Dune: Part Two
I've heard/read this film being Villeneuve's Dune's Empire Strikes Back. The Darker One. The Essential One. The more Epic and more timeless sequel. Or The Two Towers. The less awarded second one taken as a sign for the third to be The Return of the King level defining. If the follow up to THIS is something akin to a Return of the King in scope, impact and depth than the onclusion could cement Dune as THE trilogy of Science Fiction. I couldn't say that that trailer didn't take over my thoughts and twitter timeline like a storm. So ... maybe.
Dune Part Two feels like everything that was teased in Part One. The one to truly deliver on the promise of being a scifi epic and the defining adaptation of Herbert's classic. And if Part Two does anything, than it is bringing the story of the first Dune to its (expected) conclusion. Telling how Paul went from hunted to hunter. How he caved in and became the promised messiah. The one who leads the way.
And boy how Chalamet went full-on dictator in his speech to the Fremen. It felt like witnessing one of the all-time moments of modern cinema. An all-time performance if nothing else. Through showing the transformation from teenage boz to conqueror, a necessity in spite of love and doubt. And in that love Part Two differs from the original. Stands on its own as a modern interpretation.
One that, I must shamefully admit, I criticized at first for this. Why would Chani leave Paul? Not understand that he does not want to degrade her but chooses her still. That the marriage to Irulan is a necessity. Marriage of the old fashioned aristocratic type. But she doesn't want to be just a side piece. Even if he loves her and would only want to have children with her. If the marriage to the princess is nothing but a professional relationship. But for Chani his choice was the moment when she lost him to his agenda. She told him, she'd love him as long as he stayed himself. Which then, in her eyes, he didn't. She cared enough to watch him fight for his life against Feyd but she couldn't watch him become someone else. Become the Emperor. Become the warmonger. The igniter of a war in his name. So she left. She is meant to be our anchor in this epic that is meant as a warning. That wants us to watch our protagonist go in a direction where we can't follow him. Should not sympathize anymore. Fear him and or for him. Though can't we understand him (yet).
With this ending Villeneuve wrapped up the first novel but again, left us wanting more. Even as a book reader I felt left hanging. I knew, hoped, that Messiah would happen, which felt more plausible after we were unsure if we would even get Part Two, but I was left wondering what it would look like. Part Two left me curious. I was enchanted by the spectacle and grandeur of Part Two, felt missing only little moments (where is Tufir?), but also now come to realise that I feel more content knowing that Part Three is coming. Because Part Two also feels like an appetizer for more. If Chani would've stayed it would've felt more final like the novel. Paul starting a war not to be seen but its impact to be felt, on the throne with his love by his side. But with this ending we are again left hungry. Left with curiosity for Messiah. Dune Part Two therefore feels like the conclusion to the first half of the whole. More a Dune 1.5. I hope it's more The Two Towers than The Last Jedi. Because TLJ, at the time of watching, felt like something new while still familiar; leaving me curious for the next part. Of which nothing came. But I believe that Part Three will deliver. Will be a ROTK. Bring the story of Paul to an end. Making this Dune definitive. Not just as an adaptation but as a work of its own. Making both Part One and Two better in retrospect. The path is laid.