Denis Villeneuve Explains Why Women Are the Epicenter of His Dune Universe
“I always have been, since I was born as a filmmaker, concerned, inspired, and sensitive about the female condition and women’s relationship with power,” Villeneuve tells Den of Geek when we sit to chat with him ahead of Dune: Part Two‘s release. “Why? Because I had been raised in the ‘60s and ‘70s in a feminist environment, which is something that I love. So what is specific about the way I approached Dune? I would say it’s probably women. That’s the first thing I said to Eric Roth, who started to do the adaptation at the beginning. He asked me to summarize in a word what I wanted to do, and I said, ‘Women!’”
The director continues, “I want the movie to be an adaptation about the Bene Gesserit. I want the Bene Gesserit to be at the center of the epicenter of this adaptation. It’s one of the things I feel is the most accurate with our time.”
The main Bene Gesserit Sisterhood characters of Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), Reverend Mother Mohiam (Charlotte Rampling), Lady Fenring (Léa Seydoux), and Princess Irulan (Florence Pugh) all have essential parts to play in the labyrinthine events which unfold in Dune: Part Two. Yet there’s another character, Chani (Zendaya), whose importance goes well beyond her part as Paul’s central Fremen ally and eventual lover/mother of his children in the books.
“In the book, Chani is a believer,” Villeneuve explains. “In this adaptation, Chani is part of a group of Fremen that don’t believe in this idea of a messianic figure. I did that for the audience to feel that the Fremen are in a society that is more complex, that everybody does not believe in the Bene Gesserit idea. This contrast gave me the possibility to have some perspective on Paul at the end.”
While we won’t tell you exactly how the film ends, Herbert’s final, exposition-heavy confrontations are told with maximum cinematic precision by Villeneuve and his Dune: Part Two co-screenwriter, Jon Spaihts. Complex verbal ideas are parsed down to the nub, and in some cases relayed with just a look or a gesture.
“It’s all about the character’s arc and the emotional impact of the film,” the director explains. “Discipline is required to be as economic as possible, specifically with dialogue. To always go the more direct way of doing things and trying to simplify. There’s an equilibrium when you’re trying to find a purity. The more simple you are, the more complex it becomes. It creates depth. When the surface is too dense, then you cannot go deeper. I tried to find that equilibrium onscreen. It took us months to write this part.”
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