Author: Pauline Kael / The New Yorker (December 24, 1984)
Proofreading: Onegin
The translation was first published in "Iris"
David is David Lynch (Translator's Note: The original title is "David and Goliath", taken from a biblical story). He created "Rubber Head" and "Elephant Man". He is a man familiar with emotions, Painter and director of emotions, dreams, hallucinations and textures. He is fascinated by the interaction between organic and mechanical-through corrosion and decay. He likes to let strange things grow-like corals. Lynch was in awe of what was usually considered disgusting; he seemed to be hypnotized. He shows you what he sees, and you will find yourself looking at something that you can't bear normally, and then enter his hypnotic state. You will not only be attracted by the picture, but also by the silence, confusing sound and editing rhythm, which will make you feel a dreamlike sense of fear.
Goliath is Frank Herbert’s ecological science fiction novel "Dune", in its galaxy system, including a group of people scattered on four planets, and a savior-Paul Etridi, he was appointed Lead justice in a holy war and save this fictional universe from darkness and evil. The first volume of "Dune" was written on the west coast. It has been published in the magazine "Simulation" since 1963, and was finally compiled as a hardcover book in 1965. This book and its sequel have been sold for fifteen thousand. Millions of copies, and it is now unprecedentedly popular. These numbers are quite shocking, and the book's reputation as a science fiction masterpiece is also daunting.
Herbert fantasizes about the changes in human consciousness and the struggle with drugs that change consciousness. And the center of the conspiracy and power struggle of the ruling families of the four planets is the "spice" mined on the barren planet Arakis. Arakis means "sand dune" in the native language-Fremans- . This spice gives people special powers-it can raise people's consciousness, make Freme's eyes blue, make space travel possible, and extend people's lifespan-but it can also be addictive. If used excessively, it will cause genetic mutations. It condenses the entire universe together, and Lynch also imaged huge human-eating sandworms, which live under the desert and can grow to more than a thousand feet in length. "Sand worms are spices," we were told, "Spices are sand worms,"-they are the same creatures in different life stages. These killer insects wriggle under the sand-as high as a skyscraper-flapping red and ocher dust, and when they approach the ground, they will use static electricity to shock the air. They put on a pretty good show, although not as slimy as you would expect to see in a David Lynch movie.
Before long, we will realize that this is basically not a David Lynch movie-but "Dune". Lynch didn't bring fresh concepts to the material; he didn't write this story himself. Instead, he tried to apply his talents to Herbert's vision. He did not conquer this Goliath, but succumbed to it, as if he thought he could learn something from it. He is a good boy and a diligent director. Although Herbert's writing can convince readers-it is boring and full of stale poetry-Lynch's attitude towards the book is so respectful that he made a serious, high-cost version of " Fly with Smoke.
The film began in 10191, and the first half hour is actually like a training course. Lynch has too many things to do. He has to pave the basic elements for Herbert’s vision and arrange the plot of interstellar betrayal in action, so he has no time to clarify what the narcotic spice means to the galaxy. There is no time to attract the audience. This statement doesn't seem to point to anything; the story is not dramatized—it is just hurriedly performed in a series of similarly illustrated scenes. There are also a few major actors—especially those who play the Utredi family—like the walking and talking painters in a legendary book. Fortunately, the other characters (mostly secondary characters) are happily distorted, so we re-examine them the first time we see them, even if they leave the scene disappointingly quickly-some Under circumstances, they enter the death scene directly from the appearance scene-but they also make us feel their presence. Herbert's grand vision only reflects some of Lynch's strengths, but it is these strengths (not her loyalty to Herbert) that keep you looking forward to it. Surprisingly, Lynch’s best performance is almost always in comedy.
Lynch presents the addicts in a new Dickensian relaxed image: the fat and fat red-haired baron Hacknan (Kenneth Macmillan) and his red-haired nephews (Sting of the Police Band) , And Paul L. Smith-he played Bruto in "Popeye" and the brutal guard captain in "Midnight Express"). The Hacknan family is the ruler of Gidi's main planet-an ugly planet (and it doesn't seem to be women) full of oil, factories, and industrialization. They have been in charge of the production of spices on the sand dunes. Maybe they are a little over-indulgent. They seem to be mutating into a kind of overdeveloped and troublesome children. They are manic, giggly, mean. The wild, grinning baron played by Kenneth Macmillan is so lively that he usually floats 18 inches above the ground. When he is excited, he will fly higher. (He is filled with stuffing and weighs about 450 pounds. His belly is as big as a beer barrel. He is the largest Peter Pan ever.) The vulgar Baron played by McMillan is undoubtedly the villain of the year: his face is clothed. Full of deteriorating, boiling pustules, and his doctor (Leonardo Cimilo) is as crazy as him—you don’t know if the doctor is admiring them, or caring for them like a gardener, waiting for them to bloom . When you catch a glimpse of the baron's attendants, you can guess his sadistic joy and play-their mouths and ears are sewn together. Not to mention, when you see him flying into the air happily, and then falling heavily on a little boy. But you will not back down. Everything about the Baron is like a spectacle; this includes the plug in his body and his clothes-he is tied in circles of straps and looks like a huge dirty band-aid. He always seems to have a good time. His nephew also liked his performance: he is an extremely funny, comic strip version of Nero. (Of course Nero did not float.)
