Rhys Dyer, '26
A Brief Summary:
The story of Dune is set on the planet of Arrakis in the year of 10191; Arrakis is the most important planet in the galaxy, as it is the only planet in which melange-spice is found. The Harkonnens previously had control over all spice production under the emperor’s orders and got incredibly wealthy off it. At the start of the story, the Padishah emperor, who controls where the Great Houses’ fiefdoms reside, assigned House Atreides to take control over Arrakis. The story follows the son of the Duke of House Atreides: Paul Atreides. Years before the Atreides' arrival to Arrakis, the Bene-Gesserit Missionary Protectiva infiltrated the planet and used religious propaganda and prophecy to manipulate the Fremen into believing Paul Atreides to be a messiah. This is where the religious controversy surrounding the movie/book comes from, as it shows how religion can be used as a weapon to manipulate the masses. This fabled messiah would save the Fremen and lead them to a green paradise. Arrakis happens to have one of the harshest environments and some of the most brutal living conditions throughout the galaxy, the messiah is said to bring life to Arrakis, making it green again. In the past, the Harkonnens ruled with an iron fist over the Fremen, the people native to Arrakis. House Atreides took a different approach and successfully attempted to ally with the Fremen. However, after the fall of House Atreides, Paul embarks on a journey to infiltrate the Fremen and uses his religious status to climb the ranks to try and become the messiah of the prophecy. If successful, he will have the power to control the Fremen and launch a revolt against the Harkonnens of devastating proportions. His actions could grant him a hold on the entire galaxy. Whoever controls the spice controls everything.
Why The Movies Are So Good
The director of Dune 1 and 2, Denis Villeneuve, seamlessly captures the plot of Dune from the book by blending world class special effects, a unique musical score, scenes straight out of your imagination, and incredible acting across the board. The film itself beautifully depicts the world of Dune, tactfully leaving out scenes from the novel and putting in new scenes, which I believe greatly helped with the pacing/rhythm of the movie, while not significantly affecting the plot. Disregarding the actual plot and story of the movie, this film has some of the best cinematography I personally have witnessed, winning multiple awards at the Oscars. This includes an Academy Award for cinematography, original score, visual effects, film editing, production design, and best sound. Although Dune won more awards from different critics, these were the most notable.
One of the main reasons the movie/books are so good is Denis/Frank Herbert is able to perfectly capture tone in each of the scenes, incorporating alluring character development, in addition to the interesting nature of the plots and side plots themselves. Because of this, each scene has more weight to it. For example, in one of the most famous scenes in the first movie in which Paul is forced to undergo the Gom Jabbar test, Denis’s implementation of tone is crucial for this scene's success. In this scene, Paul is being tested by a reverend mother, a high ranking woman, sort of like a priest, in the Bene Gesserit. Paul is forced to put his right hand in a box under threat of death from the Gom Jabbar poison needle held at his neck. Paul is forced to endure intense physical pain meant to mimic what it feels like for your hand to be burned to ash. If Paul was unable to control his physical impulses, he would’ve died as he “inherits too much power” as a son of a Duke. He has potential to be the Kwisatz Haderach, something viewers learn more about in the movie. In this scene, the reverend mother is clad in all black, and the room has low light sources ,as well as no ornate features. In addition, Denis cuts all background audio to focus on Paul and his reactions to the pain he is experiencing. The cinematography focuses on the dark, emotionless features of the reverend mother, as well as showing a close-up of the sweat and Paul’s face twisting in pain. All of these rhetorical choices induce a feeling of fear and amplify the raw emotion depicted from Paul’s actor, Timothee Chalamet. Many movies which revolve around a more serious plot or are simply just not outright comedy performances sometimes fail to create a compelling tone, as they add too much comic relief. Although comic relief is not inherently a bad thing, too much or weak humor in general greatly detracts from the tone and nature of a film. Denis perfectly balances the serious predicaments that Paul finds himself in with brief moments of comic relief to cut the intensity of some scenes while not altogether ruining it. Due to this, the audience is able to stay more emotionally invested in the plot and in the main characters. A more serious tone allows for it to feel real while better capturing the viewer’s attention.
One of the main reasons why people everywhere were captivated by Herbert’s novels and by the movie is because of well-thought out character development. Paul is the main protagonist in Dune. The reason Paul is a favorite character by many is partially due to the way Paul adapts to and pushes forward through any external factors working against him. At the age of only 15, Paul arrived on Arrakis with the rest of House Atreides as the only heir to his father, the Duke of Atreides. Paul is introduced as a character with a strong will for his age. He is depicted as someone who is obviously very shrewd. This is shown in the novel through Paul’s opinions about his family's precarious situation on Arrakis and in the movie through conversations with his father and some of his elite soldiers. Early on in the story, House Atreides is attacked by the Harkonnens. It is later revealed to the reader that Dr. Yueh betrayed Atreides and shut down all of the outer shields, leading to a devastating attack that nearly wiped out the entire House. In this part of the story, Paul’s father is murdered by the Harkonnens. Paul and his mother were sent out by the Baron into the desert to die as well. However, unaware of the fact that Paul had been learning the Voice (a power that allows someone to manipulate another person using their voice), he uses it on one of the guards inside the helicopter, which they took to the desert. Paul and his mother escape, and after days of searching find a Fremen Siech, an underground village.
