How do you balance introducing an audience to a universe they don’t know, while also satisfying an audience that does know of that universe. Denis Villeneuve has experienced this multiple times, creating two of my favorite films of all time: Blade Runner 2049 and Dune: Part One. Arrival is also one of my favorite films ever; but it doesn’t fit the point I am attempting to make here. Dune is the movie I truly want to focus on today. I had never read the books going in to see this movie, nor have I read them yet since. To describe the feeling, though, of the opening of the movie. Villeneuve knows how to turn a crazy, otherworldly atmosphere, and make it into something that we care deeply for the characters about. I will never forget the moment I first heard the bagpipes blare through our RPX movie theater as House Atreides landed on Arrakis for the first time. You see, Dune was one of the first large movies that came out after some of the pandemic restrictions were lifted. There was a nervous feeling going in, as if I hadn’t had a true experience like this in a long time, and Dune truly made it feel like one. One of the most consistent ideas that pops up throughout Villeneuve’s work is his combination of cinematography and music/sound design. It’s easier to have music with an impact when Hans Zimmer makes your soundtrack, I will admit; however, Villeneuve focuses on the pure scale of these worlds and cultures we have never seen. He captures the size of everything perfectly, and the music that feels so inherently powerful, familiar, and yet somehow foreign makes us as the audience feel like we are not in our element. But that’s how Dune gets it right. Much like Paul, we are figuring things out as we go (although he knows more information than us to start, obviously). I was anxious; but I was so immediately enthralled with these worlds and people and scales that I felt legitimately heartbroken and empty when House Atreides was essentially destroyed and teamed up on.
What happened after the movie, though, was also some of my fovorite parts. As I stood in the chilly movie theater parking lot in the middle of the night with my friends, I realized how special this movie was. We were all so excited; however, we were all so nervous that the next movie would not be funded. As mentioned before, there had not been many successful movies after COVID yet, so there was no guarantee that this would be successful. That, to me, though, is the beauty of Dune. Past just its music and cinematography (and everything else about it), it felt like a real investment. It felt beautiful and like a breath of air knowing that yes, a movie can be successful in this climate that is unique and powerful. For the future, I think this shows that Villeneuve is especially adept at adapting and adding to works. I feel like for the industry, it really shows the power of acting and grandeur. There was so much emotion and care in every moment, and it never felt fake. Every shot looked so real and scaled so correctly. It’s not just a film to be experienced, it a beautiful film that other filmmakers should look up to for inspiration.
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