If you’ve never read Frank Herbert’s “Dune,” the story follows a young man, Paul Atreides, who lives in the distant future and becomes royalty on the planet of Arrakis, aka Dune, a world with hardly any water and skyscraper-sized worms that travel under the ground and are attracted to rhythmic movement. That probably doesn’t sound like a story that has many relatable parts to what the world is struggling with today. But according to Oscar Isaac, who stars in Denis Villeneuve’s upcoming film adaptation, “Dune” is a very timely story.
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Speaking to Empire, Isaac talked about the plot of “Dune” and why the epic sci-fi story about far-future philosophy, gods, water, worms, and politics feels appropriate for today’s society.
“It’s about the destiny of a people, and the different way that cultures have dominated other ones,” Isaac said. “How do a people respond when it’s at the tipping point, when enough is enough, when they’re exploited? All those things are things we’re seeing around the world right now.”
In the film, Isaac plays Duke Leto Atreides, Paul’s father and de facto ruler of Arrakis (though he’s just a cog in the greater political machine, for simplicity’s sake, he’s basically the governor of a planet). And by his side is his partner (not his wife, mind you), Lady Jessica, played by Rebecca Ferguson. Though her role in previous adaptations and, in the first novel of the series, is relatively small, director Denis Villeneuve wanted to make sure that the character is given her due in his film.
“I didn’t want Lady Jessica to be an expensive extra,” Villeneuve said. “Something I deeply love in the book is that there was a strong balance between the masculine power and feminine power.”
Clearly, with what Isaac is saying and the expanded role of Lady Jessica, Villeneuve is hoping to draw some thematic similarities with what we’re experiencing now and what House Atreides deals with on Dune. We’ll have to see if he’s ultimately successful when the film opens on December 18.
You can also see some new images from the film below:
