That is called a sense of time. What’s more, discovering the Hell Gem for free. Ahead of the release of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune 2, Arte posted a YouTube documentary on the Alejandro Jodorowsky version of Dune.
“It wasn’t just about making a movie.”
It was undoubtedly one of, if not the most ambitious science fiction film ever made. Too ambitious of course. “I wanted to make a film that would give people who were taking LSD at the time the hallucinations you get with drugs, but without the hallucinations. I didn’t want them to take LSD, I wanted to create a drug effect. and change the mentality of society.
I wanted to create a prophet, to change young people all over the world. For me Dune would be the arrival of God. Artistic and Cinematic God. It wasn’t just about making a movie. I wanted to create a pure, free object, opening new perspectives” The great Jodorowsky explains with incredible and thrilling honesty in the extraordinary documentary Jodorowsky’s Dune, which is devoted to this damned enterprise.
An artistic collaboration that makes you dizzy
In 1975, French producer Michel Seydoux offered Alejandro Jodorowsky a very ambitious theatrical adaptation of the cult SF novel Dune. The latter, the director of already cult films El Topo and The Sacred Mountain, is taking over. Then he compiles a list of talents—which he calls his “warriors”—that look the most like the real thing. Who is he? Artistic collaborations that will make your head spin.
Jean Giraud (Moebius), Dan O’Bannon, future Alien screenwriter, Hans-Rued Giger, future Alien creator, and Chris Foss will begin. Names that would be in every sci-fi adventure of the 70s and 80s: Star Wars, Alien, Blade Runner…
The cast includes Mick Jagger, Orson Welles, Salvador Dali, David Carradine and Amanda Lear, as well as the filmmaker’s young son, Brontës Jodorowsky. Pink Floyd and Magma have agreed to sign the film’s music.
“Everything was great…except the director”
The producer and Jodorowsky then compile all the artwork, preparatory drawings, scripts and stories into a colossal bible of the project and take it to all the principals to convince them to release the $5 million needed to complete the budget. The film, with a total envelope of 15 million.
While the studios praise the undoubtedly innovative nature of this project, none of them want to put their hands in their wallets. Reason ? Michel Seydoux summarizes this in the film: In the eyes of the majors, “Everything was great… except the director” Which scared them because it was definitely out of control.
With their refusal, the studios eventually killed the project. Ironically, it was taken over by Raffaella De Laurentiis, daughter of the famous producer Dino De Laurentiis. The adaptation was first entrusted to Ridley Scott in 1980, but when he learned about the death of his older brother, the director asked him to shoot the film immediately in order to forget his grief.
Scott ultimately declined to direct Blade Runner. Laurentis then turned to David Lynch. The rest we know: Lynch’s ambitions to control the production turned the shoot into a crusade for the filmmaker, to the point that he still refuses to talk about it more than 30 years after the fact.
The film’s dismal failure in theaters threatened not only the desire of Rafaela and her father Dino, but also other projects such as the sequel to Conan the Destroyer (sic!).
A project largely plundered by Hollywood
First of all, and even more cynically, if Hollywood refused to put money into Jodorowsky’s project, it didn’t stop him from being robbed from top to bottom of the powerful ideas for setting, scenery or characters that he had planned with his genius collaborators. The Bible that was circulating in all the corridors of Hollywood studios.
So we find some of his ideas in Star Wars, Terminator, Flash Gordon, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Contact, and more… What exactly are the loans? It’s up to you to discover it by watching Jodorowsky’s Dune !
Source: Allocine
Rose James is a Gossipify movie and series reviewer known for her in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the latest releases. With a background in film studies, she provides engaging and informative reviews, and keeps readers up to date with industry trends and emerging talents.
