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Dune - Denis Villeneuve — Page 4

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Guys, it’s spelled Villeneuve ! The e is (almost) always before the u in French.

Han: Hey Lando! You kept your promise, right? Not a scratch?
Lando: Well, what’s left of her isn’t scratched. All the scratched parts got knocked off along the way.
Han (exasperated): Knocked off?!

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Oops. Thanks Z6PO. If only I could remember anything from GCSE French…

“Remember, the Force will be with you. Always.”

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I for one really liked the Liet Kynes from the new movie, since her character was so much more active than either the Lynch version or the book version. Her death brilliantly used the threat and majesty of the desert power established with her first scene of the spice harvest and gave the sense of a person truly in thrall to and calling upon the religion of Shai Hulud.

You probably don’t recognize me because of the red arm.
Episode 9 Rewrite, The Starlight Project (Released!) and ANH Technicolor Project (Released!)

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I loved Liet Kynes played by Sharon Duncan-Brewster in Villeneuve’s Dune. My favorite character from the movie!

And by the way, Sharon Duncan-Brewster was in Rogue One:

Han: Hey Lando! You kept your promise, right? Not a scratch?
Lando: Well, what’s left of her isn’t scratched. All the scratched parts got knocked off along the way.
Han (exasperated): Knocked off?!

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jedi_bendu said:

Oops. Thanks Z6PO. If only I could remember anything from GCSE French…

It’s OK, I have no merit: I’m French! (But this kind of typo ruffles me the wrong way, I have to correct it, sorry)

Han: Hey Lando! You kept your promise, right? Not a scratch?
Lando: Well, what’s left of her isn’t scratched. All the scratched parts got knocked off along the way.
Han (exasperated): Knocked off?!

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NeverarGreat said:

I for one really liked the Liet Kynes from the new movie, since her character was so much more active than either the Lynch version or the book version. Her death brilliantly used the threat and majesty of the desert power established with her first scene of the spice harvest and gave the sense of a person truly in thrall to and calling upon the religion of Shai Hulud.

I had the opposite reaction to her death, which is I didn’t like it at all. Kynes’s death in the book is one of my favourite moments because it illustrated that he’s a scientist to the core, left to die in the desert without his stillsuit and he spent his last moments reflecting on the planetary ecosystem and having an imaginary conversation with his father, very fitting for a scientist. The movie on the other hand felt like they were shoving down my throat how much of a badass she is by how they portrayed her death.

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I do like the book portrayal of the scene, but it would have been difficult to effectively convey that delirious conversation. Besides, a movie needs action and with scenes like Thufir seeing the Fremen’s ferocity cut, it makes a lot of sense for that fey brutality to be transferred to a character that has already been established.

You probably don’t recognize me because of the red arm.
Episode 9 Rewrite, The Starlight Project (Released!) and ANH Technicolor Project (Released!)

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Villeneuve has stated that he wants to make three Dune movies at the most. I assume he wants to adapt the story all the way to Children of Dune, which is where Paul’s story ends. I hope he gets his wish.

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 (Edited)

Kynes death is a difficult one to handle I agree in film.

I think in a sense they wanted to get it overwith in one scene.

The Spice blow that he dies above is the moment that Kynes concludes “the spice is the worm / the worm is the spice” one and the same.

This is heard while paul takes the water of life in the Lynch version and I wonder if it was at this moment we were to see that spice explosion as he sees and feels his last dying moments. Obviously the baby worms or sand trout is where the water of life comes from also.

Delirious desert collapse and then final death coupled with an explosion from underneath is a weird death scene I must admit.

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In the novel the information that there is gas rising underneath him is all delivered through Kynes’ thoughts, and especially since Villeneuve stayed away from voiceover dialogue for characters’ thoughts, it would have been a strange death on film. Given Kynes’ religious reverence for the sandworm earlier in the movie, I thought it was a brilliantly fitting death and foreshadows the advantage the fremen have over the harkonnens in knowing the desert well.

“Remember, the Force will be with you. Always.”

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jedi_bendu said:

In the novel the information that there is gas rising underneath him is all delivered through Kynes’ thoughts, and especially since Villeneuve stayed away from voiceover dialogue for characters’ thoughts, it would have been a strange death on film. Given Kynes’ religious reverence for the sandworm earlier in the movie, I thought it was a brilliantly fitting death and foreshadows the advantage the fremen have over the harkonnens in knowing the desert well.

Yeah it was handeled fairly well given “how to adapt it?”

I liked that in the 2021 version she took out the maker hooks trying to escape but I think she was swallowed by a worm with the attackers not by a spice blow /explosion Which made sense because she planted the thumper.

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On second viewing I must confess that I thoroughly dislike gender-swapped Liet Kynes. Sharon Duncan-Brewster delivered her lines as if she was just reading them out loud, thus giving a very wooden performance. I also hate how Kynes is often condescending towards outsiders which greatly contrasts with book Kynes who is very deferential to avoid suspicion. And for those insisting the gender swap doesn’t matter, well since she’s the Imperial ecologist and is thus under the Imperium’s supervision, wouldn’t conceiving a Fremen child raise a lot of suspicion from someone who is pretending to not be a Fremen? Male Kynes would have no such problem concealing the fact that he’s fathered Fremen children from the Imperium.

