This page uses Creative Commons Licensed content from Wikipedia (view authors). |
- "What is to give light must endure burning."
- ―Opening Text[src]
Jodorowsky's Dune is a 2013 American-French documentary film directed by Frank Pavich. The film explores cult film director Alejandro Jodorowsky's unsuccessful attempt to adapt and film Frank Herbert's 1965 science fiction novel Dune in the mid-1970s. It features with several individuals involved in the plans for the film including director/writer Jodorowsky, producers Michel Seydoux and Jean-Paul Gibon, artists Chris Foss and H. R. Giger, composer Christian Vander, stunt coordinator Jean-Pierre Vignau, cast members Brontis Jodorowsky and Amanda Lear and Diane O'Bannon, the widow of visual effects artist Dan O'Bannon. Producer Gary Kurtz, filmmakers Nicolas Winding Refn and Richard Stanley and film critics Devin Faraci and Drew McWeeny are also interviewed.
It was announced in 2011 and met with critical acclaim, receiving several nominations and awards.
Interviewees[]
Summary[]
Alejandro Jodorowsky begins by stating that the goal of life is to create oneself a soul. He elaborates that for him movies are an art more than an industry, that they are a search for the human soul. He recalls wanting to make a film that would capture the feeling of being on LSD without having to take the drug. He had tremendous ambition and wanted to change public perceptions by creating a prophet. He planned for his adaptation of Dune to be the coming of an artistic, cinematic god. He did not just want to make a film, but to create something sacred and free that would create a new perspective and open the mind, as his ego and intellect felt imprisoned.
Michel Seydoux opines that filmmaking requires a touch of madness, which may have led to the film's downfall, but that a film without madness will not conquer the world. Nicolas Winding Refn recalls an evening when he and his wife had dinner at Jodorowsky's house in Paris when Jodorowsky asked him if he wanted to see Dune. He then sat with him for several hours as Jodorowsky showed him the Dune Bible, explaining the thoughts and ideas he had had for the film. He describes the experience as "awesome".
Richard Stanley speculates that Dune may be the greatest movie never made, as it continues to have a huge influence and will for generations to come despite not existing and being unable to be viewed by anyone. Winding Refn wonders how the landscape of big budget blockbusters would have changed had the first film of that nature been Dune instead of Star Wars. Devin Faraci says that despite the cliche surrounding such a phrase, Jodorowsky's Dune may have been the most "ahead of its time" movie ever. Seydoux believes that there may never have been a film to make it as far as it did only to not get made. Chris Foss declares that had the film been made, it would have been bigger than 2001: A Space Odyssey. Winding Refn states that is was built up as the greatest achievement in science fiction, only to evaporate into a billion pieces of small black space.
Jodorowsky recalls his early career, making theatre in Mexico in 1962. In 1967, he made his first film Fando y Lis. Faraci states that the film's premiere erupted into a riot due to its bizarre and shocking content, which resulted in it being banned. Jodorowsky recalls making the film with little experience and no support from a union, hence he utilised unconventional methods in an attempt to open the minds of the industry.
In 1970, he made El Topo, which Stanley declares to be the original midnight movie and cult film. Seydoux recalls being exposed to the underground cinema in New York City, which led to him gaining distribution for the film in France and built a friendship between him and Jodorowsky. The success of El Topo allowed Jodorowsky to make The Holy Mountain in 1973, which Stanley describes as an extraordinary film that feels like a work of art that has come from a parallel world. Seydoux distributed the film in France and it was hugely successful in Europe, which caused Jodorowsky's ambition to grow.
In 1974, Seydoux called Jodorowsky from Paris to inform him of the success of The Holy Mountain and tell him that he wished to make another film with him, giving him free reign to do whatever he wanted. Jodorowsky told him that he wished to adapt Dune, to which Seydoux agreed. Seydoux states that the reasons for wanting to make it were the novel's success and high regard among fans of science fiction. Jodorowsky had not read the novel, but a friend has told him that it was fantastic. Faraci and Stanley describe the premise of Dune, particularly the conflict between House Atreides and House Harkonnen for control of Arrakis and the Spice Melange. Drew McWeeny states that the idea of a drug that opens time and space was very appropriate to the time period. Jodorowsky says that they obtained the rights to the novel for a surprisingly small amount, which he speculates was because they believed he would never succeed in bringing it to the screen.
