Dallas Public Library: Jodorowsky's Dune

Dallas TX

13 December, 2021

9:51 PM

Description

Press release from Dallas Public Library: Brandon Murray December 11, 2021 Movie-goers are most likely aware of, if not already viewers of, the 2021 science fiction epic film Dune, based on the seminal science fiction novel series of the same name by Frank Herbert first published in 1965. However, even before the 1984 release of the first film adaptation by director David Lynch (the quality of which has been debated for decades) there was one man who dared to dream of being the first to put the desert planet Arrakis on film. That man was Alexandro Jodorowsky, controversial Chilean-born French surrealist filmmaker and author. In the 2013 documentary film Jodorowsky's Dune, we are granted access through pictures, interviews, etc., to the doomed, but visionary version of Dune that he attempted to make starting in 1974. The events are almost fable-like as he reveals a cast including Orson Wells, Mick Jagger, artist Salvador Dalí, silent film star Gloria Swanson, and David Carradine to name a few—with methods like agreeing to pay Dalí "per minute" for time on-screen and hiring a French chef to cater Orson Well's meals. Jodorowsky hired rock bands including Pink Floyd for the musical score and brought artists who would eventually be known for movie visuals in other films (just not this one, unfortunately) including artist H.R. Giger who created the look for the film Alien a few years later, as well as legendary science fiction illustrator Chris Foss, and French comic artist Jean "Moebius" Giraud.Moebius would later collaborate with Jodorowsky on several graphic novels. The untimely fate of the film is best explained by viewing this funny, strange documentary, but it's legacy, which predated even Star Wars, may give you a moment's pause to wonder just where many of the modern "sci-fi film" tenets we take for granted truly began. This press release was produced by Dallas Public Library. The views expressed here are the author's own.