The sci-fi epic film “Dune 2” hits the mainland big screen on March 8. About a week ago, the film hit the top of the box office after being released in Europe and the United States, and its ratings remain high. The Rotten Tomatoes freshness score was as high as 98%, even far surpassing its predecessor “Dune” which was released three years ago and won six Oscars. Foreign media praised it as a “huge, amazing miracle.” “Dune 2” continues the plot of the previous game “Dune”, and tells the audience a great adventure and truly shocking, with a richer and more profound story, more stunning visual effects, more massive action scenes, and more new characters. A touching love story.
The sci-fi epic film “Dune 2” hits the mainland big screen on March 8.
The “Dune” series is set in the distant future thousands of years later, telling the story of a young man named Paul Atreides (played by “Sweet Tea” Timothée Chalamet) who is pushed by fate into a legendary journey of interstellar power struggles. . Paul is the daughter of murdered Duke Leto Atreides (Oscar Isaac), ruler of the planet Arrakis, and Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), a member of the mysterious Bene Gesserit Sisterhood. The son of a young man, he faces the ultimate test in Dune: he must conquer his fears when fate and powerful invisible forces pull him into the sands of the remote planet Arrakis. “Dune” explores timeless and timely themes such as love, motherhood, globalism, loyalty, revenge and catharsis, and in “Dune 2”, a story about the struggle between humans and nature, the original author Frank Herbert The ecological theme is further developed, and at the heart of the story is the eternal conflict between the forces of good and evil.
Oppression and resistance have become an important narrative background of “Dune 2”. As the indigenous inhabitants of the planet Arrakis, the Fremen not only have to adapt to the cruel natural environment, but also have to fight for a better survival under brutal colonial rule. As the colonists of the planet, the Harkonnens are the embodiment of corruption, violence and greed. They will do anything to obtain the planet’s precious specialty spices. With the help of his fierce Fremen girlfriend Qini (played by Zendaya) and the wisdom of leader Stilgar (played by Javier Bardem), Paul gradually wins the trust and support of the Fremen. The Harkonnan people’s brutal behavior increasingly inspired the Fremen to resist, and the conflict between the two sides intensified, leading to an all-out war. The film is directed by Denis Villeneuve, who has stable online quality. Villeneuve is known as the “New Godfather of Science Fiction Films” for directing “Arrival”, “Blade Runner 2049” and the “Dune” series. He is obsessed with shooting science fiction films and made “Dune” into a movie. He is one of his twelve A dream I had since I was three years old.
“Sweet Tea” and director Villeneuve on the set of “Dune 2”.
For the 56-year-old Villeneuve, although he interprets the relatively rebellious aspects of Herbert’s work in his own way, he understands the importance of retaining the spirit of the original work. “As a film director, I try to be as invisible as possible. I try to preserve the poetry, the atmosphere, the colors, the smells, everything that I felt when I read the book, and I tried my best.” Villeneuve Specifically emphasized during the interview.
【Conversation】
The war ushered in an escalation of scenes, ridingSandworms are cool
The story of “Dune 2” begins a few hours after the end of the first movie “Dune”. Paul and Jessica travel to the Talbor Caves with the Fremen Stilgar and Qini in the middle of the desert to try to find shelter. Therefore, at this time they are about to be ambushed by the colonist Harkonnen’s patrol. According to Villeneuve, the film tells the story of Paul and his mother Jessica assimilating into the Fremen tribe and culture. In this film, Paul and Chini fall in love and start a crusade against their oppressors, while a holy war in Paul’s name seems closer and closer, one of his worst nightmares growing up. one. Compared to “Dune”, Paul’s psychological changes are more complicated in “Dune 2”. “Sweet Tea” Timothée Chalamet has always been Villeneuve’s first choice for the actor to play Paul: “He has aristocratic qualities. You can feel the strong wisdom in his eyes. And he is on the screen.” He looked very young, and I needed his youth, his openness, his vulnerability, that young man struggling with his identity and trying to find his place.”
“Sweet Tea” spirit is very strong, Zendaya is full of strength
Beijing News: Working with “Sweet Tea” Timothée Chalamet again, how has he changed?
Denis Villeneuve:I was very touched to work with him again and he became more confident. As the leading actor, Timothy learned how to find his voice in such a big production. He showed great mental strength on set and I am very proud of his powerful transformation in front of the camera. His portrayal of Paul allowed me to see the evolution of a boy into a dark figure, and he moved me all the time.
“Sweet Tea” Timothée Chalamet has always been director Villeneuve’s first choice for the actor to play Paul.
Beijing News: How do you interpret Qini’s change in her view of Paul when he entered the Fremen world?
Denis Villeneuve:At first, Chini was suspicious and curious about the boy from another world, but Paul’s sincerity moved her. Chini felt that Paul really wanted to understand the Fremen way of life. Chini, like other young Fremen, does not believe some popular brainwashing propaganda. She believes that the Fremen should be liberated by the Fremen instead of waiting for outsiders to save them. Chini saw those ancient beliefs as a way to control her people, and then she saw that Paul didn’t want to be a ruler, to impose his will on others, and he didn’t want to be seen as the legendary savior, he just wanted to Stay alive. It was this sincerity that moved Qini. In order to help Paul adapt to survive in the harsh environment of Arrakis, she continued to help Paul. During this contact process, as her understanding of Paul increased, Qini gradually also The earth opened its heart to Paul.
Chini, played by Zendaya, gave Paul more understanding and help in “Dune 2”.
Beijing News: Can you talk about your experience working with Zendaya?
