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Dune is a complex, expansive saga, long cursed in cinematic terms, which today sees the second chapter of Denis Villeneuve's colossal project to revive and, finally, give a worthy visual version to Frank Herbert's work.
Long awaited and finally also postponed due to the writers' strike, here is now Dune part two.
The religious theme in this second part, after having been hinted at, albeit significantly, in the previous one, is placed above everything else here and becomes predominant. And along with it, therefore, fanaticisms, the desperate search/wait for a Prophet, leading to eternal sociological and anthropological reflections. Issues related to Faith, power, and the control of peoples (religion is the opium - or the spice, in this case - of the people, as someone said...), proselytism and revolt that are inherent in any era throughout history, and which Herbert saw as possible even in the very distant future he imagined in his saga.
The chosen one, the Messiah, a man who can unite time and space, past and future.
Themes that, indeed, Villeneuve had already touched upon in Blade Runner 2049, where Deckard and Rachel's natural daughter could inspire change and resurgence for humans and replicants.
The controversial sequel to Ridley Scott's masterpiece remains the gamble of the Canadian director's career, his great failure (not solely his fault, anyway) but nevertheless a film that contained interesting points of reflection, given by an increasingly dehumanized and, in all respects, post-human vision of the future. A future of holograms and solitude, profit and simulacra. Which will be ours.
There is thus a spiritual and thematic continuity in Villeneuve's work, which, although not an author in the strict sense, has recurring interests, such as the idea of Destiny: his masterpiece, his greatest film to date remains Arrival. The acceptance of one's inevitable destiny, following dreams and/or revelatory visions, is the basis of Villeneuve's science fiction journey.
Science fiction, unlike the Italian term fantascienza, is indeed more suitable to describe a genre where the narrative serves future scenarios that are increasingly less fanciful but rather, possible if not close to proximity.
However one looks at it, Villeneuve's vision is thus an extremely philosophical one, combined with the grandeur and spectacle that serve it, and which in these Dune films find an almost unprecedented dimension.
The desert worms, the mass scenes of war and battle, the staging of ceremonies and rituals of a returning universal aristocracy, of factions: everything in Dune is impressive, and in part two even more so than in the first.
But all these aspects become peripheral when compared to the main one, as mentioned, of the Messianic Cult leading to Paradise.
Beyond all this, Dune is also a political epic: a universe of great houses, with a pyramidal style and linked to the ideal of blood descent, in opposition to one another and to the egalitarianism of a people like the Fremen, fighting and strong in the deep knowledge of their land, and above all of the Desert. A symbiotic relationship with the sands and the planet that, before it was colonized, was called Dune.
The best character remains Lady Jessica, now Reverend Mother: ambiguous, neither totally positive nor totally negative, perfectly balanced between political and spiritual interests.
It's a shame not to have seen fully exploited the immense potential of one of the most fascinating contemporary villains like Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, but here to steal the scene is nephew Feyd-Rautha, played by the unrecognizable Austin Butler and, in the unfortunate Lynch version, by Sting.
Dune will accompany us for many more years before it is completed, even for cinema.
The second part of this immense colossus enthused me at times, whereas the first did so entirely. From the point of view of scenic impact, as I said, it even manages to surpass the previous one, but it loses the charm of a coming-of-age story and the introduction and discovery of worlds that made the first chapter unforgettable.
Villeneuve also yields to the temptation to include some mainstream action movie clichés, a few too many quips, and rather cloying sentimental scenes between Chalamet and Zendaya, but notwithstanding these flaws, this first sequel remains a great cinematic experience.
As far as I'm concerned, Villeneuve is the best mainstream and blockbuster director of today, even superior to Nolan.
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