Cinematic Releases: Jodorowsky's Dune

Jodorowsky's Dune: A documentary film about a film that never got put to film.

"Dude. Don't you have
a Tie Fighter to pilot!"

Perhaps one of the greatest crimes ever committed by Hollywood was the closed mindedness that allowed Alejandro Jodorowsky's Dune to go unmade during a time when science fiction would have been redefined by a highly colorful and imaginative portrayal of Frank Herbert's Dune. Years later, we ended up with a laughable David Lynch version that bombed just months after the release of sci fi juggernaut, Return of the Jedi. 

This documentary chronicles Jodorowsky's undying artistic vision and expansive view of how and why his film never got made. It's offers a humorous yet dynamic look inside the inner workings of the film industry and how one man's form of expression was not met with open arms but by movie land cronies that just wouldn't allow this movie to get made. 

Throughout the run time, we get interviews with H.R. Giger (Alien), Richard Stanley (Hardware), and Nicolas Winding Refn (Drive) among many others including Gary Kurtz. Each of them offer insight in to why the movie never got made and how the picture was ultimately derailed by a system that lacks integrity. 

Jodorowsky is a visionary that was pushing buttons and boundaries from his time as a stage director to his later turn as a film maker. His movies are heralded by some as master works and are abhorred by others. To say his films are accessible to a mass audience would be a lie. But, each of them have stunning picturesque character based in his undying dedication to the craft of film and art alike. 

His version of Dune would have been the culmination of years of design work and scripting that unfortunately died a slow death at the hands of Hollywood executioners that just didn't agree with the scope or detail of the picture. The documentary paints Jodorowsky as a skilled artiste that almost beat George Lucas and Star Wars to the definitive seventies science fiction punch. However disappointed he may have been with the unraveling of his project, Jodorowsky always has a smile on his face and makes light of the simple fact that his work inspired so many others. This documentary presents the man as a non-egocentric director that just wanted to make something that people hadn't seen before. 

Jodorowsky's Dune maintains the man's ingenuity and fluid skill set as a director. His films may not appeal to everyone. And his version of Herbert's work would have divided audiences too. This documentary shows an aging man who still continues to create and disperse creative energy in varying mediums, always remaining true to his own ambitions, never relying on a broken system that will never allow films like Dune to be made with soul or artistic virtuosity. 

If you hate the way Hollywood does things, see this movie. It will further instill your hatred of "the man".


-Chris George