#thoughts on dune

[fuckyeahisawthat]

So there is this thing that the two Villeneuve Dune movies do together that I cannot stop thinking about, where they will present something (often, a weapon) in a context the first time around where it looks a certain way (often, very sexy and cool). And then they will present it again in a way that doesn't exactly negate your reading of the original context but makes you recoil in horror from the new context.

Paul and Jessica using the Voice to escape from their Harkonnen captors? Very sexy and cool. Look at them working together, mother and son, a couple of space witch badasses.

Jessica using the Voice on Chani to force her to participate in reviving Paul after he drinks the Water of Life? Horrifying. Saying you will be part of this myth that has been created to serve political ends that have nothing to do with your liberation, and if you don't do it voluntarily to save the person you love then I will make you do it.

Chani and Paul working together to take down the ornithopter gunship using those little shoulder-fired rockets? Very sexy and cool, we love guerrilla warfare against an occupying army. (I'm not being facetious here, this sequence is extremely satisfying to watch.)

The much later image of Paul silhouetted against the blast from the missiles from his family's private nuclear arsenal blowing up the shield wall? Nightmarish.

The way the climactic battle to retake the palace at Arrakeen extends into the night so that it begins to look very very much like the initial Harkonnen attack on the same place? I'm sure this is intentional; the whole third act is about taking a giant sledgehammer to the idea that the Atreides are the better or more civilized imperialists.

Perhaps my favorite example of this is the Atreides signet ring. When Paul first puts it on in the first movie, it's a symbol of him accepting that Leto is dead. It's a melancholy moment, but it's also a sign of Paul accepting the responsibility of his birthright as the new Duke.

Early in the second movie, when he is trying to be equal to the Fremen, he takes the ring off. And you just know that when he decides to put it back on again, that will be the sign that everything's about to go to shit. And when it happens it's a very similar moment--it is Paul accepting his birthright, just a different kind. But the accompanying feeling is oh no.

[kazz-brekker]

dune part 2 really is one of those films where everyone is like "this is the best thing ever" and you're like "it can't possibly be" and then you watch it and spend 2 hours and 46 minutes understanding why paul atreides has a cult the size of a planet

[phantasmicfish]

So I saw Dune Part 2 yesterday and I was initially super crushed because of the deviation from book canon but the more I think about it the more I sorta like it…

So without further ado here’s a list of stuff I liked about Dune Part 2:

- all the scenes initially of Paul growing closer to the Fremen. You can clearly see that they become friends, accept him as a Feydakin, that they’re laughing, joking, hanging out. (And contrast that to the end of the movie, where Paul has no more Fremen friends, only followers. In the book, this is echoed, where Paul recognizes that he has lost his friends to the Muad’Dib religion. Take book Stilgar, who truly embodies this… by the end of the book, Paul says: “I have seen a friend [Stilgar] become a worshipper.”

- giving Chani explicit rejection of Paul’s messiah status was an interesting choice. Chani’s main thought over part 2 is that they don’t need religion to save them, that through Fremen power and desert power, the Fremen can save themselves. She recognizes that this fanatical worship can be a vehicle to control and enslave her people, and I sorta wish we saw Paul lean into that more… that they found a way to stay together and ‘fight’ the prophecy together based on Chani’s ideals…

- also, I love how engrained this rejection of religion and prophecy is in her character. Book Chani takes no issue with her Fremen name, Sihaya (desert spring), but movie Chani hates it “because it’s part of some prophecy.” Later, we see that despite her rejection of prophecy and religion, that the prophecy does indeed come to pass— the tears of desert spring save Him aka, Chani saving Paul after he drinks The Water of Life. (Interesting how Jessica has to force Chani to save Paul using the Voice… another example of Jessica explicitly forcing Paul to become the messiah).

