LTTP: Jodorowsky's Dune (2013 documentary)

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Fritz

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Jodorowsky's Dune

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I finally came around watching the documentary yesterday. Good stuff! Albeit kinda painful being left with that "what if..." feeling. I kinda believe it was all too ambitious and De Laurentis/Hollywood probably had a good reason to deny Jodorowsky the money. Either way it's great seeing such a passionate guy and also the way he goes about with this project.

What I find fascinating is how a movie that never came to be influnced it's genre in the way Dune did. Crazy seeing those direct references (Skeletor FUCK).

Also, when will Taschen jump on that behemoth of a book Jodorowsky has so non-chalantly lying around there. Looks like a gold mine. Publish and take my money!

Ima go ly down and watch Lynch's Dune now
I for one love that one
 
Although thinking about the possibilities is fascinating, I think ultimately the movie would have been a mess if actually filmed to completion. It was too ambitious for 1970's technology. It would have looked terrible. It probably would have been a financial disaster as well and we may not have had Star Wars as a result.

From seeing him in the documentary, he's extremely passionate, but at the same time, he appears to put very little thought into what he's doing.

He's asked what would he do as a dream project if given a blank check, and the guy says DUNE, because a friend of him read it and said it was pretty good. ... huh?

Then he needs to find a special effects director. the first thing that pops into his head is the 2001:ASO guy, he's the One, it's meant to be. When that doesn't pan out, he watches the movie Darkstar and he instantly knows, "thats our guy!"

All his decisions seem to come from a place of zero thought. Just whatever comes to his mind.
 
Yeah, I mean he is probably a visionaire but personally I don't think he is a good director. Certainly not technically.
 
Razorback PT said:
Although thinking about the possibilities is fascinating, I think ultimately the movie would have been a mess if actually filmed to completion. It was too ambitious for 1970's technology. It would have looked terrible. It probably would have been a financial disaster as well and we may not have had Star Wars as a result.

From seeing him in the documentary, he's extremely passionate, but at the same time, he appears to put very little thought into what he's doing.

He's asked what would he do as a dream project if given a blank check, and the guy says DUNE, because a friend of him read it and said it was pretty good. ... huh?

Then he needs to find a special effects director. the first thing that pops into his head is the 2001:ASO guy, he's the One, it's meant to be. When that doesn't pan out, he watches the movie Darkstar and he instantly knows, "thats our guy!"

All his decisions seem to come from a place of zero thought. Just whatever comes to his mind.
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You have never heard of Jodorowsky before have you? ;)
 
Brilliant docu. Jodorowsky's other films (El Topo, Holy Mountain, Fando Y Lis, and Santra Sangre) need to be seen as well.
 
I'd been waiting forever to see this, first heard about it probably couple-few years back, was not disappointed. Jodorowsky's passion is contagious, but the man is very much an idealist in the case of Dune. As others have said, way too ambitious with the tech they had at their disposal at the time. That
opening zoom animatic showing galaxies, space battles, planets, and what not
seems like it would be hell to do realistically/well today. Personally I think it would have been the biggest budget B movie of all time if it had been made, and would probably have an insane cult following to boot. I'd still wanna watch it, but I'm one of those weird people that actually liked Lynch's Dune (even if he didn't), so if I had to pick I'd rather be in the reality with the latter's version in circulation. Though Dali Emperor and Pink Floyd soundtrack would've been fucking amazing.
 
Razorback PT said:
Although thinking about the possibilities is fascinating, I think ultimately the movie would have been a mess if actually filmed to completion. It was too ambitious for 1970's technology. It would have looked terrible. It probably would have been a financial disaster as well and we may not have had Star Wars as a result.

From seeing him in the documentary, he's extremely passionate, but at the same time, he appears to put very little thought into what he's doing.

He's asked what would he do as a dream project if given a blank check, and the guy says DUNE, because a friend of him read it and said it was pretty good. ... huh?