Seydoux brought Jodorowsky to France and rented a castle for him to stay in for the sole purpose of writing the script. Jodorowsky states that with Dune, Frank Herbert created a world that challeged the reader and compares it to the writing of Marcel Proust. He describes the difficulties of taking words on a page and translating them to a visual medium, stating that even in the little details he was trying to find the spiritual meaning of the film. Upon finishing the script, he set out to find the artists he would collaborate with on the film, referring to them as the "spiritual warriors".
Jean-Paul Gibon recalls the artist Jean "Moebius" Giraud, whom Jodorowsky became aware of when he read the comic book Blueberry and wanted him to be the main designer of the film. Foss declares that Moebius may have been France's most talented artist. Jodorowsky went to see his publicity agent and by coincidence, Morbius was there. He agreed to work on the film and drew up three thousand storyboards. Jodorowsky praises Moebius as a genius who not only possessed great artistic talent, but worked very quickly.
Jodorowsky describes his plan to begin the film with a long shot inspired by the opening shot of Orson Welles' film Touch of Evil, that would traverse the entirety of the Known Universe. The audience would have seen battles and pirates raiding a convoy of Spice. Faraci declares that having seen the concept art and storyboards, he does not know how Jodorowsky could have pulled such a thing off in 1975, stating that George Lucas struggled to accomplish the visual effects in Star Wars and what Jodorowsky was planning was beyond the effects seen in the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy.
To create the film's special effects, Jodorowsky sought Douglas Trumbull, who had created the effects in 2001: A Space Odyssey. Gary Kurtz states that Trumbull was the most celebrated special effects artist of the time. Jodorowsky met with him, but found him vain and his approach too technical and in conflict with his spiritual aspirations for the film. Kurtz states that Stanley Kubrick gave Trumbull a lot of freedom on 2001: A Space Odyssey, hence he did not work with filmmakers like Jodorowsky who wanted more control over the visual effects. Jodorowsky declared that he could not work with Trumbull, which stunned Moebius.
Jodorowsky went to see the John Carpenter film Dark Star and was impressed with the film's visual effects, which led him to seek out its visual effects artist, Dan O'Bannon. O'Bannon's widow, Diane O'Bannon, recalls that her husband grew up in rural Missouri and did not have a telephone until he was ten years old, which resulted in him gaining a great interest in literature and science fiction. Jodorowsky chose O'Bannon because he prioritised art over technique. In an archived interview, O'Bannon describes his first meeting with Jodorowsky, having expected him to be a lunatic after watching El Topo, and was surprised by the charming and gentlemanly individual who greeted him. The two then smoked marijuana and O'Bannon recalls experiencing psychodelic visions as he conversed with Jodorowsky. O'Bannon agreed to do the visual effects for the film and Jodorowsky instructed him to sell everything he owned and move to Paris.
With Morbius and O'Bannon onboard, Jodorowsky began searching for actors. For Duke Leto Atreides, he approached David Carradine, who at the time was starring in the popular television series Kung Fu. The two met in a hotel room in Los Angeles and Jodorowsky had brought a bottle of Vitamin E, which Carradine grabbed and downed in one gulp, convincing Jodorowsky he was the right actor for the role.
Jodorowsky wanted a musical group to create the music for each planet and sought Pink Floyd to do the music for House Atreides. Seydoux contacted their agent and Jodorowsky and Gibon met with them while they were finishing the mixing for The Dark Side of the Moon at Abbey Road Studios in London. They recall them being distant and standoffish, which annoyed Jodorowsky and caused him to berate them, stating that they did not understand the importance of the film. This inspired them to speak with him and the rest of the meeting went very well.
