Unmade Masterpiece, Which Transformed the Cinema

Marcin Giżycki

kwartalnik.filmowy@ispan.pl
Rhode Island School of Design (United States)

Abstract

In 2015 fifty years pass since the cult science fiction novel Dune by Frank Herbert was first published. Marcin Giżycki recalls the unusual fate of Alejandro Jodorowsky’s film project based on the novel. The project prepared in 1974-1976 was never realised, but the director managed to put together a fantastic team for its making: the cartoonist Jean Giraud (known under the pseudonym Moebius), illustrators Cris Foss and H. R. Giger and special effects specialist and writer Dan O’Bannon (all of them worked later on Ridley Scott’s Alien). The planned cast included amongst others Orson Welles, David Carradine, Mick Jagger and Salvador Dali. The ideas of Jodorovsky and his team were used later on in great Hollywood productions, amongst others (apart from Alien): Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Blade Runner. In this manner Jodorowsky’s Dune became the most influential film that never was.


Keywords:

Frank Herbert, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Moebius

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Published
2015-06-30

Cited by

Giżycki, M. (2015) “Unmade Masterpiece, Which Transformed the Cinema”, Kwartalnik Filmowy, (89-90), pp. 347–351. doi: 10.36744/kf.2347.

Authors

Marcin Giżycki 
kwartalnik.filmowy@ispan.pl
Rhode Island School of Design United States

Krytyk i historyk sztuki; autor książek z dziedziny historii filmu i zjawisk kultury artystycznej. Wykładowca w Rhode Island School of Design w USA, prof. w Wyższej Szkole Tech­nicznej w Katowicach. Opublikował m.in. Nie tylko Disney - rzecz o kinie animowanym (2000), Koniec i co dalej? (2001), Słownik kierunków, ru­chów i kluczowych pojęć sztuki drugiej połowy XX wieku (2002), Wenders do domu! Europejskie filmy o Ameryce i ich recepcja w Stanach Zjedno­czonych (2006).



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Copyright (c) 2015 Marcin Giżycki

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