The Visionary Filmography of Denis Villeneuve
Putting my reservations about the French-Canadian filmmaker aside, I believe Denis Villeneuve is a visionary filmmaker with many tricks up his sleeve. He has put the textured dramas and thrillers (“Polytechnique”, “Sicario”) aside for a broader, more luxurious scope in the sci-fi genre (“Arrival,” “Blade Runner 2049”). However, he still finds a way to provide some of his latest pictures with the elements that make his features intriguing, at the very least: placing the viewer inside the world of characters who feel lost in their respective environments. Some more effective than others, he has managed to build a massive career for himself due to his imagination and intuition, following the steps of Christopher Nolan and James Cameron.
Although he has already crafted films based on source material, his latest project is definitely the biggest challenge of his career: adapting Frank Herbert’s influential novel, “Dune.” He isn’t the first director to step up to the plate. There have been some that try to put the acclaimed book onto the big screen. Legendary (and far better, if you’d ask me) filmmakers like David Lynch and Alejandro Jodorowsky have tried to adapt it. However, they failed to do so for various reasons—loss of creative control, budgetary reasons, and a vision lost in the translation from page to film. But that isn’t going to stop him. And, if any other filmmaker working today could have managed to create something worth and equating to the scope it warrants, it would be Villeneuve.
In-between spectacle and mediocrity lay Villeneuve’s first “Dune” film, which feels like a curtain raiser rather than a fully-fledged project. As it ran its course, nothing actually happened, and it dared to end with the line: “This is only the beginning.” It was a baffling experience, if I’m being candid. Yet, I still hoped for whatever he would bring to the table next time. And so the spice opera continues, with the much-anticipated sequel, “Dune: Part Two” finally arriving in theaters after multiple delays due to the actor’s strike.
The Second Installment of The Spice Opera Makes the Same Mistakes
This time, Villeneuve’s vision is more significant in scope and bolder in his stylistic decisions. The world Paul Atraides (Timothée Chalamet) and the Fremen inhabit feels more defined than ever before. The Fremen and Paul’s relationship with them is given more focus this time around. In terms of narrative, there are far more tangibilities in the cursed relations between “the messiah” and “his people.” The sands of Arrakis sway through the atmosphere. It covers the cinema in spice as the kaleidoscopic yet monotone color-wise visuals hold the viewer in a trance. However, he made the same mistakes that cursed his first film in 2021. For every step forward Denis Villeneuve makes, he unfortunately takes two or three steps back.
It makes this spice opera sequel lack the necessary tension, melancholy, and dread that arises from the malevolent rise of Paul Atraides—whose rancor and malice will be seen in ‘Dune: Messiah’ if the director decides to tackle it. “Dune: Part Two” picks up immediately after the first one, where we see Paul (Chalamet) and Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) learning the costumes and traditions of the Fremen. They have recently joined Chani’s (Zendaya) group and are on their way to meet the elders. This comes after plenty of drawbacks from the people. The divide themselves into two sections: the ones who believe that Paul is the messiah and those who don’t. Curiosity and suspicion arise among the people. There’s no evidence that Paul is indeed “the one” who will save them. Some even believe they are spies for the Harkonnen or another blood-seeking empire.
But that’s why he is being tested and constantly watched. These first few interactions are some of the film’s most interesting scenes, where the division arises discourse amongst the Fremen. Stilgar (Javier Bardem) is trying to make most of the crowd believe in the arrival of the Kwisatz Haderach, later given the name of Muad’Dib—the one who, as the prophecy states, will “lead the people to true freedom and the Promised Land,” a place with life and nurture. As all of this transpires, the Harkonnen have regained control of spice production on Arrakis due to Baron Vladimir’s (Stellan Skarsgård) genocidal attacks. And the rise of a new heir to the planet covered in spice, Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen (Austin Butler), is coming for blood. This first act shows plenty of montages and collages as if we were in a Terrence Malick film.
The Bold Ideas That Work to Fruition
This is meant to be a time lapse between Paul learning the customs and Lady Jessica evolving into the Reverend Mother of the Bene Gesserit. She will be the one who will later give birth to the sacrilege “Abomination”. Accompanied by the narration of Princess Irulan Corrino (Florence Pugh), these montages are used a bit much, and Villeneuve cuts too many corners in the process. I understand this is way better than doing a bunch of exposition dumps concurrently. But the overreliance on this method is what bothers me a lot. The one thing I did enjoy is the scenes in which Villeneuve uses “2001: A Space Odyssey” as inspiration. The unborn baby of Lady Jessica speaks to her as if the creation is manipulating its succubus.
Everything involving Rebecca Furguson’s character managed to intrigue me. Not because of how she portrays the character or her astonishing performance but because of how Villeneuve depicts this inner consumption of the mind, body, and soul. That’s when I finally thought that Villeneuve was nailing it for once, managing to create substance out of a source material difficult to grasp in the cinematic language. In those moments, I found myself entirely moved by the story itself. There’s also a vision scene that has some of the best lines in the film. It spoke about fate versus free will. The inescapability of the latter is in contrast with how the former can lead to significant obstructions in the future. We saw how the characters were challenging themselves with mental bouts.
Denis Villeneuve’s bolder ideas are coming to fruition so that you can sense both the passion for the source material and the impact of the narrative’s development. But that feeling doesn’t last for long. As it runs its course, the storytelling decisions become less than the sum of its parts. Another issue I have is how the Fremen’s religion is given an occasional comedic angle. This is seen through Bardem’s character. It takes the seriousness of the source material’s notions. Coincidentally, it takes the viewer out of the experience.
The Missing Pieces in Each Act
Another element that does the same damage is the performance by Austin Butler. He graces his brutal character with an utterly ridiculous Southern Elvis-like accent. Butler doesn’t feel like he is acting in the same film as the rest of the cast. If he were a menacing antagonist, it would be fine. But his aura doesn’t ooze malice; he just stands out because of his poor decisions acting-wise. With his pantomime line-reading, Christopher Walken is far more of a threat than the vicious character Butler is playing. Almost hitting the three-hour mark, “Dune: Part Two” still feels incomplete when looking at the whole picture.
In each act, you think that bits and pieces are missing to get a proper multidimensional adaptation. You can make the case that everything in the book isn’t going to fit into that runtime. “Dune: Part Two” needs more time and a broader canvas to ensure it is a pure adaptation. Yet, the problem is that it feels like it is running out of story. And that’s why we see plenty of action set-pieces for the modern-day demographic sparse throughout each act. It wouldn’t bother me if these were shot with verve or brio. However, the misguided, fragmentary nature of this adaptation makes the final battle sequence lackluster. It is hasty, anti-climatic, and vacuous when considering the scope and canvas attached.
“Dune: Part Two” hits theaters worldwide on February 29th, 2024.
