth and good-looking.
Finally, the film is insufficient is that the fight scene is too short and simple, especially the fight between the two families, which looks like an old-fashioned street slashing fight, at most more protective technology, but for the future science fiction war elements of these two families is not exciting enough. In the future, if there is a second and third part, this war fight scene must be strengthened to make the movie more observable.
Naturally, you can say that the 2021 film version of "Dune" is only the nth remake of Frank Herbert's original series of novels, but the problem is that once this IP falls into the hands of Villeneuve, it will have a chemical effect, because Villeneuve's wasteland aesthetics, classical aesthetics, and slow-motion narrative methods, as well as solemn mysterious emotional color, are naturally very consistent with Dune's main story about the revenge of the prince, which is a kind of literary and cinematic film work. Literary and artistic youth are naturally not to be missed. As the first part of the Revenge of the Desert Prince, this time it has been done almost beautifully in terms of story and aesthetics, that is, to tell the story of the rise of a desert prince, that is, for the family, for the people of the oppressed Desert Star, but also for their own, and bravely choose their own future path.
"The Whisperer in the Flower City", by Si Yi Gu, published by Baihuazhou Literature and Art Publishing House in March 2020 Si Yi Gu: writer, freelance writer, currently living in Guangzhou.