By Gill Pringle
If the magnificent vision of Timothée Chalamet’s Paul Atreides riding a giant sandworm across the deserts of Arrakis will undoubtedly bring gasps of awe from audiences who have waited two and a half years for this moment, then nobody could be happier than director Denis Villeneuve. “That scene is to my great, deep, pure joy exactly how I dreamed it would be,” Villeneuve tells FilmInk on the eve of the release of Dune: Part Two, the next cinematic chapter of the director’s adaptation of Frank Herbert’s celebrated novel Dune.
“It was by far the most complex thing I have ever attempted to do,” Villeneuve continues of the film’s key scene. “It required a lot of work, but I was trying to feel a level of realism. I wanted my mother to believe that it’s possible to ride a sandworm. I wanted it to be edgy, elegant, dangerous and exciting. And it required a tremendous amount of work from my crew to bring that to the screen. Fortunately, the studio believed in the scene a lot and gave me the means and the tools to do it correctly.”
Welcoming the return of Dune: Part One’s all-star cast, Dune: Part Two doubles down on its international ensemble with the introduction of Florence Pugh’s Princess Irulan, Christopher Walken’s Emperor, Léa Seydoux’ Lady Margot Fenring, and Oscar nominated Elvis star Austin Butler’s Feyd-Rautha, the menacing nephew of Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, so memorably played in the first installment by Stellan Skarsgard. “To bring Feyd-Rautha to the screen is a responsibility. He’s one of the most iconic characters in the Dune novel,” explains Villeneuve. “I feel blessed that Austin Butler came onboard. Feyd-Rautha is the nephew of Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, and Austin portrayed him as a kind of psychotic killer that is a cross between a sword master and Mick Jagger. He really brought something absolutely mesmerising to the screen. I’m honestly very proud of this version of Feyd-Rautha, and I can’t wait to share what Austin did with the world.”
And it took Villeneuve no time at all to discover that Florence Pugh was the right actress to portray the Emperor’s daughter, Princess Irulan. “I remember the first time I met with Florence to talk about the character, to see if she would be a good fit, and after just a few minutes, I said to myself, ‘I am sitting in front of Princess Irulan right now!’ Florence has that kind of drive, strength, and high intelligence that I love. It fit perfectly for Irulan. Irulan is one of the key players in the geopolitical game, and I didn’t want her to be perceived as a victim; she is not used, but is willing, and playing a game in order to keep her family in power.”
In taking Chalamet’s Paul Atreides on the next chapter of his destiny, Villeneuve says “it’s the first time in my life as a director that I worked with an actor who was growing up in front of the camera, evolving, and learning about life. It was really moving for me to work with Timothée again, and to see how much more confident he got. In Dune: Part One, Timothée was learning how to find his focus in such a large production, as a leading man. He brought a strong spirit on set, and I was very proud of the powerful transformation he brought in front of the camera. It was very moving for me to see how, in Dune: Part Two, he was able to create the evolution of Paul Atreides that goes from a boy to a dark figure.”
Chalamet asked himself some tough questions during production on the film’s epic desert sets in Abu Dhabi and Jordan’s Wadi Rum. “Paul is reluctant. He’s not a person who has delusions of grandeur and power,” says the actor. “So, I had to think: ‘What would that actually mean, if that was your fate? What would that feel like? What would it be like to stand in the middle of a room and declare yourself a leader, and be entirely within your rights doing so? And what would that entail?’”
Audiences will certainly be rooting for his evolving relationship with Zendaya’s Chani, a strong Fremen warrior. “Chani is sort of Paul’s moral compass,” offers Chalamet. “Her strong ethics add to her great character, and Paul feels that he’s similar to her, that he’s worthy, ethically, and he’s trying to become a partner to her, the man he wants to be to her, and they grow incredibly close. Chani’s so sure of herself. She knows who she is, and her heart’s in the right place. Zendaya is strong, like Chani, in many ways. We only had a couple of days working together on the first film, but we became quite close and good friends after that. But I think the friendship that had grown between the films helped us grow Paul and Chani for this one. It was a wonderful experience to get to work with the actor she’s become – she’s firing on all cylinders! She was a real partner in crime and I’m grateful we had such a great experience.”
The star-crossed lovers take centre stage alongside new and returning cast members, including Rebecca Ferguson’s Jessica, Javier Bardem’s Stilgar, Josh Brolin’s Gurney Halleck, Dave Bautista’s Beast Rabban, Stellan Skarsgard’s Baron Harkonnen and Charlotte Rampling’s Reverend Mother Mohiam. If fans will be spellbound by Dune: Part Two’s dazzling cast, then Villeneuve hopes that audiences will see the serious message behind the film, hoping he does justice to the original intentions of author Frank Herbert’s bestselling novel. “I try to bring some kind of nuance on screen,” the director offers. “I hope that things are not so black and white. Yes, pure evil exists, but it’s rare,” he laughs. “I mean, most of the time it’s a matter of perspective. Of course, no one will question that Baron Harkonnen is evil. But the lens we take on a character like The Emperor is that he is someone that is squeezed into a political game and had to make massively bad decisions – but is he pure evil? I’m not sure about that. He is a technocrat, a coward…but I like to try to bring a little nuance. When Frank Herbert wrote the first book, he had some very precise intentions. He wanted the book to be perceived as a cautionary tale; a warning about messianic figures. He was disappointed how the book was perceived when it was first released. He felt the readers were thinking that it was a celebration of Paul Atreides, and they wanted Paul to be a hero. So, in order to correct that perception, he wrote a second book, Dune Messiah, that tried to correct the perception of the first book. So, with me knowing that, I tried to make this adaptation closer to Frank Herbert’s initial intention, which is that the movie is a warning. It’s not a celebration of Paul. Paul becomes something that he condemns – he betrays the people and the culture that he fell in love with.”
But that’s not the Paul Atreides we meet in Dune: Part Two. “Paul Atreides’ identity quest is something that’s quite moving,” explains Villeneuve. “The fact that a boy will finally find a home and consolidate his identity in another culture, is something quite beautiful and moving. The book brings a lot of hope, with the idea of human spirit – and it’s not something that is necessarily explored in the movie – but in the book, the idea that AI has been banned, that the human spirit is there to triumph, and that the idea is to improve humanity instead of improving machines is something that is a powerful message of hope.”
The best-selling science fiction novel of all time, Dune introduced readers to complex themes, such as the long-term survival and evolution of the human species, planetary science and ecology, intersecting with religion, politics, economics and power. “The book also explored the impact of the ecosystem on human beings and how we are related to the ecosystems and how we should reestablish this sacred quality of our relationship with nature, instead of trying to dominate nature. We should be more in harmony with nature, and respecting nature like the Fremen do…I think it’s something that speaks a lot to the youth.”
Dune: Part Two is in cinemas now. Click through for our reviews of Dune: Part One and Dune: Part Two.
