With the third Dune movie around the corner, I decided to re-read the first book and re-watch both films. Dune is a large novel, so it was definitely a good idea to split it in two! This post contains spoilers. I haven’t read any summaries or anything for this post, so it’s all my own impressions. I enjoy the attention to detail in these films, even down to a careful lack of ‘thinking machines’ in the futuristic technology. You can tell that so much consideration went into the making of the films. The plot is inevitably simplified, but perhaps that’s a good thing, as it can be challenging to understand the politics in the book.

First, a re-cap of the first film. When I wrote my ‘film of the book’ post, it was a few years since I’d read the book, so I was vague about what might have been changed. I read it last year, and again recently in preparation for the sequel, so I can point out a few major differences. One is the reduced significance of Kynes, the ecologist of Arrakis who is supposed to be a neutral representative for the Emperor. In the book, he’s captured and then released injured into the desert, where he hallucinates his father lecturing on their vision to make the planet green, before dying in a gas explosion of spice. Kynes’ power and ideas highly influence the Fremen, the natives of the planet. In the film, he’s assassinated by the Sardaukar, the Emperor’s military, but gets some kind of revenge by calling a worm, which engulfs them all. He is then never mentioned again, as far as I observed. Hawat, the Atreides’ Mentat (a human computer, invaluable for strategic assistance), was also captured by the Harkonnens in the original story, because the Baron had lost his own Mentat to the poison gas breathed out by Duke Leto. Hawat therefore works for the other side, retaining his suspicion of the Lady Jessica as the one who betrayed the Duke (later in the book, Hawat is distraught at his errors and ends his own life). In the film, I think we are to assume Hawat was lost in the Harkonnens’ attack, as he is never seen or mentioned again. A final change is that Paul and Jessica don’t realise they’re Harkonnens – the Baron is Jessica’s father – until late in the story (the second film), whereas it’s known earlier in the book. This makes it more of a plot twist.

Now, on to the second film. This occupies around the last third of the novel and has further significant changes. Time-wise, it follows almost straight on from the first film, whereas the book is a couple of years ahead, when Paul’s sister Alia is toddling around freaking everyone out with her prescience (Jessica became Reverend Mother while pregnant and this gave Alia the supernatural knowledge and skills of the Bene Gesserit tradition). It is Alia, and not Paul, who kills their grandfather the Baron. Paul and Chani have a baby son, who is lost in the next attacks. Paul is also responsible for the family of Jamis, the man he killed when joining the Fremen. It’s a little odd, as Paul was 15 at the time and suddenly he has a woman and two boys to care for. The film avoids all of this and focuses on Paul’s relationship with Chani, while the Fremen disrupt spice production, leading to the ultimate showdown with the Harkonnens and the Emperor’s forces.

Chani is probably the most changed character in the film. Although her book version is a fighter too, she is domestic, has a ceremonial role, high status as the daughter of Kynes, and is quite child-like – often described as elfin. Her portrayal by Zendaya is feisty and a little sullen, but trying to mask her true feelings for Paul, because she doesn’t want to believe in the prophecy. She even goes off on her own at the end of the film, feeling betrayed by Paul, as he intends to marry the Emperor’s daughter Irulan. Chani in the book is more accepting, because she will be a wife in all but name, but this wouldn’t suit a modern film audience, who expect strong female characters.

Another character who is somewhat changed, is Feyd-Rautha, the Baron’s heir (played by Austin Butler, aka Elvis!). He is introduced quite early in the book, but only appears in the second film. Irulan describes him as ‘psychotic’ and indeed he delights in unusually extreme cruelty and violence, but in the book he is not more depraved than the average Harkonnen. I think his character is altered to make a stronger contrast with Paul during the final confrontation, and to emphasise the ruthless scheming of the Bene Gesserit, who use him in their breeding programme so that whichever House wins the war, the bloodline is safe. Princess Irulan (Florence Pugh) is an odd role, because every chapter in the novel is headed by a quotation from one of her writings, published in the future, though she doesn’t appear in person until near the end. In the film, she has a sort of advisory role to the Emperor and with the Bene Gesserit; it is she who realises that Paul, presumed dead, is actually the legendary Muad’Dib who is fulfilling the prophecy, in a religion cultivated on Arrakis by the Bene Gesserit.

Finishing this post with a bit of fun, the worm-riding scene, where Paul can officially join the Fremen, is fantastic. It’s much more dramatic than the book version, where Paul does an adequate job and then everyone else joins him on the worm ride. In the film, the biggest worm on the planet is zooming towards him, cue fear from the crowd. It’s quite amusing. Of course, after a struggle to latch on the worm and get himself upright, Paul triumphs – cut to the afterparty. They never show how he disembarks from the worm, but I imagine it gradually slowing down like a bizarre funfair ride.

In summary, considering both of the films, they are great adaptations of the novel and the changes made are generally improvements.

Image: CineMaterial, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=73709643