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fmalover said:

I also hate how Kynes is often condescending towards outsiders which greatly contrasts with book Kynes who is very deferential to avoid suspicion.

Kynes in the book is repeatedly warned by Gurney for not being respectful enough to the Duke. He is never quite condescending, but speaks with an air of authority and often in a cold and judgemental manner. This is exactly the same with Sharon Duncan-Brewster’s version of Kynes.

I suppose you mean Kynes’ pregnancy would be obvious to the Imperium but I don’t believe she’s regularly reporting to the Emperor in person. It’s clear she has spent much time among the fremen and likely spent her pregnancy with them as well. Of course, it’s not even confirmed yet that Kynes is Chani’s mother in the new movies. Even if that’s carried over from the novel and she is, this is a very minor nitpick.

I didn’t get the sense the performance was wooden at all. I think you’re making a much bigger deal out of something which really makes no difference to the character. And besides, diversity is indeed important, no matter what some people say.

“Remember, the Force will be with you. Always.”

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Zendaya confirmed in an interview that Sharon Duncan-Brewster told her that she plays her mother.

Han: Hey Lando! You kept your promise, right? Not a scratch?
Lando: Well, what’s left of her isn’t scratched. All the scratched parts got knocked off along the way.
Han (exasperated): Knocked off?!

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jedi_bendu said:

fmalover said:

I also hate how Kynes is often condescending towards outsiders which greatly contrasts with book Kynes who is very deferential to avoid suspicion.

Kynes in the book is repeatedly warned by Gurney for not being respectful enough to the Duke. He is never quite condescending, but speaks with an air of authority and often in a cold and judgemental manner. This is exactly the same with Sharon Duncan-Brewster’s version of Kynes.

I suppose you mean Kynes’ pregnancy would be obvious to the Imperium but I don’t believe she’s regularly reporting to the Emperor in person. It’s clear she has spent much time among the fremen and likely spent her pregnancy with them as well. Of course, it’s not even confirmed yet that Kynes is Chani’s mother in the new movies. Even if that’s carried over from the novel and she is, this is a very minor nitpick.

I didn’t get the sense the performance was wooden at all. I think you’re making a much bigger deal out of something which really makes no difference to the character. And besides, diversity is indeed important, no matter what some people say.

On the subject of diversity, a lot of online articles are popping up about how despite borrowing heavily from MENA culture, Villeneuve’s adaptation is practically devoid of MENA people, and I kinda agree. For instance, I always imagine Chani as looking very middle eastern and much prettier than Zendaya, whom I don’t consider to be the least bit attractive.

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The thought did occur to me, actually. It can be justified as many different races have clearly settled on Arrakis in the past, but yes I agree Chani should probably have been played by a middle eastern or african actor. I do like Zendaya though.

Another topic - I was reading this article and Denis Villeneuve touches on why he chose a very realistic colour palette. I suspected it was for realism (as the film hasn’t been de-saturated, the colours are what the deserts of Wadi Rum and Abu Dhabi actually look like) and he seems to confirm this.

https://www.indiewire.com/2021/08/denis-villeneuve-dune-2-zendaya-protagonist-1234658258/

“Remember, the Force will be with you. Always.”

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I agree with Villeneuve’s decision to make Chani the protagonist in part 2, because in the book Paul’s prolonged exposure to the unrefined spice further unlocks his mental capabilities, and IIRC both Jessica and Chani notice that he’s becoming increasingly aloof, and audiences need a grounded, relatable character.

I guess I’ll just crank up the colour saturation on my TV settings when the movie comes out on Blu-ray.

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fmalover said:

I agree with Villeneuve’s decision to make Chani the protagonist in part 2, because in the book Paul’s prolonged exposure to the unrefined spice further unlocks his mental capabilities, and IIRC both Jessica and Chani notice that he’s becoming increasingly aloof, and audiences need a grounded, relatable character.

Great point. I’m excited to see how Timothée plays the Paul from the last section of the book, the fearsome military leader who has lost some of his humanity. I think Timothée captured the darkness in Paul, for example in the Gom Jabbar scene, really well.

“Remember, the Force will be with you. Always.”

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The visuals and score exceeded my expectations. However, I thought dividing it into two movies would allow for a lot more scenes from the book to be included and in that regard it falls far below my expectations.

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I feel like they severely short-changed Doctor Yueh.

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Yeah, he had a lot of cut scenes I believe. I really want an extended cut of this film one day.

“Remember, the Force will be with you. Always.”

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Somewhere else someone has pointed out one aspect of Yueh’s treason that breaks suspension of disbelief and makes the Atreides forces, one of the best in the Imperium, look inept in retrospect.

Did Yueh really disable the entire Arrakis defence grid all by himself?