His Movie Review: Jodorowsky’s Dune (2013)

Why he watched it: Read about it on a blog

His rating: 4 out of 5 stars

His review:  I’ve been thinking about Roger Ebert a lot lately. We recently watched the biography of his life, and final days, Life Itself (2014). He and Gene Siskel were my entry into film as an important art form. Their reviews  showed me that watching a film was a passionate experience between the screen and the audience. Their debates showed me how that passion can give meaning to our relationships to other members of the audience. Even if I disagreed with their reviews, I still knew that when Siskel and Ebert gave a film thumbs up, I needed to experience it.

I haven’t looked to see if Ebert was able to see this documentary about Alejandro Jodorowsky‘s failed attempt to film Frank Herbert’s science fiction novel, Dune, into a film in the 1970s. But I could see Ebert in the intense passion Jodorowsky brought to making a film. For him, it is a artistic endeavor not to be compromised by finances or studio executives. I think Ebert would have shared his passion.

I’m pretty sure I’d find Jodorowsky’s early films annoyingly pretentious, but at the end of this documentary I wanted to see his Dune. The group of artists and actors his enthusiasm brought together was fascinating, and I wonder how it would have all worked out. It was indeed a movie too ambitious for its time, perhaps even for now. But I hope the passion that drives him will continue to push others, so that we can continue to love that moment when the lights dim and the projector begins.