The real universe is always one step beyond logic

Although the first few minutes left me bored, by the end I was amazed. Imagine Salvador Dali as the Emperor, Orson Welles as Baron Harkonnen, and a young Mick Jagger as Feyd-Rautha—not to mention Pink Floyd for the soundtrack and Giger for the styling of the Harkonnens! It would have been epic! And remember, this was before Alien or even Star Wars.

Princess Irulan was going to be played by Salvador Dali's muse, Amanda Lear, who is interviewed here. What the hell is a muse in this context? Artists rub me the wrong way. Oddly, one of those interviewed says none of them were sure whether Amanda was male or female. Amanda's Wikipedia page offers some evidence that Amanda is transgender (male-to-female). My gaydar did not give me a warning, so I am sticking with female. Wait, Wikipedia says she was a new wave singer? I'm an expert in new wave, but the name is unfamiliar to me. On Spotify, Amanda Lear is more popular than Romeo Void, Jane Wiedlin, and Blancmange. What the Berenstein's Bears is this?!

The main topic of the film is the director, Alejandro Jodorowsky, but it skips over his formative years. According to his Wikipedia page, he had a difficult start in life. He was conceived by rape to Jewish parents, and so his mother hated him. Even so, after a stint as a circus clown, he grew into an accomplished artist, director, and maniac.

Jodorowsky has no bounds, as illustrated in the documentary with disturbing video clips from his other films. We see a female baby doll with the crotch cut out and snakes slithering there... what the hell? 1 woke point for possible pedo content with no criticism. And next we see full frontal nudity of a seven year old boy, who we later learn is Jodorowsky's son. Jodorowsky also starred in that film and actually raped an actress in one scene, according to his own account that I read. What the hell?!

Jodorowsky was unable to convince any Hollywood studio to invest in making his version of Dune. I can imagine Harvey Weinstein types agreeing amongst themselves, "no way, that dude is a pig!"

I think I would have been disappointed if this version of Dune had been made. In the script, Jodorowsky changed a lot compared to Frank Herbert's novel, especially the ending. In the documentary, he explains, "I was raping Frank Herbert, raping, like this!", with hand motions to illustrate, adding "But with love, with love." His goal was basically a spiritual "hippy" film, where people would walk out of the theater changed, perhaps even ready to start a jihad. Also, Jodorowsky thought David Lynch's Dune was horrible, whereas I adore it, largely because it remained close to the novel.

Nonetheless, this documentary is remarkable. It will appeal to fans of the novel and the other Dune adaptations. It's unfortunate that Jodorowsky's extreme artistry led him to Weimar Republic levels of moral depravity. However, I would not call him crazy. In the documentary, he is 83 and still sharp-witted. Remarkably, he is still alive today at the age of 95.