Much of the book’s politicking and intrigue is missing entirely. While we meet the Baron Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård) and his nephew Beast Rabban (Dave Bautista), Paul’s Harkonnen analog, Feyd-Rautha, is nowhere to be found. Villeneuve and co-writers Jon Spaihts and Eric Roth made a narrative decision to withhold a great deal, presumably for the second film. This means that it leaves out much of the story as well as numerous characters and scenes that we encounter much earlier on in the book. It covers roughly the first two thirds of the book itself, right up to the novel’s time-jump, essentially. The important thing you need to know about Dune is that it is only the first of a two-part adaptation of Herbert’s novel. Paul Atreides and the Reverend Mother Credit: Warner Bros Thanks to his training in ‘The Way’, Paul endures, passing the test and taking his first step toward his destiny-a destiny that this film only begins to explore. In the box is “only pain” she tells him, but should Paul remove his hand, he’ll die. Paul is tested-the Bene Gesserit think he might be the “chosen one” aka the Kwisatz Haderach-by placing his hand in a box while the Reverend Mother holds a poison needle called a gom jabbar to his neck. Here, the Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam (Charlotte Rampling), chief witch of the Bene Gesserit and Truthsayer to the Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV, is waiting. Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet), son of Duke Leto and Jessica, is brought by his mother to a room in Castle Caladan. The novel’s opening sequence comes much later in the film. Here is a water planet, green and grey, mountaintops shrouded in blankets of cloud, rugged but habitable-a stark contrast to the endless sands and sweltering heat of Arrrakis.ĭirector Denis Villeneuve’s Dune doesn’t bother sticking to the letter of the novel, choosing instead to juggle chronology when necessary to ease audiences into what is a complex and sometimes confusing narrative. Stunning glimpses of the Atreides home world, Caladan, and its rocky beaches and tumultuous oceans root us in a place that is utterly foreign to the arid sands House Atreides will soon call home. We are introduced to Duke Leto and his Bene Gesserit lover and concubine Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) as well as various members of their household including the swashbuckling Duncan Idaho (Jason Momoa), the oddly baliset-free Gurney Halleck (Josh Brolin) and the Duke’s advisor and mentat, Thufir Hawat (Stephen McKinley Henderson).
It’s a slight divergence from the book, but one that feels necessary to make the adaptation work on-screen.
The mysterious Spacing Guild and its Navigator use the spice to control their monopoly on space travel, granting them an iron hold over the Imperium itself.Īll of this is established, briefly, during the opening of the film in order to set the stage for what’s to come. Spice is the most valuable substance in the known universe, granting not only an elongated life-span but also special abilities to various powerful factions including the mystical order of the Bene Gesserit. House Harkonnen, the wealthy and powerful rulers of Arrakis for nearly a century, have been ordered to leave and return to their home planet of Giedi Prime, leaving a vast fortune behind.Īrrakis is the only planet in the known universe where the magical spice mélange can be found. The film, wisely, sets the stage for the greater conflict early, introducing us to its chief players before diving headlong into the story.ĭuke Leto (Oscar Isaac), head of the powerful House Atreides, has been ordered by the Padishah Emperor to take control of the planet Arrakis. Of course, this is nothing like the opening to Frank Herbert’s novel upon which Dune is based. Gurney Halleck, Duke Leto and Thufir Hawat on Caladan Credit: Warner Bros
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