Jodorowsky discusses a deviation he wished to make from the novel by making Duke Leto a eunuch. His plan was to have Lady Jessica extract blood from her beloved duke and use her Bene Gesserit abilities to transmute it into semen and impregnate herself, resulting in the birth of Paul Atreides. Jodorowsky planned for his son Brontis to portray Paul, having previously worked with him in El Topo. Brontis recalls his father telling him that he would have to prepare for the role by learning martial arts and acrobatics and develop his mind. Alejandro recruited Jean-Pierre Vignau to train the twelve-year-old Brontis in various styles of martial arts. The training took place six hours a day, seven days a week for two years, which Brontis describes as painful and merciless. Alejandro recalls people criticising him for putting his child through something so difficult, but he states that he was trying to awaken his creativity and open his mind. He wonders in hindsight if it was the right decision, but says that at the time he was willing to do anything to realise his vision.
Stanley states that Jodorowsky was searching for the best people to design the look of his world. Jodorowsky wanted every spaceship to look like an insect or bird and was drawn to the work of Chris Foss, who had created artwork for the covers of various science fiction books. Foss was invited to come to Paris, where he was introduced to Jodorowsky, whom he considered to be a strange individual. He was then shown The Holy Mountain, which he found very strange, particularly a scene where the main character's excrement is transformed into gold. Despite this, he agreed to stay in Paris and work on the film.
Diane O'Bannon recalls that her husband loved Paris, often writing her love letters and accounts of his experiences working on the film. Jodorowsky discusses how he led his crew, assuring them they were not just making a film, but were warriors doing something important for humanity. Foss describes Jodorowsky as a great motivator who gave his crew a lot of freedom and believes that he created some of his most unusual artwork on Dune, which he is very proud of. He recalls creating the fishlike Spice convoy attacked by the pirates, which was planned to have a tiger-like design that would allow it to blend in with asteroids, and states that he still has never read the novel. He declares that even without a script, Jodorowsky could have described the film and brought it to life.
Jodorowsky describes wanting to bring out the genius in every crew member and give them the freedom to do their best work. Foss praises Jodorowsky for his passion, which he found refreshing due to other filmmakers he has worked with often coming across as disinterested. Jodorowsky describes giving a motivational speech to his crew every morning, similar to a sporting coach. Foss states that he originally planned to be an architect and took that approach when designing the Imperial Opal Palace, knowing how to build the set to get the desired effect.
Jodorowsky sought Salvador Dalí to portray the Padishah Emperor Shaddam Corrino IV, with Seydoux declaring him to be the ideal choice due to his extraordinary talent, speech and wording. They met him by chance in the St. Regis Hotel in New York City. Jodorowsky ripped a page on The Hanged Man from his book The Way of Tarot: The Spiritual Teacher in the Cards and wrote that he wanted to meet with Dalí to make a film with him. Dalí was intrigued and agreed to meet with him in the bar. They went to meet with Dalí, who pointed out the painting "Old King Cole" by Maxfield Parrish, which he said he liked as it was "a six meter painting dedicated to a fart". He then agreed to meet with them in Paris.
In Paris, they met with Dalí at a restaurant with his entourage of twelve present. Dalí told Jodorowsky that he and Pablo Picasso went to the beach in their youth and found a clock. He then asked Jodorowsky if he had ever found a clock in the sand. Under pressure, Jodorowsky replied that he never found a clock, but lost a lot, which Dalí liked and agreed to meet with him in Barcelona. Gibon describes it as a game between the two surrealists to see which of them would win. Seydoux recalls that at the time Dalí's muse was Amanda Lear.
Lear recalls that when someone like Jodorowsky came to see him, Dalí showed respect but was also somewhat jealous. Seydoux states that Dalí needed to tame his collaborators and have them tame him, testing them with initiations. Lear states that Dalí has no idea what Dune was about, but she had read the book and was a fan and assured him that it was a great philosophical story that transcended science fiction. Jodorowsky recalls Lear being an ally who was very supportive of him because he had promised her the role of Princess Irulan Corrino. Lear recalls that Dalí demanded this and Jodorowsky states that she had warned him that Dalí was destructive and that if he agreed to do the film, he would do everything he could to destroy it.
