On Demand, Seattle, WA

** ½ / ****

By Scott Muoio

David Lynch’s Dune is one of those films that is so outrageously strange and mind bogglingly serious that it requires multiple viewings in order to fully witness all of its perverse strangeness. Even then Dune remains a mish-mash of science fiction mumbo jumbo, avant-garde eccentricity, and cinematic ambition gone wrong. The result is an enigma within an enigma, a plan within plans, a movie that doesn’t know where or when to quit; in other words another David Lynch head scratcher.

Based on Frank Herbert’s cherished 1965 novel of the same name, Dune is a cinematic space opera that pits two rival families against one another for control of the known universe. At the center of their conflict is the spice melange, a mysterious powder that allows its users to extend life, alter consciousness, and travel without moving by folding space. The catch: the spice is only found on the desert planet Arrakis, also known as Dune, and it is guarded by angry 500 foot sand wurms. As the movie says (over and over), he who controls the spice controls the universe!

Now imagine the above description plus a handful of interesting, well-developed characters, cool special effects, and a generous helping of clever sci-fi embellishments. That sounds like a neat, clean, brisk cinematic experience. But that, of course, isn’t what you get when you introduce… The David Lynch Factor.

Ah, yes, David Lynch, he who makes the mundane strange, the strange grotesque, and the grotesque perverted. Indeed, with Lynch at the helm all bets are off. So instead of straight science-fiction conventions delivered in a pristine manner we get puss-faced levitating fat men, vacuuming pinheads, whispering witches, talking vaginas, prancing pugs, voice-powered laser guns, and a half-naked, smirking Sting. Yes, that Sting. Now if these outlandish flourishes are your cup of tea then welcome to the party because Lynch’s Dune is your Holy Grail.

But that’s only the half of it.

Lynch’s film is also littered with countless underdeveloped characters, unresolved tangents, hokey lore, seemingly random monologues, gratuitous embellishments, convoluted explanations, Toto performed theme songs, and silly special effects that render the film nearly unwatchable, even for the most devout. But watch it did I ever, with fascination, intrigue, and the desire to see more.

And that’s the irony of the situation: while Dune’s concepts are fascinating the story’s dense mythology doesn’t easily lend itself to the silver screen. Its wacky concepts require lengthy explanation that the limitations of technology, time, and David Lynch can’t provide. So in his weirdness Lynch finds the risky middle: let us wallow in questions while pouring on the symbolism. It’s no wonder then that Lynch’s interpretations are only half-intelligible. But that’s also part of their charm.

Taken as a whole, Lynch’s vision is amazingly dreamlike and unusually effective at displaying the repressed future society. However, with everyday details lost in favor of grand gestures and epic manifestations the dark, nasty, regal world becomes complete fantasy rather than being even remotely reminiscent of our own. Lynch’s solution: populate his canvas with a cavalcade of fascinating actors that each bring a unique brand of talent and oddness to the film. The final result is a sort of style over substance anomaly with a style that is part dime store, part baroque, completely out-of-this-world and all David Lynch.

But will you like it?

For most, the answer is ‘probably not.’ The movie is too confusing, too odd, and lacks sufficient character development to really pull a viewer in. It is also undoubtedly a bore for anyone that is adverse to science-fiction. Yet for those people who enjoy a true alternative science-fiction and don’t mind traipsing through quite a bit of confusion and goofy special effects then Lynch’s Dune has few rivals. It’s a mess, for sure, but it’s a beautifully perverse mess. I can’t quite recommend it but I can confirm that its cult classic reputation is unquestionably justified.

Director: David Lynch

Producer: Raffaella De Laurentiis

Writer: Frank Herbert (Novel), David Lynch

Starring: Francesca Annis, Kyle MacLachlan, Sting, Max von Sydow, Jose Ferrer, Brad Dourif, Virginia Madsen, Jack Nance, Jurgen Prochnow, Sean Young, Dean Stockwell, Patrick Stewart

Original Music: Toto, Brian Eno, Marty Paich

Cinematographer: Freddy Francis

Editor: Antony Gibbs