Then he needs to find a special effects director. the first thing that pops into his head is the 2001:ASO guy, he's the One, it's meant to be. When that doesn't pan out, he watches the movie Darkstar and he instantly knows, "thats our guy!"

All his decisions seem to come from a place of zero thought. Just whatever comes to his mind.
Click to expand...

"Birds born in a cage think flying is an illness."
—Alejandro Jodorowsky
 
Jodorowski is a true artist.. And by that I don't necessarily mean that his vision is always right, or that anything he makes is a masterpiece, but his motivation: it's coming from a place of high art. He wanted his movies to change the world. It's such an insane and pretentious vision and it seems like a dying breed in film. You can still find that level of self-importance in fine art, but in film, no one dreams like that anymore. People want to make films that are cool, or quirky or tugging on heartstrings... But who wants to make psychedelic films that change culture anymore?

The doc makes the case that culture might have been different if Jodorowski's Dune arrived on the scene before Star Wars and became the big sci-fi phenomenon that the late 70s seemed primed for. While I don't know there is a version of reality where Jodorowski could have ever made his unrealistic project, it does seem like Star Wars came along and shifted film culture in a more commerical and juvenile-centered direction than what Jodoworowski was trying to achieve.

I loved the moment where he expressed his delight that Lynch's Dune sucked.
 
It was cool to see some of those sketches animated, but I read a review or stray opinion somewhere that this documentary was akin to a glorified DVD bonus content and I kinda see the point.
 
zoukka said:
What does this even mean? Have you seen his work?
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I have and would agree that he's not particularly suited to a big budget action movie, or any highly kinetic movie (although I haven't seen his recent film so maybe he's improved). Holy Mountain often feels like a series of setups to one great still shot but the setup tends to drag or look iffy. I think his drive/passion is usually able to overcome his weaknesses.

His comics show a sort of similar weakness. He clearly wants a certain content expressed but is honestly pretty inept at doing so, and the quality of the books rely entirely on the skill of the artist. I'm working through Metabarons right now and if it didn't have epic Jimenez art to sell the action it would be panned left and right because the storytelling is a mess - Jodo seems to think the best way to convey what's happening in a picture is to tell you, in text, what's happening in a picture, and only through shouting. Incal was better but had a similar reliance on Moebius, and Before the Incal was pretty bad because the art didn't hold up. Whereas I've read plenty of comics with pretty iffy art but the writing/storytelling overcame that.
 
Of All Trades said:
I have and would agree that he's not particularly suited to a big budget action movie, or any highly kinetic movie (although I haven't seen his recent film so maybe he's improved). Holy Mountain often feels like a series of setups to one great still shot but the setup tends to drag or look iffy. I think his drive/passion is usually able to overcome his weaknesses.

His comics show a sort of similar weakness. He clearly wants a certain content expressed but is honestly pretty inept at doing so, and the quality of the books rely entirely on the skill of the artist. I'm working through Metabarons right now and if it didn't have epic Jimenez art to sell the action it would be panned left and right because the storytelling is a mess - Jodo seems to think the best way to convey what's happening in a picture is to tell you, in text, what's happening in a picture, and only through shouting. Incal was better but had a similar reliance on Moebius, and Before the Incal was pretty bad because the art didn't hold up. Whereas I've read plenty of comics with pretty iffy art but the writing/storytelling overcame that.
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He would definitely not make an action movie feel like big budget action films do and that's only a good thing. People can learn patience.
 
I loved this documentary, while I am biased towards the director (Santa Sangre is one of my favorite films of all time) it was very well done and had some interesting insight into the other people involved (his Spiritual Warriors) in this doomed production. It helps that Jodorowsky is a charismatic guy and a hell of a storyteller. My favorite parts were the animated storyboards with the eerie soundtrack that was added. Great documentary, even greater director/artist, long live Alejandro Jodorowsky!
 
Saw the trailer for this and the little segment on Half In The Bag. The concept art that Jodorowsky or the artists did looked really cool.
 
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