Marlborough Express - Weekend Express
Dune: Part Two delivers artistry and intelligence
The last time we saw the desert planet of Arrakis, at the end of Dune: Part One, in 2021, the allegedly wholesome and honourable Atreides whānau had been mostly wiped out in a surprise attack by the fascistic, slap-headed Harkonnens.
The two dynasties have been enemies for centuries, but an unexpected offer from the – unseen – emperor to take over the governance of the planet has turned out to be a dastardly trap. And now the Atreides are being bulldozed into piles and torched, while the Harkonnens look on and celebrate that Arrakis is back in their chubby little hands.
Although it doesn’t get mentioned much in Part Two – the first instalment did more than its share of the heavy lifting of the exposition, so it might be worth a quick re-watch before you head out to see Part Two – Arrakis is the only known source of melange – “spice”, which is by far the most valuable substance in existence and without which interstellar travel and extended life are impossible.
The third-wheel in this epic of warring families are the Fremen, the Indigenous people of Arrakis, who have been keeping their heads down and fighting a guerrilla war against whichever colonising empire happens to be exploiting their planet at the moment.
We learn early that Arrakis has been a battleground for generations and that the Fremen are determined to outlast the whole bloody lot of them and then live to see a time when a prophecy will come true and a leader will emerge to take them all towards some misty notion of “freedom”.
Frank Herbert’s masterpiece has been challenging film-makers ever since it rolled off the printing presses in serial form between 1963 and 1965. But it was clear in 2021 that Denis Villeneuve (Arrival, Sicario) had found exactly the blend of art and technology to pull it off.
Dune, in its best moments, is a Shakespearean space-opera and Villeneuve understands very well that unless the stakes are established at a personal and intimate level – between lovers, siblin*gs,
sons and daughters – then all the battles and explosions count for bugger all. In 2021, Dune was the best sci-fi and – very nearly – one of the best war-movies, I had ever seen.
A lengthy second-act detour to the home-world of the Harkonnen is this Dune’s most jaw-dropping set-piece. We are there to get better acquainted with a new villain, another psychotic nephew of the Baron. This is the same character played by pop-star Sting in a pair of winged battle-panties in David Lynch’s 1984 imagining of the book. (And if nothing in the last sentence makes sense to you, please Google it. But it’s not a sight you’ll ever be able to un-see.)
Elvis’ Austin Butler takes the role here. He is joined by Florence Pugh, Léa Seydoux and Christopher Walken as the other new players in this instalment.
Villeneuve and DOP Greig Fraser shoot these scenes like Leni Riefenstahl let loose on Fritz Lang’s Metropolis. Part Two of Dune is in every way the equal of Part One, but in this sequence, the cinematography, soundtrack, set and costume design, choreography and the absolute perfection of the casting come together for a few minutes to show us something new and wholly nightmarish.
It is a stunning set-piece, and it – again – makes an absolute muppet out of anyone who ever said, “I’ll wait until I can watch it at home”.
Listen, some films need to be seen on a screen the size of a sportsfield with speakers all around you cranked up to 11. Dune: Part Two is one of those.
Whether you think you’re interested in a sci-fi or not, it is a powerful and quite beautiful reminder of what a stunning medium cinema can still be, when enough ambition, intelligence, artistry – and money – all come together in the same place. Bravo.