Research Article
BibTex RIS Cite

Desert Power: Disenchantment, Misrecognition, and Geo-Philosophy in Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part One

Year 2022, Volume: 7 Issue: 13, 1 - 15, 28.06.2022
https://doi.org/10.31122/sinefilozofi.1068959

Abstract

The aim of the paper is to contribute to the discussion and debate on Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part One by using a film-philosophical approach, which will take into account how particular aspects of the storyworld, stylistic patterns, and specific chronotopes inform the film’s singular take on the famous story/saga. The article gives major attention to the film’s aesthetics and themes by highlighting, in particular, the importance and role of desertic ecologies. Indeed, one of the main theses of this paper is that the film puts forth an operatic aesthetic of disenchantment and misrecognition and strategically uses ambiguity and uncertainty as existentialist motifs to deconstruct ideas of heroism and predestination. These affective dynamics provide the storyworld with an eerie tension stressing lack, loss, mourning, and powerlessness. Concurrently, the desert of Dune, in contrast with that of classic epic films such as Lawrence of Arabia (1962) by David Lean, exists as a living and immanent organism highlighting existential uncertainty and, at the same time, existing as a dense field of possible ethical experimentations.

Supporting Institution

N/A

Project Number

N/A

Thanks

The acknowledgements are indicated in the main body of the text.

References

  • Bakhtin, M. (1981), The Dialogic Imagination: Four Essays, ed. by M. Holquist, trans. by C. Emerson and M. Holquist. Austin: University of Texas Press.
  • Brown, W. and Fleming, D. (2020), The Squid Kinoteuthis Infernalis and the Emergence of Chthulumedia. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
  • Bruno, G. (2002), Atlas of Emotions: Journey in Art, Architecture, and Film. London: Verso.
  • Bruno, G. (2014), Surface: Matters of Aesthetics, Materiality, and Media. London: The University of Chicago Press.
  • Carruthers, A. (2018) ‘Temporality, Reproduction and the Not-Yet in Denis Villeneuve’s Arrival’ In Film-Philosophy 22 (3): 321–339. DOI: 10.3366/film.2018.0083.
  • Dabashi, H. (2021), ‘Hollywood Orientalism is not about the Arab world. It is about the American world’ Al Jazeera. Available at: https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2021/11/10/hollywood-orientalism-is-not-about-the-arab-world (accessed 5 January 2022).
  • Deleuze, G. (1995), Negotiations 1972-1990, trans. by M. Joughin. New York: Columbia University Press.
  • Deleuze, G. (1997), Cinema 2: The Time-Image, trans. by R. Galeta and H. Tomlinson Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
  • Deleuze, G. (1998), Essays Critical and Clinical, trans. by D. W. Smith and M. A. Greco. London: Verso.
  • Deleuze, G. (2000), ‘The Brain is the Screen: An Interview with Gilles Deleuze’ In G. Flaxman (ed.) The Brain is the Screen: Deleuze and the Philosophy of Cinema. London: University of Minnesota Press: 365-374.
  • Deleuze, G. and Guattari, F. (1994), What is Philosophy? Trans. by H. Tomlinson and G. Burchell and H. Tomlinson. New York: Columbia University Press.
  • Deleuze, G. and Guattari, F. (2000), The Anti-Oedipus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia, preface by M. Foucalt, trans. by R. Hurley, M. Seem, and H. R. Lane. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
  • Deleuze, G. and Guattari, F. (2005), A Thousand Plateaus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia, trans. and foreword by B. Massumi. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
  • De Michele, G. (2019) ‘Ashes to Ashes, Funky to Funky. Deleuze-Guattari, David Bowie e l’Allucinazione dell’Identità’ Euronomade. Available at: http://www.euronomade.info/?p=11515 (accessed 6 January 2022).
  • Federici, S. (2019) Re-enchanting the World: Feminism and the Politics of the Commons. Oakland: PM Press. Fisher, M. (2017), The Weird and the Eerie. London: Repeater Books.
  • Hesselberth, P. (2014), Cinematic Chronotopes: Here, Now, Me. London: Bloomsbury.
  • Hven, S. (2017), Cinema and Narrative Complexity: Embodying the Fabula. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.
  • Hven, S. (2022), Enacting the Worlds of Cinema. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Jordan-Haladyn, M. (2014), Dialogic Materialism: Bakhtin, Embodiment and Moving Image Art. New York: Peter Lang.
  • Like Stories of Old (2021), ‘Into the Dark Depths of Humanity – Understanding Denis Villeneuve’. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKtWWbOvHDI (accessed 5 January 2022).
  • Plantinga, C. (2014), ‘Mood and Ethics in Narrative Film’. In T. Nannicelli and P. Taberham (eds) Cognitive Media Theory. New York: Routledge: 141-157.
  • Said, E. W. (2003), Orientalism. London: Penguin Books.
  • Sticchi, F. (2018), ‘From Spinoza to Contemporary Linguistics: Pragmatic Ethics in Denis Villeneuve’s Arrival’ In Canadian Journal of Film Studies/Revue Canadienne d’Études Cinématographique, 27(2): 48-65. DOI: 10.3138/CJFS.27.2.2018-0003.
  • Tynan, A. (2020), The Desert in Modern Literature and Philosophy: Wasteland Aesthetics. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
  • Vanity Fair (2021), ‘'Dune' Director Denis Villeneuve Breaks Down the Gom Jabbar Scene’, Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoAA0sYkLI0 (accessed 5 January 2022).
  • Weber, M. (1958), ‘Science as a Vocation’ Daedalus, 87 (1): 111-134. DOI: https://www.jstor.org/stable/20026431.

