Dune: Part Two Speaks Without Words And Becomes A Masterpiece
No one cries in the desert. In a place where water is precious, nothing can be wasted. Dune feels without tears. Dune speaks without words.
Director Denis Villeneuve may be the greatest filmmaker of his generation. Author Frank Herbert may be the greatest science fiction writer of all time. By combining the two of them, they’ve created a fully realized universe of revenge and power in a way that’s utterly unique. It’s like nothing else you’ve seen or will see again.
You knew that already when you watched Dune. Dune: Part Two takes that crystal clear singularity and takes it to an impossible level.
For those who haven’t read the books, much of Frank Herbert’s story takes place in the minds and inner thoughts of his characters. Because of that, Hollywood has shied away from turning this science fiction touchstone into a movie event for years. The last time someone tried, in the eighties, the result was a disaster.
How do you film a movie where all your characters think and don’t emote or speak? You can’t. I can’t. Maybe no one else in the world can except Denis Villeneuve.
In the eyes of Villeneuve, dialogue is lazy. A true visual storyteller can communicate without speaking. And he does it. He does it over and over and over again and translates what was once thought to be an unfilmable narrative into one of the greatest movie masterpieces ever created.
He does it by using images and sound and the nuanced faces of some of Hollywood’s most talented young actors. Mute the dialogue in Dune: Part Two, and you wouldn’t notice. Villeneuve tells a story beyond words.
By the time Dune: Part Two is over, we know this world and these characters on a deeply intimate level. We understand what drives them and we feel the lesson they’ve learned. That lesson is this: When war is upon you, fight.
Fight. Don’t talk.
DUNE: PART TWO REVIEW SCORE
