DUNE: PART TWO
THE DESERT DUEL
WORDS JAMES DYER
Above:Let battle commence: Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) meets his match in Feyd-Rautha (Austin Butler).
DUNE: PART TWO’S climactic showdown sees Paul Atreides, Timothée Chalamet’s messianic hero, cross blades with Austin Butler’s pallid Harkonnen, FeydRautha, as the sun rises over the desert. Director Denis Villeneuve breaks down the vicious confrontation.
“There’s something about knife-fights in particular that’s very frightening. And real knife-fights are very short. The shorter, the more dangerous. Battles in cinema often become fight porn —they’re too long and it doesn’t mean anything so they lose your attention. I try to create fights that are short, strong bursts of violence so you never lose the intensity. You want to be as economical as possible and just feel the brutality.