The most important scene in ‘Dune’, according to Denis Villeneuve
At a time when many were convinced that the condition of cinematic sci-fi was in crisis, Denis Villeneuve came along with his own take on Frank Herbert’s Dune, which has now become a crucial part of popular culture. Urging film fans everywhere to get up from their couches and visit theatres to properly take in the visual spectacle of his work, Villeneuve has contributed to a partial revival of the traditional moviegoing experience.
When Villeneuve’s involvement in the adaptation was first announced, fans of the novel were apprehensive about the future because they had already been disappointed by David Lynch’s infamously bad effort. However, Villeneuve has done more than enough to dispel the negative predictions by turning in two critically acclaimed and commercially successful entries to the film series which he hopes to build into something even greater.
The latest addition to the franchise came earlier this year, with Timothée Chalamet reprising his role as Paul Atreides alongside Zendaya, whose character received much more narrative focus in the sequel. Dune: Part Two had its fair share of memorable moments, ranging from Paul managing to ride a gigantic sandworm to Javier Bardem’s repeated “Lisan al Gaib” chants, which dominated meme pages for months after the release.
Although those scenes are probably still fresh in the minds of fans everywhere, Villeneuve considers one particular scene from the first movie to be one of the most, if not the most, important segments in the franchise so far. The scene in question is the unsettling ‘Gom Jabbar’ sequence when Charlotte Rampling’s Reverend Mother tests Paul.
While talking to Vanity Fair, Villeneuve explained: “Here, it’s a very, very, very important, key moment in this scene. Paul is put under so much pain, something deep inside his subconscious that was hidden there will go closer to the surface. The presence of what we call the Kwisatz Haderach, kind of a super being. I think in this scene we have to feel that the Reverend Mother would love to kill Paul. But she will not because she will witness something here.”
The filmmaker added: “In this very moment, we can see in Charlotte Rampling’s eye here that she has doubt, that she has the birth of a fear that he could be maybe the one… Paul is taking the upper side of the scene. Coming out from this very specific close-up where we feel that he channels something that he was not expecting.”
It definitely sets the tone for Villeneuve’s approach to his adaptation of Dune, managing to capture the violence inherent in Herbert’s sprawling fictional universe through gestures of power, pain and suffering. After more iconic scenes in the second part, audiences will definitely be expecting Villeneuve to bring more of the same as he begins expanding his artistic scope even further.
