Denis Villeneuve can take a breath and smile. Dune: Part Two it was a success. With the approval of the public and critics behind her, she is already writing the third chapter. He knows exactly what it will be like, he just has to put it down in black and white. In the meantime, however, he enjoys the memes about Javier Bardem – Stilgar and claims that the film’s popcorn basket in the shape of a sandworm was a brilliant marketing idea. So much so that the item sold out shortly after and was resold at a higher price.
It is in this atmosphere of celebration and lightness that the director was interviewed by The New York Times on the occasion of the film’s return to some American IMAX screens. Villeneuve has already demonstrated that he has a profound knowledge of Herbert’s book and the most hidden corners of his universe. He admits, however, that the challenge is more complicated to bring Dunes at the cinema it was precisely the writing of history. A process that requires some sacrifices, cutting or modifying some parts to give coherence to the film.
In particular, one of the choices that distances him the most from the book is that of having compressed the third act of Dune: Part Two in less than six months. Lady Jessica gives birth to Alia before the clash of the houses, while in her film, despite being in contact with her daughter, she is still pregnant with her. With this decision Villeneuve avoided the situation in the book, impossible to convey in images, in which the still very young girl speaks and fights.
The idea was to compress the book so that Paul would feel pressure to gain the Fremen’s trust to begin preparing, but not to succeed, without having time to create a real war. Time is against him.
The Troubles for Dune: Part Two by Denis Villeneuve
Villeneuve explains, speaking of Lady Jessica, that her face full of tattoos is part of a very specific strategy. Her body becomes an instrument of suggestion and propaganda, the writings on her skin serve to reiterate the strength of the prophecy.
The fact that she is pregnant throughout the film is a departure from cinematic clichés. Usually pregnant women give birth to the baby before the end of the story. Instead, the fact that this doesn’t happen with Lady Jessica is one of the adaptation choices that makes him most proud. He argues that, very much in Herbert’s style, this gives it an aspect of power.
Chani, on the other hand, was the director’s secret weapon. In her book, her opposition to Paul is not so clear-cut. Her narrative arc was instrumental in adapting the story following Herbert’s will, that is, giving a critical counterpoint to Paul’s rise.
When people ask me what my hardest challenge was in making these films, I say it was writing them. To make this adaptation we had to make huge and courageous decisions. One was that the first film had to be seen from Paul’s perspective. I couldn’t do it entirely because I had to go into the Harkonnen side to introduce them and make the story clear, but I tried to find an elegant simplicity in the story structure. And frankly, I wanted to keep some firepower for the second movie.
The sound at the beginning of Dune
Both Dunes begin with a caption spoken in the language of the Sardaukar. The sound was created by Hans Zimmer as if it came from an ancient world or from the depths. This beginning served to show how even the Sardaukar, the toughest and most terrible warriors in the galaxy, darker even than the Fremen, were not only terrible soldiers, but also had a spirituality and a philosophy.
Starting with a Sardaukar priest also served to Villeneuve to indicate to fans that he would proceed with freedom in the adaptation, that he was hijacking the book. We know that this wasn’t exactly the case; this his version of Dunes it is the most faithful to the text that we have seen so far. However, it is not from this interview that Villeneuve reveals his anxiety and his difficulty in distancing himself from the original source.
An adaptation is an act of violencehe says, asking Herbert for forgiveness.
Source: The New York Times
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