esrosedotblog

Any reader of Dune, the extraordinary science fiction novel by Frank Herbert would long to see a film made of it.

A film was made of it. Not very successful. David Lynch.

There was another film in the works. But it failed at the last minute. Like a horse who is winning The Derby going lame in the last ten feet.

Now, we cannot see that film but we can see the effort put in trying to make it.

Jodorowsky's Dune (2013)

This is a wonderful "artist against the authorities" story.

And what is more, we get a lot of visuals of the novel for a film that was never made. I sort of made the film in my mind as this went along.

I have to say that this is not a sad story. Jodorowsky is remarkably cheerful about it all as it came down. It must be part of his spiritual strength to look at failure and laugh.

We do get a lot of what might have been and also get to listen to writers, directors, artists, tell their creative stories.

The film that was made didn't really do the trick according to those who saw it.

I am not sure that I would ever have gone to see either film. My life rule is never to read a book of a film I have seen or see a film from a book I have read. It is pretty simple and keeps my perceptions clear. To do otherwise is to walk the road to hell.

Adaptations suck. Making a novel from a film is difficult but possible. The other way? Always, always, a diminishment.

I would not mind seeing this particular film again. All the sketches, art, artists. It is a primer on film making lying underneath the telling of this story about the real "industry" and how it treats art.

Failed projects are always kind of interesting

Labels: films