- adding more depth to Fremen culture— the South being the more religious fundamentalist tribes vs the North being more secular. Early on, the movie paints this immediate divide between the tribes of Fremen who accept Paul and Jessica versus those who treat them as offworlders (who murdered Jamis). In the books everyone accepts Paul and Jessica after Paul bests Jamis and Jessica quotes some scripture, but I think it makes more logical sense that there’d be friction over these two random offworlders coming in

- I love love loved Paul speaking at the meeting of the Fremen tribe leaders in the South. He fully accepts his messiah status, exercises his power of the Voice + his prescience as a way to command all the Fremen under his name

- I’m a big fan of omitting the two-year time skip, so with that I’m glad Leto II was skipped over entirely. I always felt that Leto II was an unnecessary character addition to the book, especially when he just dies and everyone sort of goes “oh well” and moves on, so I’m glad it’s omitted.

- another interesting choice was to paint Jessica as a straight up villain in comparison to the way her book counterpart was not. The movie Jessica we see here is seemingly corrupted by the Water of Life: she walks around talking to herself (Alia) and scheming Paul’s ascent to Lisan-Al Gaib. She knows about the Holy War, which is the very thing Paul is trying to prevent, yet she expresses no concern about bringing it to fruition. (Probably because Jessica knows it’s impossible to prevent, but still.) The very last line of the movie, where Alia asks Jessica what’s going on and Jessica says “The Holy War has begun” is just total villain in my mind— explicit acceptance of the Holy War, like it’s just another stepping stone in her plan. Plus, the fact that Paul has visions of Jessica leading him into this period of great starvation totally cements her as a villian.

- going off of that, I like that we see Jessica undergoing actual agony when she takes The Water of Life. When book Jessica and Paul take The Water of Life they accept it calmly and without obvious pain (book Jessica was sitting with her eyes closed, as if sleeping), so this physical reaction that Jessica has to the poison adds to the idea that The Water of Life did change her in a negative way.

- I feel like so far we’ve been introduced to Alia as just a weird talking fetus who’s been consorting with Jessica, so Paul’s vision where Alia says “I love you” really strikes home, that she really does care for Paul which we might not have understood otherwise

[shrooomcat]

“Paul has never killed a man.”

Dune dir. Denis Villeneuve

The mother and the son, watch each other kill.

[the-fatal-impact]

Paul looking at Feyd-Rautha: Oooh mom, do I really have to fight this weird guy?

Lady Jessica: Be grateful you don’t have to marry him.

Paul: What?

Lady Jessica: Nothing…

[madisoncounty]

She swallowed past a lump in her throat, looked up into her son’s eyes. "Paul…I want you to do something for me: choose the course of happiness. Your desert woman, marry her if that’s your wish. Defy everyone and everything to do this. But choose your own course. I…."

LADY JESSICA & CHANI KYNES IN DUNE: PART TWO (2024)

[californiannostalgia]

the inexorable corruption of power and the question of: was it fate? or was it the individual choices of ten people, twenty--a thousand people's individual choices crushed into sediment over multiple centuries?

is that what we call fate? just stories.

beginnings are such delicate times.

[15-lizards]

Imagine you are Lady Jessica. You’re bred and trained all your life to help create the prophesied “savior” of the world. In a mix of your own pride and love for the child’s father, you bear that savior. But it’s too early. Those who trained you say he is not the one. And because of it he’s in danger. You then must travel to a place that only wants to kill you, and nearly succeeds in the process. The only way to live, the only way your son lives, is to ensure that the prophecy becomes true. That your son really is that savior. So you do, you make it true, because it has to be true. You force fate. He doesn’t die. Hundreds die. Then thousands. Now millions. Your son is not only alive, but the emperor of the known universe. Worshiped like a god because you made him a god, and did it so well you convinced yourself of his divinity, his prophecy. He is near mad with every possible future laid before him, regrets and blood stain his hands. But he is alive. Wasn’t it all worth it? Was it?

[hypnosomniac]

DOES THIS SCENE MEAN NOTHING TO YOU PEOPLE!!! FEYD RAUTHA IS A BRAT WITH A PAIN KINK AND NOBODY IS TALKING ABOUT IT.

[dysfunctionalcreature]

just rewatched Dune Part 2 and noticed something, when Feyd Rautha enters the area for his birthday fight, and after he wins the fight, the people in the audience of the arena are chanting his name in a very rhythmic and quite frankly terrifying way - "Feyd Rau-tha! Feyd Rau-tha! Feyd Rau-tha!"

