Year: 2013
Director: Frank Pavich
Country: US
Language: English
Mexican Director Alejandro Jodoroswky is one of my favourite film-makers of all time. His pictures are thought-provoking, spiritual and shocking. I was left in awe after screening The Holy Mountain, realizing that film was beyond the shackles of reality and that virtually anything could be filmed. Though I still am unsure of what his films are about, each viewing feels like a completely new experience. Unfortunately, because Jodorowsky was such a mad artist, he wasn't able to make any film he desired. This documentary is about one of those films.
Jodorowsky's Dune is the intriguing story of cult film director Alejandro Jodorowsky's ambitious but ultimately doomed film adaptation of the seminal science fiction novel Dune, written by Frank Herbert.
Director Frank Pavich captures Jodorowsky's adventure through typical talking head interviews, occasionally panning down to the artists' wrinkly hands and cutting to crudely animated concept art. They have an underground Robert Crumb feel to them, but unfortunately the camera frequently cuts away before we have had a good look at them. Thankfully Jodorowsky is a remarkably charismatic man; a rebel with a spiritual soul. We are drawn to him, and so is his crew. They validate his self-imposed image, describing the Director as an artist who broke down barriers and kicked down doors. Great effort is being made to make Jodorowsky seem mythical in genius.
Each story being told tends toward the grandiose, so much so that they could if it wasn't for the elaborate details given one could have easily considered them tall tales. One weakness of this picture is that it tends to exaggerate the unmade film's impact. Riddle me this: How can art that has, aside from its creators and a handful of studio executives, never be seen before directly influence modern Hollywood Blockbusters like Prometheus? The film's insistence that Dune wasn't made because the suits didn't like Jodorowsky's imagination is far too simplistic. It undermines the audiences' integrity and intelligence. I would rather have the truth than some Capra-esque good vs. evil fantasy.
In conclusion, it's difficult to decide what to make out of Jodorowsky's Dune. Frank Pavich succeeded in turning Jodorowsky's project into a whimsical fury of passion and energy, but he did so in expense of the truth and possibly gave the audience an overdose of exaggeration. At least the documentary is better than David Lynch's Dune, that was fatally bad. 3/5
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