The sci-fi book Denis Villeneuve calls a “masterpiece”
Over the last decade or so, Denis Villeneuve has announced himself as one of the most important figures in contemporary science fiction cinema. With the wildly impressive Arrival and Blade Runner 2049 under his belt, Villeneuve is sitting comfortably at the table of modern sci-fi’s great directors.
Of course, one ought not to forget his magnificent adaptation of Frank Herbert’s iconic science fiction novel Dune starring Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin and Zendaya, amongst many others, which is the third adaptation of the legendary novel following David Lynch’s rather disastrous 1984 effort and John Harrison’s 2000 TV miniseries.
Focusing on the noble House Atreides and its heir Paul, Dune focuses on a war that takes place on the desert planet Arrakis, the sole source of the highly valuable psychotropic substance spice. Villeneuve’s version pays great attention to the intricacies of the original novel, which proves the director’s deep love for the source material.
In an interview with Wired, Villeneuve reminisced on the first time he ever read Herbert’s legendary science fiction novel. “I read it when I was 13 or 14 years old,” he said. “The first Dune book is a tremendous, powerful adventure of a young boy discovering a new world. At the same time, I was impressed by how intelligent it was.”
“It was very relevant regarding what was happening on Earth—from an environmental point of view and religious point of view,” the director added. “It stayed with me through the years, haunted me. So, when people were saying, ‘Well, what would be your biggest dream?’ I would say, ‘Dune.’”
In the same interview, Villeneuve was also asked about Baron Harkonnen, who was said to be depicted in the book as a stereotypical villain. It was at that point that Villeneuve gave Herbert’s novel the highest of praise but also admitted that it might have been improved.
“It’s true. The book is probably a masterpiece, but that doesn’t mean it’s perfect,” he said. “It has some weaknesses, and it was a space for me to explore. Baron was one of those elements. I wanted to make sure that it was not, as you said, a caricature or a goofy bad guy. I wanted the Baron to be threatening, to be intelligent, to be sophisticated in his own ways.”
So, the Canadian director’s words prove that one can have great admiration for another artist’s work and yet still find ways to make it better. In the case of a novel being made into a movie, there is a great opportunity to improve an original work’s weaknesses, and it’s fair to say that Villeneuve more than accomplished that with Dune.
