Jodorowsky's Dune      ** subjective stars

      If you've seen a Jodorowsky film, there's a strong likelihood, for better or worse,  that one of the visuals is tattooed onto your visual cortex.  In my case it was dwarf sex in the Spaniard's psilocybin spaghetti western, El Topo, from 1971.  Jodorowsky movies are provocative visual spectacles and grotesques from which realism has fled.  I'm not a huge fan of his films, but I am an admirer of his chutzpah, his ability stick maniacally to his vision.

      In 1975, Jodorowsky obtained the rights to film Dune, Frank Herbert's sci-fi epic.  He attacked this project in typical style, hiring some of the best artistic talent to design the film's look and attempting to bring on a bizarre cast of stars including Orson Welles, Dali and Gloria Swanson.  He hired Pink Floyd for  the soundtrack.


     In this documentary, Jodorowsky and a few of his compatriots recount the process of designing a phantasmagorical 14 hour version of Dune. One of the films co-creators claims that Jodorowsky mesmerized him onto the production, a claim easily reconciled with the inspired raconteur we meet in this film. He's a bit like 'the most interesting man in the world' from Dos Equis beer commercials.  The crew eventually compiled a massive tome of intricate storyboards and shopped it around the major studios trying to scrape up some sorely needed cash. They'd already spent two million without shooting a frame.   Hollywood wasn't buying, but the grandeur of Jodorowsky's failure make a beautiful testament to the creative power of passion.  If you're into art making, film or otherwise, it's an engrossing ninety minutes.