Dune
Endless dunes
An imaginative writer created an extremely rich story, with countless characters, strange places, brave warriors, powerful witches and a saga that would span many years. I am not referring to JRR Tolkien or JK Rowling but American author Frank Herbert. If it doesn’t have the erudition of “The Lord of the Rings” or the marketing of Harry Potter, Herbert’s saga that started with the book “Dune” is not far behind in terms of the complexity of creation or in catching the reader’s attention. The book inspired a movie in 1984, which we will talk about, a miniseries for TV in 2000, and another feature film is anxiously expected in 2021, with direction of Denis Villeneuve.
The saga that started with “Dune” was the life work of Herbert, who died before completing the seventh book of the series. Started in 1965, when science fiction was exclusive subject of nerds, “Dune” created a legion of faithful fans, who consider it, to this day, a masterpiece. In addition to the first book, Herbert wrote “Dune Messiah”, “Children of Dune”, “God Emperor of Dune”, “Heretics of Dune”, and “Chapterhouse: Dune”.
The story begins in the year 10.191, when Humanity has already spread to a good part of the universe, having colonized worlds at incredible distances from our home planet, thanks to powerful transport ships that can move “without leaving the place”, using folds in space. Only those who achieve this feat are the Space League Pilots, mysterious beings, once human, who have reached a stage of evolution unthinkable, thanks to the use of a special substance called Melange. Although they remain faithful to their role as carriers, nothing is done against their will, not even the emperor’s wishes.
The human universe has a sovereign, Emperor Shaddam IV (José Ferrer), who lives with his daughter, Princess Irulan (Virginia Madsen), and many legions of Sardaukar assassins in Kaitain, the capital of the Empire. Despite the pompous title, the emperor’s authority is little more than symbolic since the leaders of the Noble Houses are the ones who have real power over their respective domains, along the lines of medieval feudalism. The two most powerful houses are that of the Atreides, on the planet Caladan, commanded by Duke Leto (Jurgen Prochnow), and that of the Harkonnen, on Giedi Prime, headed by evil Baron Vladimir (Kenneth McMillan).
Completing the fourth pillar of power is the Bene Gesserit Brotherhood, a society formed by women called witches, for possessing telepathic powers and dominating anyone through the use of Voice, their most powerful weapon. Secretly, the Bene Gesserit had been preparing for ages a plan of genetic selection to produce the Kwisatz Haderach, which will have foreknowledge of skills and access to all their genetic memory, one who, according to prophecy, would be the most perfect and powerful being in universe.
Uniting all these elements is Melange, a substance that prolongs life, expands consciousness, helps the training of the Bene Gesserit, and is vital for the Space League, which without the spice would not be able to transpose the universe, transforming Humanity into countless isolated worlds. The melange, however, is only found in one place in the universe, the desertic planet Arrakis also called Dune.
Afraid of Duke Leto ‘s growing popularity, the Emperor secretly plots a plan to destroy him, taking advantage of a centuries-old dispute between the Atreides and the Harkonnen. Shaddam IV forces Baron Harkonnen to yield Arrakis, then under his control, to the Atreides, in exchange for the lush planet Caladan. Behind this is a secret association with the Baron, to destroy the House of Atreides.
The change in Arrakis’ command creates another pretext for a conflict between the Harkonnens and the Atreides. The Atreides suffer a devastating attack moved by the Harkonnen, aided by soldiers of the Emperor and a traitor inside the House Atreides itself. Duke Leto is murdered but his son Paul (Kyle MacLachlan) and his mother, Lady Jessica (Francesca Annis), escape into the desert.
With her skills of Bene Gesserit, Jessica and Paul run away and join a gang of native Fremem, fierce warriors of the desert, living hidden in the most inhospitable conditions imaginable. They are even able to ride the giant Sandworms that dominate the desert planet.
With his ability as a warrior and Jessica’s secret knowledge of Fremen’s religious myths enable Paul to become Muad’Dib, a political and religious leader who unites the Fremen in an unparalleled military force, to free the planet from the Harkonnen domain.
Unlike most science fiction fables, there are no machines or super computers here. For scientific calculations and strategic elaborations, there were Mentats, men with exceptionally trained minds. It is true that in 1965 the existing computers were moved (literally) by valves, totally outside the reality of ordinary people. But more than that, Herbert imagined a universe where Man was the most important resource.
How to transport this rich universe, described in more than 600 pages, only in the first volume, to the cinema screens, in a session of just over two hours? This boldness came from the acclaimed director David Lynch, who had directed “The Elephant Man” (USA, 1980), and later would also make “Blue Velvet” (USA, 1986) and “Wild at Heart” (USA, 1990).
Despite the stellar cast in “Dune”, with Max Von Sidow, Sean Young, Jürgen Prochnow, José Ferrer and even pop star Sting, the film was not very successful. Ruben Ewald Filho even classified it as “fifty million dollars thrown away”.
In fact, it can be seen that Lynch tried to remain faithful to the book, although it was difficult to condense everything in such a short time. Special effects, at the time innovative, now seem primary, especially when viewed from high-definition media. Subsequently, an extended version was launched, with 50 minutes more, which Lynch disowned, refusing to have his name associated with it.
In 2000, an American TV network made a miniseries based on the book. With a length of almost five hours, it was possible to detail the original story much more, and with the much improved special effects features, it became much more palatable to the demanding standards of today’s viewers. If it improved in that aspect, it got a little worse in the cast, since the only name known in this version is that of actor William Hurt.