Lear recalls Dalí's demands, which included a helicopter and a burning giraffe, which caused the film's budget to increase. Jodorowsky states that Dalí agreed to work with him on the condition that he be paid $100,000 per hour, making him the most paid actor in the history of Hollywood. Seydoux recalls telling Jodorowsky that if they agreed to this demand, the film would never be made, but Dalí was Jodorowsky's only choice to play the Emperor and he agreed. They decided to pay him by the minute, with Jodorowsky declaring that he would be in the film for five minutes at most. Seydoux agreed and told Dalí they would pay him $100,000 per minute, to which he enthusiastically agreed. Jodorowsky came up with an idea that the Emperor would be so afraid of being assassinated that he would have a robot doppelganger take his place for much of the film, which Dalí agreed to on the condition that he be given the robot as a sculpture for his museum.
During their conversation, Dalí showed Jodorowsky a catalogue of the work of H. R. Giger. Dalí stated that Giger had a talent and Jodorowsky found the gothic artwork incredible and thought it would be ideal for House Harkonnen. At his museum in Gruyères, Switzerland, Giger recalls Jodorowsky and O'Bannon seeing his work displayed in Paris and approaching him to join them. Jodorowsky recalls that Giger had never worked on a movie at the time and that he insisted to Giger that it was something he had to do. Giger states that it was a new experience for him which he found incredibly fascinating. Jodorowsky says that he encouraged Giger to approach the film as he did all of his art, by exploring the deepest darkness of the soul, which he found perfect for the Harkonnens.
Giger recalls meeting with Jodorowsky for the first time in Paris on an evening when he attended a Magma concert. Jodorowsky states that he wanted the band's gothic and military style of rock for House Harkonnen. The band's drummer, Christian Vander, states that he knew nothing about the film or the novel when Jodorowsky approached them and that he gave them no direction on the music. Jodorowsky trusted them and upon hearing about the villainous nature of the Harkonnens, they began to come up with ideas as their violent and hard musical style fit very well with the characters. Giger remembers being amazed by Magma's performance, comparing it to feeling like Jesus Christ upon the cross. Jodorowsky comments that he had sought out the best rock musicians of the time for the film.
Jodorowsky recalls wanting Mick Jagger to portray Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen, but wondered how he would contact someone at the peak of his fame who would be unimpressed that he had the great power to make a movie. Jodorowsky was invited to an event in Paris at which Jagger was present. Jagger walked towards him, at which point Jodorowsky told him he wanted him for his movie. Jagger agreed without asking what the project or the role were. Jodorowsky recalls often being invited to Andy Warhol's studio, The Factory, where where he met Udo Kier, who often worked with Warhol. Jodorowsky was a fan of Kier's acting and asked him to portray Piter de Vries.
For the role of the film's morbidly obese main antagonist, Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, Jodorowsky wanted Orson Welles. Jodorowsky recalls Welles having a bad reputation due to his excessive eating and drinking habits. Despite this, Jodorowsky was set on having Welles in the role and attempted to convince him by meeting with Welles at his favourite gastronomic restaurant in Paris. Welles consumed six bottles of wine over the course of the meal and was initially uninterested in the project, but agreed once Jodorowsky offered to hire the restaurant's chef to cook for him every day on the production.
Giger recalls being given storyboards of the Harkonnen castle by Moebius, which Jodorowsky had designed in the Baron's likeness to showcase the character's egotism. Jodowsky then describes his idea that the mouth would open and extend a tongue for ships to land on before it would retract back inside. Giger states that he was fascinated by the creation of the Harkonnens and that he airbrushed five paintings, giving his best to create the designs. Jodorowsky and Giger then describe another idea that the castle would be entered via a walkway lined with tubes that would extend and retract razor sharp blades, which Giger acknowledges as an original idea of Jodorowsky's and not from the novel.
Alejandro and Brontis describe the film's planned ending, which differed greatly from the novel by having Paul be assassinated. However, Paul's consciousness would then transfer into all of the people that he knew, creating a universal conscoiusness. Arrakis would then transform into a green, oceanic paradise and travel through the cosmos to spread enlightenment to other planets. Alejandro acknowledges that it is a significant departure from the book, but asserts that when making a film a filmmaker cannot respect the novel. He compares it to getting married and wanting to have a child, stating that you must rip open the bride's dress and essentially rape her to produce the child. He declares that he was raping Frank Herbert, but with love.
