Film director Richard Stanley might be best known for the science fiction classic “Hardware”, and supernatural horror flick “Dust Devil”, but he’s also a well versed documentarian.
In this hour long podcast, Dirk van Sloten interviews Stanley about his documentaries “The Secret Glory”, “Voice of the Moon”, and “The White Darkness”, as well as his most recent documentary “The Otherworld”.
They also discuss whatever happened to Richard Stanley’s rendition of “The Island of Dr. Moreau”, the Hardware sequel “Ground Zero”, and more…
Even though I probably shouldn’t, since Lynch got raped on the final cut, and reportedly was bullied by the producer to stay on an impossible schedule.
In Jodorowsky’s Dune, a brilliant documentary by Frank Pavich, Jodorowsky himself is a lot less kind when talking about Lynch’s Dune. However, you have to see the documentary to get the emotional context that explains his strong reaction to it. Jodorowsky also acknowledges it most likely wasn’t Lynch’s doing that was to blame for how his Dune turned out (and ever since Lynch has insisted on having final cut for every film he worked on).
Perhaps it’s a shame then that Lynch wasn’t interviewed to talk about Dune. Pavich has pretty much said they didn’t want to ask Lynch since Jodorowsky had such a strong reaction. However, I would like to think that Lynch has a strong enough spine and high enough intellect to be able to deal with a fellow artist’s emotional reaction. Especially when knowing this artist (Jodorowsky) had been raped by Hollywood even more (arguably) regarding his vision of Dune (and many years of hard work in prepping it) than Lynch had.
Still, this documentary isn’t about Lynch’s Dune. It’s not about the Alan Smithee Dune. In fact, it’s about a movie that was never made, and yet has left its indelible footprint in the Science Fiction genre. Hardcore fans of the genre already knew this. But they’ve never seen it illustrated with such passion, conviction, and love as they’ll be able to see in Jodorowsky’s Dune. This documentary can be considered the Paul Muad’Dib of documentaries for it brings much needed justice and recognition to the artists who have been so important in shaping the face of modern Science Fiction.
This documentary will without a doubt spawn a whole new generation of Jodorowsky fans. Which, with a little luck, will yield proper BluRay releases of Jodorowsky’s work. (At the time of this writing, the few titles available seem to be out of print, and available only with, for most, prohibitively high price tags).
Three years in production, Jodorowsky’s Dune is the most complete account on the topic. It’s the best thing next to installing a brain-tap directly into Jodorowsky’s skull. Original art work was brought to life with skillful animations, that should carve a scar into the hearts of the Hollywood producers who said “no” at the time.
Dealing with a rather dark topic, this documentary is bright, humorous, and easily accessible to a mainstream audience, and will still deliver a grand experience to hardcore fans of Jodorowsky’s and Science Fiction. Even audience members who have no prior knowledge of Dune (in whichever form), Jodorowsky, or even Science Fiction, will have an absolutely satisfying screening; they will leave the theater feeling enriched and somehow empowered. This is no small accomplishment.
The interviewed subjects mostly speak for themselves, with a minimum amount of narration and only at the right times in the right places. Scoring, often overdone or underdone in other documentaries, provided exactly the right support and mood. As far as I’m concerned, this flick was the perfect blend of the spiritual, the technical, and the entertaining styles of filmmaking.
By not seeing this gem on the big screen, you will do yourself a great injustice. Don’t let that happen!
Zack Beauchamp of “Think Progressive” misses the boat on True Detective so much, that I wonder if he has been taking more acid than five Rust Cohle’s combined.
First he demands the show should have a “supernatural” ending. Two days later he claims the show’s finale completely “fails” because he feels that it didn’t live up to its promise to “transcend the cop show’s intellectual horizon,” and that “the show failed utterly to redeem its troubling treatment of female characters.”
Wow. Okay.
Let me preface by saying I’m a huge fan of the horror genre (which to me means, with few exceptions, it needs to have an element of the supernatural, a monster for example). But this show wasn’t setup as such. Nothing supernatural was ever revealed. Not really. Though there are obviously characters who believe in the supernatural; no evidence was ever give that true magic, supernaturalism, deities, etc, were actually involved.
A true supernatural twist (i.e. the Ancient Ones find an entry into this world) revealed only at the end would have pissed off a ton of the show’s fans. And they would have been correct to have been pissed off
in such a scenario. Because we would have been lied to. It would have been cheap. And yet, that’s the ending Zack was praying for.
As far as the treatment of female characters go… The three main women, Marty Hart’s wife and two daughters, turn out to be strong women that rebel against their husband/father, and ultimately take things in their own hands. They choose to step out of the abusive situation. And the fact they still show up at the hospital bed doesn’t mean they’re weak. Quite the opposite; it takes more strength, and yet yields better results, to show compassion and even forgiveness, than it does to condemn someone and walk away without ever looking back.
The standard cop and/or horror show that does what Beauchamp accuses True Detective of when he says “True Detective, then, ended up selling a traditional story about dangerous men saving faceless women as a critique of violent masculinity,” would have had the women abducted by the antagonist, so the big macho heroes could come safe them. This show didn’t do that! At all. Fantastic, I say.
Beauchamp also states that: “Someone who sacrificed his career on the alter of uncovering the Tuttle conspiracy should never be satisfied with simply catching the nastiest, least-powerful member of the clan.” But he did way more than that. And Cohle himself even strongly stresses he’s not satisfied as he caught only one. But both Cohle and Beauchamp miss the point he did so much more than just catch a single guy. For one, he’s been able to re-open a case that had been shut down and forgotten about. The two new detectives, Gilbough and Papania, competent as they may or may not be, were completely tunnel-visioned on Cohle being the antagonist. Given that fact, and given their history with the case, only Hart and Cohle as a team, despite their flaws, could have done that. For another, by re-opening the case and getting one suspect who was truly involved in the Tuttle Conspiracy, other doors are opened that can lead to more people involved being identified and prosecuted.
A real-world detective doesn’t solve every crime he investigates, either. And the ones he or she does aren’t always solved in their entirety.
Should a first season of a show reveal all mysteries? Or should it leave some stuff open for either follow-up seasons, or to allow people to ponder on these questions themselves? (Yes, I’m aware the second season of this show is likely to not have any direct correlation with this first one.)
I’m not a fan of shows where all data are regurgitated ad nauseam, especially in a single and first season. Ergo, I’m very satisfied True Detective didn’t turn into that kind of show. For me, True Detective delivered a very satisfying, intelligent, and strong “conclusion,” that left one hungry for a second course. It more than succeeded.