Due to his father’s passing, Paul has been forced into becoming the Duke of House Atreides at only fifteen and now had the responsibility of leading Atreides out of their predicament and reclaiming their previous power. At first, we see Paul have a bit of an emotional breakdown at the loss of his father, however, this leads to a breakthrough in his development of the Voice. Stranded in the desert, Paul and his Mom look for a Fremen Sietch. After days of search, they find one of the villages by accident and are regarded as enemies. Paul is forced to fight in a one-on-one duel with one of the Fremen foot soldiers in order to be initiated into the group. Paul has spent years training in one-on-one battle and is forced to kill the man. This is the final catalyst in Paul’s journey since coming to Arrakis.
After leaving home, his father’s death, being stranded on a hostile planet, and now forced to take a life, Paul changes. Paul embraces his new role as Duke and as a member of a Fremen group. The change in his demeanor is evident. He is no longer a child. Paul makes the decision to rise up amongst the Fremen in hopes of controlling all the Sietch someday, effectively raising an army to fight against the Harkonens. Throughout seeing all of these hardships, it becomes very easy for the watcher to care for Paul and become more emotionally invested in his story. This is what makes Paul’s character so captivating.
Regardless of character development, use of tone, or any other rhetorical device tactfully used to create Dune, the movie and book also hold a unique plot. The story is slightly different between the novel and the movie, which I believe propels the movie forward while not diminishing any of the magic. The main differences between the book and the movie lie in the politics. In the novel, Frank Herbert really focuses on the politics of Arrakis, the Harkonnens, and the emperor himself. Frank originally created this novel as a criticism of religion and corruption in politics. Denis understands that the general audience is less interested in understanding the intricacies of Dune politics, so he cuts a large portion of the conversations and scenes out to pave the way for more action-oriented scenes. For example, in the novel, there was an entire side plot where the mentat for House Atreides was captured and used by the Harkonnens against Paul. In the movie, it doesn’t even mention or explain what mentats are. In addition, there is another side plot where Feyd-Rautha plans an assasination attempt on the Baron in order to seize power of the Harkonnen empire. In the movie, Feyd-Rautha has fewer scenes and shows no sign of rebellion. The Baron is also in more scenes where he is talking to important Guild officials or empirical officers that is cut out in the movie. I believe this was a good choice, as it would have slowed the pacing of the movie. The attention of the watcher and Denis was still able to accomplish the goal of making Feyd look insane, as well as depicting the Harkonnens as ruthlessly evil. Another major change was the fact that in the novel, after Paul defeats the Fremen soldier, he takes his wife and his two kids as his own, a very abrupt lifestyle change for a fifteen year old. Paul also lives in the Sietch for a while, although in the book, he doesn’t really stay in one place. It was probably a good choice to leave this part out of the movie, as the time in the book dedicated to explaining life on the Sietch and how Paul tries to connect with his newfound children greatly slows down the pacing of the plot and Paul’s agenda of leading the Fremen.
The wife and children don’t become major characters until later on either. I also think it would have tested the boundaries of what a fifteen-year-old can realistically take on at one time, regardless of how special you are. Another one of the major changes is that in the movie, Paul announces in the final scene after his duel with Feyd-Rautha that he will accept the hand of the princess of Irulan, the daughter of the empire. The Harkonnens are defeated, and Paul takes control of all spice fields and holds them ransom against the emperor and all the great houses. He threatens to destroy them if he does not marry the princess. Paul makes a claim for the throne in hopes of one day controlling the empire and by extension having the power to terraform Arrakis. This is part of the promise he makes to the Fremen to earn their allegiance as his soldiers. After Paul does this in the movie, Chani, Paul’s Fremen girlfriend, does not let this go. She leaves, crying on the back of a sandworm before the movie ends. In the novel, Chani is completely fine with Paul marrying a princess and just being his Fremen sidepiece.
This is likely a product of Frank’s time period. The novel came out in the 60s, and it was normal for most male authors, and men in general, to not fully flesh out their female characters. Frank kind of just uses Chani in the story as Paul’s love interest and doesn’t delve into her character or how she feels at all. This was another good choice from Denis, as he effectively adds another major character that the reader can connect and relate to, rather than Frank providing the reader with essentially a mindless love interest. Due to the alluring character development stemming from many external factors, the nature of the plot itself, and Denis’s ability to capture tone, Dune is one of the best films I have personally ever seen.
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