Jodorowsky showcases the Dune Bible, which Seydoux recalls as being filled with designs and details of the techniques used. Jodorowsky states that one copy of it was sent to every film studio, which Seydoux declares was because he believed that they might have a certain distrust of Jodorowsky and that it would be a relief to them that every shot was described in great detail. However, they were not convinced. Gibon recalls not being optimistic in Los Angeles due to difficult relationships between the French and the Americans. Seydoux states that they were almost at the finish line and had to find the last $5,000,000 to reach the estimated budget of $15,000,000.
Gibon recalls them being invited to Walt Disney Studios by the chairman of the board, who told them that it was a wonderful project, but compared it to the Concorde, calling it exceptional, but declaring that it would never sell in America. Gibon knew then that they would face a lot of problems. Stanley declares that Hollywood likes ideas that are relatable, hence they found Dune too complex, adult and ambiguous and decided not to pursue it. Seydoux recalls that the studios were always very friendly with them but always gave them the same answer; that the project was superb, well constructed and economically reasonable, but that they did not understand Jodorowsky. Stanley then opines that studio executives are not qualified to judge the material due to most of them being accountants and financiers rather than artists or designers.
Jodorowsky states that Hollywood did not visualise science fiction in the way that he did, seeing only 2001: A Space Odyssey and small B movies rather than a big budget film with a lot of special effects. Seydoux admits that the film's intended runtime may have also hurt its chances. Jodorowsky reveals that he was asked to make the film ninety minutes, which he refused to do, declaring that he would make it twelve or twenty hours if it meant realising his vision. Kurtz states that studios were worried that film film would go way overbudget and that it would not have an audience because nobody would want to sit through such a long film. He opines that such things should have been discussed before a presentation was made, as studios would have rejected it due to its bizarreness.
Seydoux states that Jodorowsky's outrageous side did not give studios confidence that he could lead such an ambitious project, as $15,000,000 was a very high budget in the 1970s. Their uncertainty about the director led them to reject the project, despite having great enthusiasm for it. Jodorowsky declares that when approaching filmmaking one must be like a poet and refuse to compromise, rejecting suggestions from studios and anyone else whose ideas conflict with the vision. Winding Refn expresses belief that American studios rejected the film due to their fear of Jodorowsky's mind and imagination and the impact that the film could have. Jodorowsky then accuses the film industry of making artists into slaves and robbing them of their dignity and depth. He lambasts their desire for money, calling it "shit", "nothing" and a "devil in the pocket". He declares that movies have hearts, minds, power and ambition and angrily wonders why he was robbed of a chance to create such a film.
In an archived interview, O'Bannon states that the film was cancelled at a point where all of the planning that could be done on paper had been done and they were ready to start constructing sets. His widow Diane recalls that the crew were taking a hiatus before travelling to Algeria to shoot the film when Dan was back in America doing research on film stock, during which time he received the call informing him that the film had been cancelled. He was driven insane by this, as he had moved everything he owned to Paris in order to work on the film. Foss declares it a disaster that the film was never made, affirming that it would have been "quite extraordinary". Brontis recalls being disappointed by the cancellation, wondering how his life could have turned out had the film been made. Vignau also expresses his disappointment, stating that he and the entire crew believed in it.
Brontis states that his father was very hurt and disappointed, having viewed the film's cancellation as a great personal failure. Gibon expresses his belief that Alejandro did not feel like doing something else after such a project, that Dune had been the project of his life. Seydoux states that it was a humiliating and permanent injury for Jodorowsky to be rejected for being too original and surrealistic, which he believes Jodorowsky will carry in his heart for life.
Giger states his belief that the film could have been great, but that Dino De Laurentiis' daughter Raffaella took the project away from them and gave it to David Lynch. Jodorowsky recalls feeling pain when he learned that Lynch had been chose to direct Dune, as he admired Lynch and knew that he was probably the only director who could do it successfully and potentially better than him. Upon the release of Lynch's Dune, he refused to see it, believing it would kill him. However, his sons insisted on him seeing it with them and as he watched it he became happy because the film was "awful" and a "failure". He then states his belief that a producer must have interfered with the film, as a filmmaker of Lynch's calibre could not have willingly made something so inferior. Seydoux then comments that he has never seen Lynch's film and never will.
