Skip to content

A few thoughts on Dune

Last week, I saw Dune with my son. It’s probably the most teenager-friendly movie I think Denis Villeneuve has ever directed.

David Gane
David Gane
1 min read

Last week, I saw Dune with my son. I liked its look, its pace, its direction, and its performances. It’s also probably the most teenager-friendly movie I think Denis Villeneuve has ever directed. If I was that age, I think I would’ve been even more captured by it.

Its 5 act structure seemed to break into:

  1. Intro to the world and the transfer of power.
  2. Preparing for the trip
  3. Journey to Arrakis
  4. The betrayal.
  5. The escape through the desert.

However, I can’t stop thinking about this one video from Wisecrack critiquing the use of the lone hero myth that is prevalent in the genre:

“But stories, Dune warns us, can also be fuel for destructive forces, used to justify and reinforce unfair power disparities. In this way, while Dune has been seen as yet another instalment of the sci-fi tropes of its time, it’s more fair to view it as an active critique rather than a celebration of them.

I’m curious if we’ll get any hints of that by the end.

Blog

David Gane Twitter

Co-writer of the Shepherd and Wolfe young adult mysteries, the internationally award-winning series, and teacher of storytelling and screenwriting.

Comments


Related Posts

Ways to edit

Just as there are different ways to write, there are different ways to edit. Some people will edit as they go, while others do it after they've finished a draft. Some will begin with the structure and move down into the sentences. Others do a sentence at a time, writing

Containers

A container can be almost anything. It can be made from any number of materials. Glass, plastic, and even paper or cardboard. It can be different heights, sizes, and shapes. It can hold almost anything—as long as it is sturdy enough to keep it inside. However, some containers will

Control

In Will Storr's The Science of Storytelling, he states that the mission of the brain is control—whether it is a mental model to make sense of the world around us or to change it to gain control. Unfortunately, the model is often flawed. Too many inputs and not a