JODOROWSKY’S DUNE – The Review

For students of cinema, several films-that-were-never-made have been the subject of articles, books, and documentaries. Historians enjoy imagining just what movie delights almost happened, that were stopped by different circumstances, often budgetary. I recall seeing production art for Willis O’Brien’s teaming of titans in “King Kong Meets Frankenstein”. Before George Pal produced the definitive big screen version, Ray Harryhausen shot test footage for a proposed “War of the Worlds”. And animation buffs have wondered at the pencil test sequences Looney Tunes wildman Bob Clampett whipped up to try to sell MGM on a cartoon short series based on “John Carter of Mars”. And in this “what if” study, there would need to be a sizable sidebar on the unfilmed works of Orson Welles. Years before Coppola, Welles tried to adapt Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness” for the movies along with comics’ “Batman” and “Don Quixote” (Terry Gilliam’s attempt on that character was the subject of a great doc, LOST IN LA MANCHA). Now the story of one of Welles’s unmade acting roles is part of the fascinating new documentary JODOROWSKY’S DUNE. Call this new film a super “making of” DVD or BluRay extra for a film that only exists in unrealized dreams..

Well, it’s dreams and a massive hernia-inducing book chock full of glorious art (sketches, visualization paintings, costume designs, and storyboards). As the doc begins, film maker Nicolas Windinf Refin (DRIVE) boasts about “seeing” the epic mid-1970’s Alejandro Jodorowsky-directed movie adaptation of writer Frank Herbert’s science fiction 1965 classic “Dune”. The phrase “seeing” refers to Refin visualizing the movie in his imagination as Jodorowsky took him through the book and acted out scenes. After leaving copies of this huge tome at several studios, he has one of only two copies supposedly left. The film then delves into the life story of Jodorowsky who first made his reputation as a director of experimental theatre in Mexico before turning to film in the late 60’s and making a cult midnight movie hit with his 1970 film EL TOPO (starring himself). After his next film in 1973, THE HOLY MOUNTAIN Jodorowsky joined forces with a French businessman Michel Seydoux for his next movie project. Although he had never read the novel, after hearing raves from several friends Jodorowsky decided he would adapt Herbert’s “Dune”. The film tells the story of how he enlisted artists (Chris Voss, HR Giger, and Jean “Moebius” Giraud), musicians (Peter Gabriel, Pink Floyd, Magma) special effects techs (Dan O’Bannon future co-writer of ALIEN), and actors (David Carradine, Mick Jagger, Salvador Dali, his son Brontis, and, of course, Mr. Welles) to be part of the doomed enterprise (I remember reading of the film’s impending release in mid-70’s horror and SF movie fan magazines and tabloids such as “The Castle of Frankenstein” and “The Monster Times’). The doc traces the project from inception to dissolution with a look at the adaptation that was later made, 1984’s DUNE directed by David Lynch, and the legacy and influence of this legendary undertaking.

Documentarian Frank Pavich keeps the film moving at a brisk pace for all of its ninety minutes. Many of the interviews are standard talking heads, but thankfully the most prominent one is the ‘mad genius’ himself Jodorowsky. With his flowing white hair and beard and his eyes still blazing with passion, he’s an engaging silver lion who seems decades younger than his eighty-plus years. He still retains a fire, a passion for this unfinished, unfilmed work. His tales of trying to gather cast and crew sound more like a warrior inspiring an army or a slightly unhinged messiah assembling his flock to create a cult rather than a motion picture. He tells Welles that his favorite French chef would be on set during production in order to get his committment. He meets rock icons Pink Floyd at the mythic Abbey Road Studios and berates them for eating hamburgers and not giving him their full attention. The best recollection may be from the late O’Bannon via an audio interview (illustrated with some wonderful whimsical graphics). He tells of a talk in which Jodorowsky bent reality like Mandrake the Magician or Doctor Strange, thanks, in large part, to the powerful potent herbs they shared. And then there’s the art, the dazzling, glorious art! We see Voss at his studio displaying the mind-boggling designs for different transports. Giger talks from a museum exhibit as his gorgeous, but often disturbing art is shown. But this film is truly a tribute to the titanic talents of Moebius. The tragedy of his passing two years ago is driven home by the wondrous costume sketches and storyboards (these comic strips are brough to life via CGI movie magic). We never hear him speak, but the master’s incredible work speaks volumes about the film fantasy denied to us. But there is that Lynch film and we do get Jodorowsky;s surprising and hilarious reaction to it. The film ends with the makings of a movie conspiracy. Those massive production books were supposedly lost by the studios, but Pavich finishes the film with side-by-side comparisons to its pages and scenes from future fantasy epics ranging from the campy 1980’s flicks of FLASH GORDON and MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE up to THE MATRIX and PROMETHEUS. Co-incidence or conspiracy? It’s a pretty persuasive argument. Well, here’s a fact that’s very clear: JODOROWSKY’S DUNE is one of the best making of documentaries about a film never made. Oh, to have a time machine (and load of cash to invest)…

4.5 Out of 5

JODOROWSKY’S DUNE opens everywhere and screens exclusively in the St. Louis area at Landmark’s Tivoli Theatre