Long before Frank Herbert's 'Dune' was adapted into a movie in 1984 and a miniseries in 2000, 'Santa Sangre' director Alejandro Jodorowsky originally attempted to bring the novel to screen and this documentary details how his ambitious project failed. The film consists of interviews with Jodorowsky and his former collaborators, as well as archive footage of those no longer alive. Through these interviews, it becomes clear that the project was always doomed from the start, but that it may have been a surefire interesting movie had it gotten off the ground. Obstacles to production are revealed to include cautious financiers, unwilling to fund a sci-fi film that would run for more than 90 minutes, and egotistical actors (Salvador Dalí apparently wanted $100,000 per minute for the privilege of appearing). As the documentary progresses though, it starts to veer off the deep end with its repeated wild claims (not suggestions) that 'Dune' would have been the new 'Star Wars' and the greatest science fiction film of all time had it gone ahead. Even wilder though is the conspiracy theory presented towards the end, with the filmmakers suggesting that everything from 'The Matrix' to 'Prometheus' took inspiration from Jodorowsky's storyboards for 'Dune' that (they reckon) were passed around all the big studios. While the film goes a little overboard in this regard, it is still fascinating viewing throughout. Animation is used particularly well to bring some of Jodorowsky's storyboards to life and to add extra detail to a record interview with Dan O'Bannon.
Review of Jodorowsky's Dune
