Original DUNE Director Alejandro Jodorowsky Comments on the New Trailer Calling It 'Industrial Cinema' and 'Predictable'
Before David Lynch adapted Frank Herbert’s Dune in 1984, director Alejandro Jodorowsky attempted to bring Dune to the big screen in his own unique way, but his vision never saw the light of day.
Jodorowsky, who is labeled an auteur, has now seen the trailer for Denis Villeneuve adaptation of the story, and he is sharing his opinion, which has more to do with what the movie represents and less to do about Dune itself.
While speaking with France's Le Point, Jodorowsky says that while he wishes the film will be successful, he feels that is simply looks like every modern Hollywood blockbuster being made these days:
“I wish his Dune would be a great success, because Denis Villeneuve is a nice director, about whom I have been told a lot. I saw the trailer. It's very well done. We see that this is industrial cinema, that there is a lot of money, and that it has cost a lot of money. But if it was very expensive, it must pay off in proportion. And this is the problem: there are no surprises. The form is identical to what is done everywhere, the lighting, the acting, everything is predictable.”
The filmmaker goes on to explain the differences of industrial cinema and auteur cinema saying:
“Industrial cinema is incompatible with auteur cinema. For the first, money comes before the work. For the second, it is the reverse. And this, whatever the quality of a director, whether it is my friend Nicolas Winding Refn or Denis Villeneuve. Industrial cinema promotes entertainment, it is a show that is not intended to change humanity or society.”
Well, regardless of what he thinks, the fans are incredibly excited about the upcoming adaptation of Dune. It looks incredible,and it looks like it will give us the film adaptation that the book deserves. While I understand what Jodorowsky is saying, this has been a passion project for Villeneuve, a film he’s always wanted to make, and it wouldn’t have happened without the studio and its money.