Even if Lynch shows you a mutant made from spices, you won't back down—that's a third-level guild navigator, a few generations ago, a human. It looks like an enlarged brain, with a fish's mouth and an elephant's eyes; its interior is pink, floating in a container filled with spice gas, like an octopus in an aquarium. This huge container was carried into the golden palace of the emperor of the galaxy (Jose Ferrer), located on the planet Kaitan, the capital of the empire. The container was placed on the green jade floor, and the monster began to talk to the emperor. Its role does not stop there: speaking for the guild, giving orders to the emperor. The emperor as a power broker admired his noble golden light—he even had a lovely blond daughter (Frgenia Madsen)—he relied on the guild that controlled the interstellar travel and was willing to obey.
These instructions lead the plot to a faltering direction. This guild with a secret plan to rule the universe wants to kill Paul Etridi. The emperor set a trap for Paul’s father, Duke Leto Otridi (Jurgen Prosno), who is the ruler of the planet Karadane. He lives in a wooden castle, which has a relationship with the earth. Similar forest and water. In order to separate the Etridi family from his loyal subjects, the emperor gave the duke the greatest advantage: he moved his family and his officials to the sand dunes and took over the mining of spices. When the Duke came to the sand dunes and was isolated and helpless, the red-haired baron launched an attack and successfully killed him. He also took the Duke’s mistress Jessica (Francia Annes) and their 15-year-old son Paul (Kyle McLachlan) sent to the desert to let them die as feed for sandworms. In the desert, Paul grew up to be a mysterious warrior leader. Of course, in this feudal future, all these rulers have their own followers, including colleagues, attendants, spies, and traitors, as well as many interstellar jumps-from the emperor’s golden palace in Kaitan to Karadan. The wooden castle of the Etredi family in Gidi, from the disgusting home of the baron (with sharp, psychedelic green walls, like an industrial prison or public urinal) on the main planet of Gidi, to the oppression of a sand dune The government's hewn into the rock fortress.
Lynch and his design team did an amazing job, simulating the different ecology of the planets-their building materials, architectural styles and interior furnishings. Photographer Freddie Francis used different lights for different sets and scenes to show different color values. In some scenes, it can also show the quality of the air. The visual texture is brilliant, look at those golden and green. Nothing looks new or comes from a manufacturer; Lynch likes old, weathered things—he likes decay. (He likes to use solubilization-this is a metaphor for decay.) People's dress style reflects many different ancient cultures-including Renaissance Venice, Victorian era and (for the Hacknan family) Punk-if there is a hint of cheesy in these clothes, it might be fun. But they are so elegant, there is nothing to laugh at. However, in the endless, buzzing soundtrack created by Toto, Marty Paige, Brian Inno, and others, this vulgarity—in the wrong sense—is always present. Moreover, despite the many thoughts on style and form, the editing rhythm is weak and broken, the narrative lingers in the boring scene, and then hurriedly skipped the climax part.
In the script written by Lynch, there is a kind of functional dialogue that is enough to pull an epic movie off the altar; when teenage Paul was still living a happy life in Karadhan’s castle, he said loudly: "Recently The situation here is too serious.” When the handsome, determined Paul and his beautiful, proud mother were abandoned in the desert at first, sometimes I even longed to see the terrifying sandworm soon. Lynch seems to lack vulgar acting talent; he has never made the protagonist's character relaxed. Francesca Annes’s Jessica is so solemn and worrying that even the extremely talented Jane Phillips is a bit dull in the film. She shaved her head and has almost no eyebrows, acting like a monastery. Wizard.
If you ask, what makes a gentle Paul better than a strong local leader (Evolet McGill) to lead the indigenous tribes of the Dunes against the rule of the Hacknan family, the only possible answer is that the prophecy specifies Paul It's the man who was destined. Except for his father, the Duke, and his true love, Garni (played by Sean Young), his personality is weaker than the others in the movie. He is just a hero in a polite and indomitable fairy tale book. Sting, the most agile person in the Hacknan family, came out of the steam bath, stretching his limbs like a cat, standing half naked, showing his arrogance and stubborn composure. His charm makes you hope that David Lynch can cut some of the "rules" plots in "Dune". In order to be faithful to Frank Herbert's dazzling mythology, Lynch told an extremely vague and unforgettable Messiah story. I don’t know how we should think of this savior, Paul, who speaks the word of God, but when he decided to marry the emperor’s blond daughter and keep his true love as a concubine, he also embraced expediency very quickly. I don't know how we should respond to the Freeman warriors he led, who ruled the entire empire with their blue and blue eyes. These well-disciplined troops chanted "Long live the soldiers!" There is nothing in the tone of the film that can hint at people's attitudes towards this.
Lynch himself also played an upright role as a control engineer in the spice mine. It is a pity that, as a director, he is so disciplined and upright. This movie is the most otherworldly when he does some Lynch-like things-some marginal or unexplainable things. Paul’s sister Alicia Witt—a miniature version of the monk-like wizard—stabbed the swollen baron with a poisonous needle, squinting at him, unplugged his chest, and let the baron Hit the ceiling. Or when Brad Dorif (he is the human computer of the Hacknan family) smiles at himself, it's like Dwight Frye can't wait to put a spider in his mouth. Or Linda Hunter, the housekeeper of the castle on the sand dunes, her tone is so calm, she is the most majestic woman after Mel Brooks's "New Frankenstein" after Chris Litchman. housekeeper. What a good voice she has, with a comedic sense of authority! If she declares that she is the legal heir to the throne, the audience will cheer for her.
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