Desert Power: The Eerie and Disenchanted Philosophical Landscape of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part One

Year 2022, Volume: 7 Issue: 13, 1 - 15, 28.06.2022
https://doi.org/10.31122/sinefilozofi.1068959

Abstract

The aim of the paper is to contribute to the discussion and debate on Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part One by using a film-philosophical approach, which will take into account how particular aspects of the storyworld, stylistic patterns, and specific chronotopes inform the film’s singular take on the famous story/saga. The article gives major attention to the film’s aesthetics and themes by highlighting, in particular, the importance and role of desertic ecologies. Indeed, one of the main theses of this paper is that the film puts forth an operatic aesthetic of disenchantment and misrecognition and strategically uses ambiguity and uncertainty as existentialist motifs to deconstruct ideas of heroism and predestination. These affective dynamics provide the storyworld with an eerie tension stressing lack, loss, mourning, and powerlessness. Concurrently, the desert of Dune, in contrast with that of classic epic films such as Lawrence of Arabia (1962) by David Lean, exists as a living and immanent organism highlighting existential uncertainty and, at the same time, existing as a dense field of possible ethical experimentations.

Project Number

N/A

References

  • Bakhtin, M. (1981), The Dialogic Imagination: Four Essays, ed. by M. Holquist, trans. by C. Emerson and M. Holquist. Austin: University of Texas Press.
  • Brown, W. and Fleming, D. (2020), The Squid Kinoteuthis Infernalis and the Emergence of Chthulumedia. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
  • Bruno, G. (2002), Atlas of Emotions: Journey in Art, Architecture, and Film. London: Verso.
  • Bruno, G. (2014), Surface: Matters of Aesthetics, Materiality, and Media. London: The University of Chicago Press.
  • Carruthers, A. (2018) ‘Temporality, Reproduction and the Not-Yet in Denis Villeneuve’s Arrival’ In Film-Philosophy 22 (3): 321–339. DOI: 10.3366/film.2018.0083.
  • Dabashi, H. (2021), ‘Hollywood Orientalism is not about the Arab world. It is about the American world’ Al Jazeera. Available at: https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2021/11/10/hollywood-orientalism-is-not-about-the-arab-world (accessed 5 January 2022).
  • Deleuze, G. (1995), Negotiations 1972-1990, trans. by M. Joughin. New York: Columbia University Press.
  • Deleuze, G. (1997), Cinema 2: The Time-Image, trans. by R. Galeta and H. Tomlinson Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
  • Deleuze, G. (1998), Essays Critical and Clinical, trans. by D. W. Smith and M. A. Greco. London: Verso.
  • Deleuze, G. (2000), ‘The Brain is the Screen: An Interview with Gilles Deleuze’ In G. Flaxman (ed.) The Brain is the Screen: Deleuze and the Philosophy of Cinema. London: University of Minnesota Press: 365-374.
