DUNE Lynch reverses course on Dune Director’s Cut

stone cold muad’dib

Sparkwood & 21
Apr 13, 2022
5
7
AVC: Some notable filmmakers have returned to their works years later with re-edits, because just as a viewer’s relationship to a piece of art can change over time, so too can a creator’s. Was a new narrative cut something you ever considered with Inland Empire?

DL:
No. But Dune—people have said, “Don’t you want to go back and fiddle with Dune?” And I was so depressed and sickened by it, you know? I want to say, I loved everybody that I worked with; they were so fantastic. I loved all the actors; I loved the crew; I loved working in Mexico; I loved everything except that I didn’t have final cut. And I even loved Dino [De Laurentiis], who wouldn’t give me what I wanted [laughs]. And Raffaella, the producer, who was his daughter—I loved her. But the thing was a horrible sadness and failure to me, and if I could go back in I’ve thought, well, maybe I would on that one go back in.

AVC: Really?

DL:
Yeah, but I mean, nobody’s…it’s not going to happen.

AVC: Well that’s interesting, because in the past you were always much less open to it.

David Lynch:
Yeah, I wanted to walk away. I always say, and it’s true, that with Dune, I sold out before I finished. It’s not like there’s a bunch of gold in the vaults waiting to be cut and put back together. It’s like, early on I knew what Dino wanted and what I could get away with and what I couldn’t. And so I started selling out, and it’s a sad, sad, pathetic, ridiculous story. But I would like to see what is there. I can’t remember, that’s the weird thing [laughs]. I can’t remember. And so it might be interesting—there could be something there. But I don’t think it’s a silk purse. I know it’s a sow’s ear.
https://www.avclub.com/david-lynch-inland-empire-interview-dune-restoration-1848795394
 

N. Needleman

RR Diner
Apr 12, 2022
39
95
This is worth taking note of. Some of us will remember how Lynch's tone re: revisiting Twin Peaks changed markedly over time. I watched it closely for several years leading up to 2014, along with the occasional cryptic comments from folks like Ray Wise.
 

Mr. Reindeer

White Lodge
Apr 13, 2022
737
1,667
When the Villeneuve movie came out last year, I did a Dune deep-dive, rereading the six Frank Herbert books, and revisiting the Lynch film—the new 4K remaster, the fan-cut by “Spicediver,” the various other odds and ends of footage/stills that are out there from Lynch’s “lost” footage, as well as the publicly available Lynch script drafts. What breaks my heart the most is the Water of Life scene. In the final edit, it’s the epitome of lame, encapsulating all the worst aspects of that movie into two minutes. Just pure function over form, lots of closeups and TONS of voiceover (somehow they managed to squeeze in voiceover by Everett McGill, Francesca Annis, Kyle, Virginia Madsen, and even Jurgen Prochnow into that two minute scene!). But the book version is so trippy and cool, the EXACT type of scene that Lynch has said attracted him to the project in the first place, and his scripted versions are tantalizingly surreal and beautiful. I’ve even noted in the past that the scripted version (or one of them, anyway) seems to pretty clearly serve as a precursor to the visual in TR of Judy vomiting out the “eggs.” I have no idea how much of that was filmed, but I’d love to see some version of it someday if Lynch were able to assemble it.

EDIT: It just occurred to me that it’s unclear that I’m talking about the scene where JESSICA takes the Water of Life. Not the scene where Paul takes the Water....which was originally filmed in a completely different location and with completely different characters present than the version in the film. But that’s another story.
 
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thunderclap

RR Diner
Apr 12, 2022
26
19
Not sure how people feel about fan edits but there's a good one out there by Spicediver called Dune: The Alternative Edition Redux. A lot of changes blending the different versions of the film and adding some FX. The link I shared is not to download but just information on the edit itself. Granted, this isn't Lynch's version which would probably look completely different if he had final cut but it's an interesting alternate take on what might have been.
 

Mr. Reindeer

White Lodge
Apr 13, 2022
737
1,667
Not sure how people feel about fan edits but there's a good one out there by Spicediver called Dune: The Alternative Edition Redux. A lot of changes blending the different versions of the film and adding some FX. The link I shared is not to download but just information on the edit itself. Granted, this isn't Lynch's version which would probably look completely different if he had final cut but it's an interesting alternate take on what might have been.
The Spicediver edit makes a few choices that really annoy me (such as giving the Guild Navigator blue eyes which was never Lynch’s intent, or using a shot of the hallway of the Arrakeen palace to lead into a scene of Leto and Jessica in bed still on Caladan), but it is basically the best you can do at getting (almost) everything that’s been released in one place. The Fremen portion of the film still seems incredibly rushed though, and I think there’s still a ton more stuff that was shot that could make that portion of the film way more atmospheric and dreamy if Lynch went back and could revisit everything that was filmed. There’s a scene I’d love to see of Alia spitefully using her powers to torment the Molly Wryn character. Always down for more creepy baby Alicia Witt.
 
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Stavrogyn

White Lodge
Apr 12, 2022
675
547
It would be pretty great if he released an official director's cut of Dune, and quite unbelievable, since it's Lynch we're talking about.
 

Jasper

Bureau HQ
TULPA MOD
Apr 12, 2022
237
847
It’s such a sore spot with Lynch, it might be really good for him to be able to feel that in some way he’s set things right. It would also obviously be nice for us to see something closer to Lynch’s vision, which would hopefully even be radical enough to make the film seem like something new. I don’t know that Lynch undertaking such an endeavor would necessarily alter the general perception of Dune, but if things went very well, it might at least raise its esteem among Lynch fans and critics. On the other hand, this would be a significant undertaking, and I wonder if Lynch’s time would be better spent working on new material.

Dune was my introduction to Lynch, and I had a two-page magazine photo of Sting in character pinned to my wall!
 
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