DIRECTOR: David Lynch
PRODUCERS: Dino DeLaurentiis, Raffaella DeLaurentiis
PRODUCTION CO: Dino De Laurentiis, Estudios Churubusco Azteca
SCREENPLAY: David Lynch, based on the novel by Frank Herbert
PHOTOGRAPHY: Freddie Francis
EDITOR: Antony Gibbs
MUSIC: Toto, Brian Eno
WITH: Francesca Annis (Lady Jessica), Leonardo Cimino (The Baron's Doctor), Brad Dourif (Piter De Vries), José Ferrer (Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV), Linda Hunt (Shadout Mapes), Freddie Jones (Thufir Hawat), Richard Jordan (Duncan Idaho), Kyle MacLachlan (Paul Atreides), Virginia Madsen (Princess Irulan), Silvano Mangano (Rev Mother Ramallo), Everett McGill (Stilgar),  Kenneth McMillan (Baron Vladimir Harkonnen), Jack Nance (Nefud), Sian Phillips (Rev Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam), Jurgen Prochnow (Duke Leto Atreides), Paul Smith (The Beast Rabban), Patrick Stewart (Gurney Halleck), Sting (Feyd Rautha), Dean Stockwell (Doctor Wellington Yueh), Max Von Sydow (Doctor Kynes), Alicia Roanne Witt (Alia), Sean Young (Chani)

REVIEW

“Derided, disowned, and debated endlessly, David Lynch’s weird venture into big budget sci-fi spectacle is a most fascinating disaster of genre making. 

On a storytelling level Frank Herbert’s book, a thinly disguised allegory of the Arab control of oil supply, proved far too intricate and unwieldy to cohere into a sensible film. And Lynch wasn’t about to worry about it, wrapping the film in swathes of religious symbolism. Even lovers of the book’s dense arcana — a universe of squabbling aristocratic families, mystical witches, messiahs, and emperors all vying for control of the necessary spice — found it difficult to follow. 

Yet, on another level, it isn’t without artistic merit. Story was never going to concern Lynch for long (making him a foolish choice for director), but he lends Herbert’s crowded mythos with its low-level fusion of the hi-tech and the Biblical, a vivid design. From the red-stained deserts (it was shot in Mexico) to the industrial horror of Harkonnen, to the great worms, giant phallic beasts coursing through Dune’s outback, the film has a surreal grace that draws you in. And the characters, as is Lynch’s wont, are rich and wild and amongst his funniest. 

Thus, it is hard to truly punish Dune. As a piece of outrageous sci-fi art, thrilling to its own excess, it is far more of a piece with Lynch’s idiosyncratic career, than he has made out.”

– Empire

“In cinema, cinema is such a beautiful language — as soon as people finish a film, people want you to turn it into words. It’s kind of a sadness for me, the words are limiting. Whereas this language is the language that you love. The language of cinema. It’s about love, is what it’s about.” – David Lynch
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FILM SOCIETY SCREENINGS

Auckland   
Monday, 15 July, 6.00pm 
This screening is open to the public, all tickets $10, on sale now at Academy Cinemas (AFS members free)

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