Dune: Part Two

When it comes to faith I think a lot of movies, especially coming from younger brash filmmakers, have a lot of bite but nothing to chew on. The institutions of religion have never been laid more bare than they are at this moment in history so of course we have paved the way for a disdain and cynicism in our media. Of course I can’t blame them these can be corrupt and insidious places breeding grounds for manipulation and greed but I often see little new ground covered. Dune resonates with me because while it makes clear the fault of the institution it also demonstrates the role of the follower. Especially today, people outside of a religion can fail to delineate the institution from the followers but it can be an important one to make. Institutions want this line to be blurred but the truth is there is almost always a hierarchy of power and the follower and the institution have different relationships with each other. Dune demonstrates how and why people have faith and it questions you on your faith. Everyone else is struggling with their faith; Stilgar wants to have faith in Paul, Chani wants to have faith in her people, Paul wants to have faith in himself. I don’t think Dune ends on any complete answers but what I do think it does is generate empathy and consideration for questions of faith. Even in the fanaticism that surrounds Paul there is understanding and humanity that underscores the triumph of the journey with an ultimate tragedy.