Stanley describes Jodorowsky as being ahead of his time, but that he was bringing forth ideas that take people decades to process. He elaborates that changing the consciousness of the audience requires changing the consciousness of Hollywood executives and alter the ecology, comparing it to the long-term plans of Dr. Liet-Kynes. He laments that it may take generations for movies to aspire to the goals that Jodorowsky wishes for them.
Jodorowsky states that despite the fact that the film did not get made, it has still managed to permeate the culture and influence a lot of art. Brontis compares it to Paul's planned fate; it was killed, but its influence lives on within cinema. Seydoux states his belief that it was a guide for certain filmmakers who had seen storyboards for the film, which pleases him. McWeeny points out that Star Wars contains a lot of visual references from Jodorowsky's Dune, particularly the lightsaber duels. Faraci compares the scene in which Luke Skywalker trains with the remote to storyboards of Paul training with a robot. He also speculates that certain storyboards from the robot's point of view may have influenced the view from the T-800's perspective in The Terminator. He declares that although the film was never made, it has its fingerprints over many films that came afterwards.
Footage from several other films shows influence from the designs of Jodorowsky's Dune:
- Flash Gordon: Ming the Merciless' throne room resembles early scenes in the Senate, the removal of the spectacles from the Kyltus Observers is similar to what is done to members of the Spacing Guild and the design of the Sardaukar armor was used for Ming's imperial guards.
- Raiders of the Lost Ark: The climactic scene in which René Belloq, Arnold Toht and their fellow Nazis are killed by supernatural forces is similar to the scene in which Paul drinks the Water of Life.
- Masters of the Universe: The armor worn by He-Man and Skeletor resemble concept art of Duncan Idaho and the Emperor.
- Contact: The film begins with a universe-spanning long shot.
- Prometheus: A mountain with a skull-like peak resembles the Harkonnen castle.
Jodorowsky then points out that Giger designed the Xenomorph for Alien, for which O'Bannon wrote the screenplay and Moebius and Foss worked as concept artists. Jodorowsky states that he felt validated when Hollywood began to use the artists he had assembled for Dune. Faraci compares Dune to a massive asteroid that had a near-miss with Earth but still managed to seed it with amazing spores. He specultes that were it not for Jodorowsky's Dune, films such as Alien, Blade Runner and The Matrix may not exist, along with the novels of William Gibson. Winding Refn points out that many ideas from Dune were taken and incorporated into other projects.
Stanley states that the experience of being involved in such a project and not being able to see it realised causes it to go on living inside one's head without a chance to exorcise it, which can haunt your dreams for the rest of your life unless you can get it out. Jodorowsky recalls Moebius asking him if he would die, to which Jodorowsky replied that he would not, that for him to fail was only to change the way. Just as they used Herbert's novel as a basis for the film, they used their ideas for the film as a basis for comic books. Jodorowsky and Moebius collaborated again to make The Incal, which took a lot of influence from their designs for Dune. Jodorowsky later collaborated with Juan Giménez on Metabarons, which used Foss' designs for spaceships and featured a similar storyline to the one of Leto and Jessica, in which a woman with supernatural abilities extracts blood from her castrated lover and transmutes it into semen to impregnate herself.
Jodorowsky expresses hope that someday a filmmaker will take the Dune Bible and adapt it as an animated film, even if he is not alive to see it. He states that despite being 84 years old, he has not allowed himself to be slowed down creatively. He compares it to the expansion of the mind, which he set out to accomplish with Dune. He made it his mission to open the mind and ambition of everyone who worked on the film, declaring that while he may not live for 300 years, he has the ambition to do so. He encourages everyone to have the greatest ambition possible, declaring that if they wish to be immortal, they must fight for it. He asserts that people must try to achieve their goals and ambitions, that if they fail it is not important, because at the very least they tried.
The documentary ends by revealing that Jodorowsky and Seydoux reconnected during the making of it, having gone their separate ways 35 years previously after the cancellation of Dune, and decided to make another movie together: The Dance of Reality, which was Jodorowsky's first film in 23 years.