And after Paul kills Feyd Rautha, takes Irulan's hand in marriage, and declares war on the great houses, the Fremen people around Paul begin to chant - "Lisan al Gaib! Lisan al Gaib! Lisan al Gaib!"

They chant for Paul with the same rhythm and ferocity with which the Harkonnen audience chanted for Feyd Rautha earlier in the movie. If that doesn't show Paul's transformation and loss of humanity then idk what does

(also FeydPaul parallels in general yessssss I love every connection between these two fucked up boys, it's tragic that they barely even get ten minutes of screentime together)

[rabbitbites]

one thing i love about paul and feyd rautha is how many different dynamics they can have

for example, sometimes paul is the unflinching emperor and feyd is his blood thirsty guard dog who often needs to be reminded of his place

sometimes feyd is the ruthless and sadistic baron harkonnen and paul is his unwilling pet, his human trophy, who hates himself for the way he leans into feyd’s touch

sometimes paul is the charismatic, all knowing lissan al gaib whom feyd is quick to worship on bended knee

sometimes feyd is the outspoken and brazen na-baron with paul as his quiet bride, at his side constantly, content to pull the strings from the sidelines

and they’re all equally in character

[yasminhananis]

Dune: Part Two dir. Denis Villeneuve (2024) // The Northman dir. Robert Eggers (2022) // Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith dir. George Lukas (2005)

[saintsalia]

Rebecca Ferguson as Lady Jessica

DUNE: PART TWO (2024) - dir. Denis Villeneuve

[the-fatal-impact]

Paul: *kills Baron Harkonnen with no mercy*

Feyd-Rautha: Oh wow, that was hot!

Feyd-Rautha to Paul few seconds later trying to flirt: So, you know… I’m sort of family killer myself!

[meltedheartz]

thinking about how weird yandere!paul atreides would be ..

he's such a freak. an absolute weirdo around you, all lingering eyes and adoring smiles flashed your way.

paul knows you think he's a little off. a little too touchy with you, following you around like a lost puppy... you don't get it. he doesn't think you would, but he also doesn't quite care.

it's in the way he stares at you, albeit from a distance. the way he smiles. how he speaks to you. how he acts. all of it is a little unsettling, in plenty of ways.

after all, you're a boy... in the eyes of other people of course.

in your defense, you never bothered to reveal you aren't biologically a guy. no one asked! no one cared! no one thought about it! you passed so naturally, it was better to just blend.

you're rugged in all sorts of ways.

when you were nothing but a child, you'd climb atop of things you shouldn't have, you'd fight the other boys with fists and teeth, not hesitating to wield a sword or gun and join battle.

certainly, your parents fully believed you were the outcast of the family. the black sheep, the freak, the one they'd stash under the stairs to hide you from the world.

it got real bad when you cut your hair and would wrap fabric around your chest just to make sure you looked more masculine in the eyes of many. surely, you were crazy? you had to have been. going out in public like that — when you're supposed to be their precious daughter, their darling baby they'd dress in ribbons and bows, all sorts of jewelry.

you weren't really interested in those things... you like fighting. you like who you are. it's so much more comfortable, you feel so much safer.

until paul atreides comes around.

when you two first met, it was cordial. he kept a distance, despite being stony faced, he'd smiled at you and offered his name, asking for yours.

the two of you shake hands, professional and solely there for business. until you're sent to arrakis, and, well, it goes sideways.

he starts following you like a stray on the street... so eager to be near you, to feel the warmth of your scarred, rough hands; to stare at you and admire all the gashes and beatings you've received from your battles.

and it's just.. ugh. you hate it. you feel like you're being stalked everywhere you go, asking him dumb questions like, "shouldn't you be with chani??" "you don't have anything to be tending too, at the moment...?" "ah, are you sure you want to watch me spar and train? surely you have elsewhere to be." it irks him, just a little bit. ever since paul had locked eyes with you, his visions changed.

would he ever say what he saw? mm, maybe not. wouldn't want to scare you off!

but until he does make those visions a reality, he'll watch you from a distance. evaluate just why he sees children that look like the perfect mix of you and himself, why he sees so many different variations of wedding rings, why he sees you sleeping beside him in bed as he dreams.

just... until then. paul swears he'll make it a reality.