  • Deleuze, G. and Guattari, F. (1994), What is Philosophy? Trans. by H. Tomlinson and G. Burchell and H. Tomlinson. New York: Columbia University Press.
  • Deleuze, G. and Guattari, F. (2000), The Anti-Oedipus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia, preface by M. Foucalt, trans. by R. Hurley, M. Seem, and H. R. Lane. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
  • Deleuze, G. and Guattari, F. (2005), A Thousand Plateaus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia, trans. and foreword by B. Massumi. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
  • De Michele, G. (2019) ‘Ashes to Ashes, Funky to Funky. Deleuze-Guattari, David Bowie e l’Allucinazione dell’Identità’ Euronomade. Available at: http://www.euronomade.info/?p=11515 (accessed 6 January 2022).
  • Federici, S. (2019) Re-enchanting the World: Feminism and the Politics of the Commons. Oakland: PM Press. Fisher, M. (2017), The Weird and the Eerie. London: Repeater Books.
  • Hesselberth, P. (2014), Cinematic Chronotopes: Here, Now, Me. London: Bloomsbury.
  • Hven, S. (2017), Cinema and Narrative Complexity: Embodying the Fabula. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.
  • Hven, S. (2022), Enacting the Worlds of Cinema. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Jordan-Haladyn, M. (2014), Dialogic Materialism: Bakhtin, Embodiment and Moving Image Art. New York: Peter Lang.
  • Like Stories of Old (2021), ‘Into the Dark Depths of Humanity – Understanding Denis Villeneuve’. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKtWWbOvHDI (accessed 5 January 2022).
  • Plantinga, C. (2014), ‘Mood and Ethics in Narrative Film’. In T. Nannicelli and P. Taberham (eds) Cognitive Media Theory. New York: Routledge: 141-157.
  • Said, E. W. (2003), Orientalism. London: Penguin Books.
  • Sticchi, F. (2018), ‘From Spinoza to Contemporary Linguistics: Pragmatic Ethics in Denis Villeneuve’s Arrival’ In Canadian Journal of Film Studies/Revue Canadienne d’Études Cinématographique, 27(2): 48-65. DOI: 10.3138/CJFS.27.2.2018-0003.
  • Tynan, A. (2020), The Desert in Modern Literature and Philosophy: Wasteland Aesthetics. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
  • Vanity Fair (2021), ‘'Dune' Director Denis Villeneuve Breaks Down the Gom Jabbar Scene’, Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoAA0sYkLI0 (accessed 5 January 2022).
  • Weber, M. (1958), ‘Science as a Vocation’ Daedalus, 87 (1): 111-134. DOI: https://www.jstor.org/stable/20026431.
There are 26 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Subjects Communication and Media Studies, Philosophy
Journal Section Articles
Authors

Francesco Sticchi 0000-0001-9241-9666

Project Number N/A
Early Pub Date June 27, 2022
Publication Date June 28, 2022
Published in Issue Year 2022 Volume: 7 Issue: 13

Cite

APA Sticchi, F. (2022). Desert Power: Disenchantment, Misrecognition, and Geo-Philosophy in Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part One. SineFilozofi, 7(13), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.31122/sinefilozofi.1068959