Deleted Scenes[]
North American DVD[]
Title | Description |
---|---|
A Nice Killing | Alejandro Jodorowsky discusses his plan for a battle scene in which only the weapons would be seen and not the fighters. He states that everyone has the power to kill, but nobody wants to kill anyone. He then says that if he were to kill someone, he would kill weapon manufacturers with the weapons they created, which he considers to be "a nice killing". |
Frank Herbert's Book | Michel Seydoux recalls the first meeting in New York to discuss purchasing the rights to Frank Herbert's book. They were asked if they thought they could successfully adapt it and replied that they would do everything they could. Alejandro Jodorowsky recalls Seydoux's ambition and Seydoux comments that the owners of the rights believed in their love for the book and sold them the rights despite their youth and limited references. He comments that an American bestseller being sold to French filmmakers was surprising to many people and that Herbert had rejected previous offers to adapt the novel. Seydoux states that Jodorowsky's involvement and has reputation as a creative and imaginative filmmaker convinced Herbert to sell the rights, but Jodorowsky explains that he put his own spin on Dune that was very different from the novel. |
Costumes of Dune | Alejandro Jodorowsky opens the Dune Bible and showcases the costume designs that Moebius made for the film. He describes his approach to the costumes, comparing it to the works of Marcel Duchamp, Pier Paolo Pasolini and Jean Cocteau. |
Jodorowsky and Seydoux Reunited | Michel Seydoux discusses how he and Alejandro Jodorowsky drifted apart after the film was cancelled, only seeing each other briefly on a few occasions in the years since. The two later meet up on the streets of Paris and reconnect, reminiscing over their experiences working on the film and the influence that it came to have on popular culture. |
Jodorowsky on Dune's Length | Alejandro Jodorowsky discusses the plans for the film's runtime. He recalls people telling him he was crazy when he showed them the script, predicting that the film would be twelve hours long. He says that he was unconcerned with the film's runtime and believes that he was ahead of the curve due to how long modern seasons of television tend to be. He describes movie theatre owners as one of the great evils of the film industry, stating that their desire for shorter films to facilitate more showings is a detriment to creativity. |
Jodorowsky on Hollywood | Alejandro Jodorowsky discusses the film industry's obsession with making money, stating that he will always prioritise his artistic vision even if he ends up losing money. He predicts that the business side of the industry will be done away with in order to allow the creative side to flourish. He suggests that the internet will provide a new outlet for artists and will be an avenue to engage with audiences and fund artistic endeavours. He compares it to the need to change aspects of society such as war and religion. |
Jodorowsky on Film Philosophy | Alejandro Jodorowsky discusses his philosophical approach to filmmaking, wanting his films to impact the lives of those how consume them in a similar way to religious texts. He states it can take him a long time and a significant amount of life experience to create an idea that he wants to bring to the screen. He recalls the words of the philosopher George Gurdjieff, who believed that people are born without a complete soul and spend their lives developing them, which is what Jodorowsky tries to achieve through filmmaking. |
Seydoux on Dino De Laurentiis | Michel Seydoux recalls telling Alejandro Jodorowsky that they could not get the funding necessary to make the film, to which Jodorowsky replied that the film would have to exist some day, but not necessarily as they had planned it. Seydoux then contacted some producers who were interested in making it with other filmmakers, one of whom was Dino De Laurentiis. He offered to buy the rights and Seydoux withdrew himself from the situation, deciding to let the lawyers handle it. He recalls signing the contract, after which De Laurentiis handed it to his daughter Raffaela. He then recounts a story in which Salvador Dalí took him in a boat around Portlligat as an initiation test. He concludes that everyone who worked on the film was changed by it and declares that he has never seen David Lynch's Dune and has no desire to do so. |
The Conception of Alia | A series of storyboards show plans for the conception of Alia Atreides, which differs radically from the book. As Paul Atreides and Lady Jessica wander through the desert after the Battle of Arrakeen, a ship flies overhead and dumps the body parts of Duke Leto Atreides, who was tortured, dismembered and killed by Piter de Vries and Baron Vladimir Harkonnen. Jessica assembles the pieces of Leto's body and declares that she will change death into life, pressing her forehead to his. Her brain becomes visible and a foetus passes from Leto's head to hers before travelling down her body into her womb. |
