Denis Villeneuve’s Dune opens across UAE box offices this weekend, a full month before it’s due to hit screens in America. It’s a dramatic gap in release dates, but one that feels at least partly justified by the fact that much of the movie, was shot right here, amongst Liwa’s own shifting sandscape
This is a philosophical sci-fi caper that is truly epic, both in its conventional and more modern, Millennial-adopted sense. Villeneuve’s movies (which include Sicario, Arrival and Blade Runner 2049) frequently use scale as a way of isolating characters or concepts, conveying that experience of staring up into the yawning infinity of space on a clear night, and feeling humbled over our individual role in the universe.
It’s out there in space, on a distant series of planets governed by a fractious network of feudal houses, that the story of Dune plays out. Our protagonist is Paul, the young heir of House Atreides, whose family is thrust into a power struggle on the desert planet of Arrakis, home to giant murderous sandworms, scheming ne’er-do-wells, indigenous eco-warriors and a battleground for control of the galaxy’s most precious resource — ‘spice’, which importantly also has some pretty trippy side effects.
The cast is headed up by the brilliant, intensely emo Timothée Chalamet (as Paul Atreides), alongside his father (whom, unlike the emo stereotype, he does not have issues with) played by Oscar Isaac, Rebecca Ferguson features as his mother — a Bene Gesserit nun with pseudo Jedi mind trick flexes, and there are supporting roles for Josh Brolin, David Bautista, Zendaya, Javier Bardem and Jason Momoa. Villeneuve’s assemblage is inspired, there truly are no weak links to be found in cast or key crew.
A great man doesn’t seek to lead: he’s called to it
Dune is based on a series of books of the same name, the masterwork of author Frank Herbert and it’s a saga that wrestles with some truly colossal ideas, such as the fragility of the environment. Being a fan of Herbert’s opus since his teenage years, it’s something director Denis Villeneuve was acutely aware of. He’s on record as saying: “It’s a book that explores the impact, the chaos that is created by colonialism … [on the film] It’s a psychological thriller. It’s an adventure movie. It’s a war movie. It’s a coming-of-age movie. It’s even a love story. But, most of all, it’s a tragedy. It’s a powerful, complex story. It’s very multifaceted. Still, we try to approach it from a simple angle”.
That simple angle appears to be a ‘Kubrickian’ attention to detail, a profound and meditated understanding of the genesis text and a, what might be the only current, style of cinematography capable of giving authenticity to Arrakis.
In the two-hour and 35-minute runtime, we watch an impressively condensed first half of the original novel, told through paradigm-shifting special effects, against a haunting Hans Zimmer score. In abridgment, we lose little of the nuance or relationship depth, and the sense of despair and Messianic awakening are told from an artistic and studied perspective.
In fact, the last time we left the cinema, with the sensation of having watched a story so well suited to the big screen, was after 2000’s Gladiator. This isn’t just a great movie, this is genuinely epochal and we strongly recommend watching it on an IMAX screen for full appreciation of its range.
Rating: 4.75/5
But why is it so important to the UAE..?
So we’ve already established that a decent chunk of Dune was filmed right here in the UAE. But this movie is more than just another name for the country’s glittering CV.
We spoke to Robbie McAree of UAE-based Epic Films. Along with colleague Amanda Confavreux, Robbie was a Servicing Producer heading up the local unit on the new Dune movie, and he had some exciting grains of truth to share about what the sci-fi epic means for the UAE’s role in cinema.
What’s On: How important is Dune to the UAE’s reputation as a shoot location for Hollywood movies?
Robbie: The UAE has already seen its share of Hollywood, Bollywood and independent movies who choose the country as a filming destination, but having a film like DUNE really raises the bar. The Abu Dhabi portion of DUNE was a colossal success, and that will only lead to more and more international producers choosing the UAE. Word of mouth within the international industry is extremely important.
from Best Chandeliers And Home Lighting in UAE – Homenoon https://www.homenoon.com/dubai-life/movie-review-how-good-is-new-sci-fi-epic-dune-things-to-do-in-dubai/
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