"Dune: Part Two" behind the scenes featurette "A New Set Of Threads"

DUNE:PART TWO ranks #19 by IMDb ranking (which is based on complicated maths) of the Top 250 movies of all time!!! The movie is #16 when the list is sorted by IMDb rating (different math!), and it's #1 by popularity at the moment. Also, since the list is always "live" these rankings are probably going to change. But WOW, what a cool achievement!

Sandworms coming out of the sandstorm (1978) by John Schoenherr

Dune: Part Two (2024) by Denis Villeneuve

Silence! 🔥

While Dune is (still) often misread as a tale about a hero doing the right thing, to view it solely as a warning of charismatic leaders is also misleading.

At least for the films, Paul isn’t really a bad guy for most of the story. Sure, he acts on impulse and is sometimes selfish. But he’s a kid. He’s lived a sheltered existence his whole life. The only friends and family he’s ever known were taken away from him in one fell swoop.

He clearly knows that exploiting the fremen is wrong and is even critical of his father (easily the most morally-sound Atreides in the series) for what he interprets as manipulation. He resents what his mother and the Bene Gesserit did to manipulate them into waiting for a messiah and constantly makes it clear that he doesn’t believe in these things.

Yes, he fancies himself a leader and a hero. But it’s not because he wants to be a God. He wants to be like his father. Noble, kind, heroic and honorable. But he never received the proper training. He sat in on one meeting at a time when he wasn’t even sure he wanted to be Duke.

His biggest enemy, aside from the Harkonnens and the Bene Gesserit, is the ignorance that comes from his youth. The same thing happens to Chani. Paul tells her he can’t go South. He knows what will happen if he does. But she, despite being very intelligent in knowing the danger of an outsider like Paul, believes that the power of true love will get them through any conflict.

Like Jessica, Paul becomes corrupted by the water of life. Any selfish intention he had before is accentuated by the poison. By this point in the film he’s basically a supervillain. In many respects Paul is just as much a victim of exploitation as the fremen are. He had no choice in how Jessica raised him. He didn’t choose to become a target for the Reverend Mother, who purposefully turned the Harkonnens against the Atreides because he was deemed to dangerous.

Paul is a bad guy by the end of Dune Part 2. It’s scary that people don’t see that. His “lead them to paradise” line after he digs his army into a deeper hole than he could have ever imagined clearly demonstrates that he intends to use fear and promises of peace to motivate the fremen to do whatever he wants. But he doesn’t get to this place because he’s always been evil to the core. He got there because he too was a victim of circumstance.

Anyway, that’s all I have to say. Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

"May thy knife chip and shatter."

Dune: Part Two (2024)

Dune: Part Two, dir. by Denis Villeneuve // A Panathenaic amphora (Greece (Attica), ca. 365BC - 360BC) (x)

The spice must flow

For those who are not hard Sci-fi fans, to help you understand just how monumental of a triumph Dune Part 2 is,

This is the Lord of the Rings of Sci-fi. The Empire Strikes Back of sequels. I haven’t been this impacted by a cinematic experience since The Return of the King. Every Sci-fi film made after this will likely be compared to it. It will inspire a generation of filmmakers. I know someone is sitting in the theatre experiencing this movie who now realizes they have a passion for film and sci-fi, and that is a beautiful thing. This is what the experience of seeing a film should be. Movies can change you—long live cinema.

The Hand of God in DUNE PART ONE & DUNE PART TWO

In DUNE 1 the Hand of God is shown as the protective glove of silence around Arrakis, that makes it difficult to use technology to govern the people and planet. In DUNE 2, the new ruler bypasses the need to use technology by calling upon the faith of the people & they willingly submit to the leadership of the Voice from the Outer World (Lisan Al Gaib) . Metaphorically speaking, Maud'Dib eclipses the Hand of God. Qithlas'ha

"There were a couple of scenes [in Dune (2021)] that were all about the training technique. There was one scene that I was quite sad they cut away. There are physical training methods, where Jessica teaches Paul the art of fighting with the knives that he later uses on Jamis [the Fremen warrior played by Babs Olusanmokun]" - Rebecca Ferguson for The Hollywood Reporter

Rebecca Ferguson as Lady Jessica and Timothée Chalamet as Paul Atreides photographed by Chiabella James on set of Dune (2021) | "The Art and Soul of Dune" and "Dune: Part One : The Photography"

Miss Saint Alia of the Knife 😇🔪

Dune hype is real and I can't wait to see Anya in Dune because I love her 😩

🧿Follow me on my ig if you like my art! : @/Aide.lon

Paul Atreides walking silhouette compilation in DUNE PART TWO (2024)

Dune Part Two (2024), dir. Denis Villeneuve