French/Japanese DVD[]
Title | Description |
---|---|
Chris Foss' Colors | Chris Foss recalls growing up in England and the dreary environment which surrounded him, which he rebelled against. He began working for Penthouse, during which Bob Guccione recommended that he see 2001: A Space Odyssey, which was a transformative experience for him. He states that when Alejandro Jodorowsky described Dune to him, he pictured a world filled with bright, rich colors, which he credits to Jodorowsky's multicultural background. |
Foss vs Vignau | Chris Foss recalls that Jean-Pierre Vignau was very laid back and often humored Alejandro Jodorowsky when he made his declarations of grandeur. Jodorowsky recalls that each of the artists had their own table in the studio, where he introduced Vignau to them. Foss states that he would poke fun at Jodorowsky when he made declarations of grandeur, which annoyed Jodorowsky and led him to declare that he would order Vignau to kill him, after which he would put Foss back together and prove himself to be a magician. Vignau arrived and Jodorowsky instructed Foss to attack him, which Foss did by throwing an object at his head, which Vignau claims was a coffee mug. Vignau avoided it, which caused it to smash on the wall behind it. Vignau then made a gesture to Foss that he truly understood the martial arts. Jodorowsky was very surprised, having never expected such a thing from Foss. |
Regarding Charlotte Rampling | Alejandro Jodorowsky recalls that many actors wanted to be in the film, but Charlotte Rampling turned it down. Jodorowsky was a fan of her acting and wanted her to portray Lady Jessica. A fan of the novel, she agreed to play the role before reading the script. However, upon reading the script and discovering a scene in which Glossu Rabban and 2,000 of his soldiers drop their pants in front of Arrakeen and defecate simultaneously as an insult to Duke Leto Atreides, she turned down the role. She declared that she could not be in a film with a huge number of people excreting, as she would only appear in films that people would watch. Jodorowsky claims that she did not understand the scene. |
The Warriors' Success in Later Years | Alejandro Jodorowsky states that he and his crew were givien the dignity of bringing art to movies, not just aesthetically but with a deep meaning. He says that they wanted to make a film that could change and develop their minds. When asked if he feels responsible for the success that they later went on to have, he states that he does not, but feels that he pushed them towards it by bringing them into his attempt to make Dune. |
Brontis' Training | Brontis Jodorowsky discusses growing up in an artistic family and how they have often collaborated with each other. Alejandro Jodorowsky states that Brontis was the perfect fit to portray Paul Atreides. He recalls finding a man with an encyclopedic mind who he hired to train Brontis to be a mentat. Brontis recalls being taught many disciplines by linking themes together like a tree. Alejandro also recruited Jean-Pierre Vignau to train Brontis in various forms of combat. Vignau recalls Brontis as a child prodigy who sought perfection. He also states that he himself is not a fan of martial arts movies, finding them too stylised, and hoped to bring a more realistic depiction of martial arts to the screen. Devin Faraci states that the storyboards for the film were heavily martial arts oriented, though while martial arts was popular at the time, it was not prominent in science fiction, though has been seen in many science fiction films since then. |
To Make Movies Containing Spirit | Alejandro Jodorowsky compares the film to Jesus Christ, as although it was killed it has had a great influence. He opines that he may have been mad in trying to make the film, but he wanted to create a mystical and spiritual work that would spur some sort of transformation, as Paul would have in the film and Brontis did in preparing for the role. He worked within an unusual environment and was trying to make an unusual film, which he believes would have impacted the world if it had been completed. |
Gallery[]
Notes[]
- One of the posters presents Jodorowsky's unreleased film as a real film coming to cinemas and depicts his intended cast for Dune as the actual characters, based on Moebius' conceptual character art. For example, Salvador Dalí as Padishah Emperor Shaddam Corrino IV, Orson Welles as Baron Vladimir Harkonnen and Brontis Jodorowsky as Paul Atreides.
External Links[]
- Watch Jodorowsky's Dune on Max
- Official site: Jodorowsky's Dune
- Sony Classics: Jodorowsky's Dune