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6
FILM
«Dune: Part Two»
Regi: Denis Villeneuve
USA/Canada – 2023
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As the proud Fremen warrior Chani, played by Zendaya, said towards the end of the first film: “this is only the beginning”. Fortunately, it was not just an empty promise. It was uncertain for a while whether Denis Villeneuve would even get the opportunity to complete this epic Frank Herbert film adaptation. “Dune” (2021) had all the hallmarks of the kind of expensive venture that gives most obscenely overpaid studio heads sweaty sleepless nights and bleeding ulcers — and the exact opposite of the easily digestible sales products they normally prefer. After Warner Bros released the film in theaters and streaming in parallel during the pandemic, a distraught Villeneuve stated that he feared the studio had literally killed the chances of a sequel. But against all odds, “Dune” was a sufficiently large audience success to legitimize this ambitious continuation – which was postponed for almost six months, thanks to the strikes in the American film industry.
“Dune: Part Two” has an even higher budget than its predecessor (allegedly over two billion riksdaler), but it costs money to ride on huge sand fields. At 166 minutes, this is also an even longer film, although I would have happily spent even more hours in this fascinating sci-fi universe. Preferably with a pee break or two. This is very much a Part 2: a direct continuation that starts exactly where the predecessor left off – and together the two films elevate each other to something even greater.
This is the sound of empires falling, and saviors rising from the ashes. A magnificent symphony about religion as a loaded weapon aimed at vulnerable hearts, and politics as a shield used to protect humanity’s most abhorrent impulses. A wistful lament about how the power-hungry elite fight their merciless battle for natural resources, while the resource-poor lower class is abused, manipulated, exploited and thrown aside as soon as they are no longer useful. So “Dune” takes place in a future fantasy world totally unlike our own.
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A powerful sci-fi odyssey that continues the saga of the young Duke Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet), who saw his father’s house explode before fleeing into the desert with the nomadic Fremen people with his pregnant mother Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson). His entire bloodline has been wiped out by the diabolical Harkkonen dynasty, led by the vile Baron Vladimir (Stellan Skarsgård) – acting on the orders of the Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV (Christopher Walken). The population of the desert seems to be evenly divided between those who believe that Paul is a coming messiah, and those who fear that he is a false prophet who will end them all. The former faction is led by Stilgar (Javier Bardem), who is unwavering in his belief in the prophecies, while Chani (Zendaya) is equally steadfast in her atheistic skepticism as she begins a tender love affair with Paul.
It has a touch of “Life of Brian” that Paul constantly emphasizes that he is no messiah at all, while Stilgar’s disciples enthusiastically claim that only the true savior would say such a thing. Author Frank Herbert’s healthy skepticism of organized religion comes through even more clearly this time, while it becomes more obvious that Paul’s eventual connection to the whole is being abused by those who want to maintain the balance of power.
After proving his heroism to the Fremen people, Paul forms powerful alliances as he leads a series of spectacular guerilla operations against Baron Harkonnen’s spice harvesters. Whoever controls the Melange spice controls the universe, and no one has more power than the one willing to burn down everything to show he means business. We’ve been led to believe that “Dune” is a grand heroic tale, but “Part Two” suggests that this is more of a tragic warning about how tyrants are born.
All of this could have become exhausting heavy stuff, but Denis Villeneuve has turned this complex sci-fi brick into an overwhelming visual experience with high momentum. Like its predecessor, so much of the world building is done by showing us, rather than just telling. There are some truly powerful scenes here, the likes of which we’ve hardly ever seen (and are all the more powerful on the big IMAX screen). Helped by Hans Zimmer’s powerful music track, which you literally feel rumbling menacingly right in the midriff during the more bass-heavy parts. Nor should it be underestimated how essential Greg Fraser’s absolutely stunning cinematography is to these films.
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At times, the story moves forward so quickly that you can literally see that Villeneuve has seen you have to cut out some explanatory intermediate scenes in order to limit himself to a playing time of under three hours. As far as I understand, Villeneuve is not a big fan of longer “extended cut” versions, so the film we get to see in cinemas is to be considered the complete edition.
Claiming that this is the definitive conclusion to the story is nevertheless a truth with major modifications: After the first film, we got the impression that everything would be finished with the second film, but “Dune: Part Two” instead points forward to the next section. Because in the meantime, Denis Villeneuve has decided to expand this into a trilogy, which will reportedly end in theaters with a film adaptation of the Frank Herbert novel “Dune: Dark Messiah” – and then lead on to the cable series “Dune: Prophecy.”
If he wants to continue after this, Villeneuve has plenty of material to pick from. Frank Herbert’s “Dune” chronicle spanned six thick novels, as well as a further seventeen books written by his son Brian Herbert, plus a good stack of shorter short stories. So there is certainly a lot of material to cover here. Some may feel a little cheated that “Dune: Part Two” doesn’t give us a definitive ending this time around, but more of this sounds like an exceptionally good idea. Merging art with commerce better than anyone in the business right now, Villeneuve has created another masterful sci-fi experience that we’re unlikely to experience anything close to until the third “Dune” film is released.
Read more about the film here