The greatest film never made?
Jodorowsky's Dune (2013) is a documentary of Alejandro Jodorowsky's failed attempt to make Dune into a film in the mid-1970s. While this may not sound like the most exciting premise, from the first five minutes it is apparent that Jodorowsky's vision of Dune was utterly compelling. This documentary is in equal measure a story of galactic ambition, creative excess, and ultimately, a tragic missed opportunity - or was it? It seems almost everyone who invested substantially in the project managed to get something special out of it in the end. The film highlights the influence of this project on a range of genre-defining SF films such as Aliens and Star Wars, some of which involved some of the same personnel from Jodorowky's project. Those wishing to get an idea of what the film would have been like are advised to check out Jodorowsky's graphic novel series the Incal (and connected later books like the Metabarons), the first installment of which was illustrated by Jean 'Moebius' Giraud, artist from the original Dune film project. I found these disappointing from the perspective of my interest in Dune. The Incal is a justifiably a classic graphic novel but lacks the depth of the Dune novels, whereas the Metabarons shamelessly rips-off elements of the Dune story in a reductive pulp-style. Both left me with the impression that the story and myth of Jodorowsky's Dune may have actually been better than whatever form the finished film would have taken, despite its star-studded line-up with the likes of Orson Welles, Mick Jagger and Salvador Dali.
But it doesn't quite end with the otherwise excellent documentary film. The original film would have supposedly featured some of the best bands of the 70s that were capable of evoking SF soundscapes, including Pink Floyd and Tangerine Dream. With this in mind, I was curious when the soundtrack to Jodorowsky's Dune scored by Kurt Stenzel was released in 2015.
I've already expressed my admiration for other music inspired by the Dune universe in the previous installment of this blog post (especially Zed's Visions Of Dune), so how does this latest version measure up? I remembered liking the music from Jodorowsky's Dune, which comes flooding back with the sinister and mystical opening track, 'Coming Of A God'. The rest of the soundtrack almost picks up stylistically from where Zed's (1979) Visions Of Dune left off, complete with ample synthesizers and the occasional snippet from the film interviews with Jodorowsky himself. The overall aesthetic is excellent, but at 33 tracks and over 75 minutes, I can't help wondering if something half the length would've been more effective. While several tracks would have worked well in a score for Dune itself (past or future), others are more appropriate for the documentary, and some of these tend to be less compelling to come back to. Overall, this is a nice addition to an already impressive catalogue of music linked to the Dune books - not the most essential, but it does a good job in evoking the essence of Jodorowsky's weird and ambitious take on Frank Herbert's monumental novel.
Lastly, and as promised, this brings me to consider another musical project linked to Dune - Grimes' Geidi Primes (2010), named after the home planet of House Harkonnen.
But it doesn't quite end with the otherwise excellent documentary film. The original film would have supposedly featured some of the best bands of the 70s that were capable of evoking SF soundscapes, including Pink Floyd and Tangerine Dream. With this in mind, I was curious when the soundtrack to Jodorowsky's Dune scored by Kurt Stenzel was released in 2015.
I've already expressed my admiration for other music inspired by the Dune universe in the previous installment of this blog post (especially Zed's Visions Of Dune), so how does this latest version measure up? I remembered liking the music from Jodorowsky's Dune, which comes flooding back with the sinister and mystical opening track, 'Coming Of A God'. The rest of the soundtrack almost picks up stylistically from where Zed's (1979) Visions Of Dune left off, complete with ample synthesizers and the occasional snippet from the film interviews with Jodorowsky himself. The overall aesthetic is excellent, but at 33 tracks and over 75 minutes, I can't help wondering if something half the length would've been more effective. While several tracks would have worked well in a score for Dune itself (past or future), others are more appropriate for the documentary, and some of these tend to be less compelling to come back to. Overall, this is a nice addition to an already impressive catalogue of music linked to the Dune books - not the most essential, but it does a good job in evoking the essence of Jodorowsky's weird and ambitious take on Frank Herbert's monumental novel.
Lastly, and as promised, this brings me to consider another musical project linked to Dune - Grimes' Geidi Primes (2010), named after the home planet of House Harkonnen.
This is one of Grimes' first records, and along with Halfaxa (2011) it lacks the complexity and self-assured quality of breakthrough album Visions (2012), and pop-masterpiece Art Angels (2015). What is interesting about the album is its Dune-themed song titles, comprising 'Caladan', 'Sardaukar Levenbrech', 'Zoal, Face Dancer', 'Feyd Rautha, Dark Heart', 'Shadout Mapes', and 'Beast Infection' (possibly referring to the 'Beast' Rabban?). These titles underline more than a passing interest in the Dune universe, which recall an interview in which Grimes (real name Claire Boucher) expressed an interest in directing yet another film of Dune. The titles that fit the music best are 'Shadout Mapes' and 'Zoal, Face Dancer', and while 'Feyd Rautha, Dark Heart' has a certain dark quality to it, without the titles in mind when listening to this there's little that really evokes Dune in the way of the other musical projects associated with the franchise. It's a nice album, but more so for fans of Grimes than fans of Dune.