Denis Villeneuve:That’s one of the things I’m looking forward to, because I’ve only worked with her for a few days on Dune, and I’m looking forward to her spending more time getting to know Cheni more deeply and bringing the character to life. I truly loved working with Zendaya, she is an amazing, stunning, incredible actor who can express so much emotion in so few scenes. Her acting is very precise and powerful.
Beijing News: How to treat the Fremen’s “water”culture“The profound meaning of “?
Denis Villeneuve:Fremen culture was indeed inspired by the harsh environment and ecosystem of Arrakis. This is a planet with very high ambient temperatures and water is as rare as gold. For them, water is life and water is sacred. In the film we see how, when a person dies, they extract the water from the human body and put it into a huge cistern where the water will be used to resurrect the trees of Arrakis. Through this process, the Fremen plan to restore green life to the desert planet.
IMAX blessing completely upgrades the viewing experience
Most of the battle scenes in “Dune” are small-scale battles with cold weapons, while “Dune 2” upgrades to interstellar melee. The terrifying giant sandworms (like sea cucumbers with teeth) in the previous game will swarm out from under the surface in a huge army. The “chosen son” Paul will successfully conquer the giant sandworm and become a sandworm knight, showing his dominance. In the boundless desert, he jumped towards the sandworm monster with a sand hook in both hands, completing an indispensable step on his way to dominate his destiny, just like Peter O’Toole’s classic cheer in the desert in “Lawrence of Arabia” Lens, the scene of Paul riding a sandworm is also expected to become one of the classic scenes on the big screen in film history. During the filming, Villeneuve used real-life shooting as much as possible. His preference is to “always shoot real scenery and always follow the nature of real light.” Villeneuve is very cautious about special effects, but this does not prevent him from working with the original Working closely with the film’s visual effects supervisor Paul Lambert, they strived to embed the special effects deeply into the film’s narrative and make it feel completely believable. “Dune 2” has far more action scenes than the first film, and there are more sandworm scenes. In addition, starting from “Dune”, some special IMAX shots were used, and more than an hour of content was presented in IMAX special format. When filming “Dune 2”, the entire film was shot using IMAX special shots. With Villeneuve’s focus on IMAX His understanding and application of technology have further deepened, and he once again used IMAX as a vast canvas to paint the magnificent world of sand dunes. He is undoubtedly a loyal fan of IMAX technology who “can’t put it down”.
Poster of the classic scene of “Dune 2” where Paul controls the sandworm.
Beijing News: In the original work, riding a sandworm is described as very spectacular. The Fremen have the technology to control sandworms and use them as a means of transportation. How to present this scene to the audience?
Denis Villeneuve:Riding the sandworm is one of the coolest things about the novel, which is one thing to read and another to watch (the movie). I had to define and create the mechanics and mechanics of how to ride a sandworm on the big screen, so I wrote and drew the ride, drew pictures, and explained to the crew how Fremen ride on sandworms. , because I wanted it to look as real as possible. In addition, I wanted to shoot under real sunlight on a structure that looks like a bug. It took our crew several months of trial and error to achieve this effect. If I could do it by myself If so, it may not be over yet. It really requires a lot of patience, and presenting this scene is very experimental. It is much more complicated than any special effects clips I have shot in the past.
The scene of sandworms fighting together in “Dune 2” brings an extremely shocking visual effect.
Beijing News: In order to present “Dune 2” to the audience with new visual effects, what kind of self-challenges did you make?
Denis Villeneuve:This was the first time in my career as a director that I was revisiting a universe, and one of my main concerns this time around was to make sure the audience didn’t get a sense of déjà vu, and I wanted to look for new visual features. All the scenes in “Dune 2” are new, and I also asked myself not to go back to the places where I shot “Dune” before. Therefore, we had to redesign new vehicles and new environments in the film. The beauty of Dune is that everyone knew the boundaries and tone of the movie, so we didn’t have to redefine those things and just work with what was already established. Fortunately, our team is more creative than ever this time. The new design elements they brought to “Dune 2” surprised me. One of my favorite settings is the “Bird Cave”, a cave. Carved into the rock for birds to build nests, this resembles a Fremen sanctuary, which I find very poetic and one of the most beautiful scenes I have ever seen.
Beijing News: You are very good at using the IMAX format to present images and create a broad field of view and a sense of intimacy. Why do you have to choose this method?
Denis Villeneuve:IMAX not only has a wide viewing range, but also makes the “border” of the movie disappear. The immersive viewing experience allows the audience to establish an intimate connection with the characters. In an IMAX theater, you will feel that you are in close contact with the characters as never before. The huge screen size not only brings a sense of shock, but also creates a sense of intimacy. In “Dune,” we used the IMAX format to shoot nature, space, and the desert, but the desert is only a small part of the film. In Dune 2, we spent most of the time in the desert, so I decided to shoot the entire movie in IMAX format to get the maximum picture and immersive experience.
There are many spectacular battle scenes in “Dune 2”.
We put a lot of effort into bringing out all the tiny details of the desert and what it would feel like to walk on the planet Arrakis. I also love shooting with natural light, but this time we experimented a little more. For example, what is the natural light like on Gedi Prime? The photographer modified the camera with infrared and used a filter to create a very eerie black and white effect. The character’s skin and eyes were also treated in a very special way, giving it a surreal feeling. I really like it, it gives a scary vibe.
Beijing News: You have always insisted on real-life shooting, but narrative in a fantasy world like the “Dune” series requires visual effects. What new attempts were made in this shooting?
Denis Villeneuve:I shot as much live action as I could, but it would be unfair not to mention the tremendous effort of visual effects supervisor Paul Lambert. Lambert is a magician, without him I don’t think I would have ever made this movie, and he was the one person who made sure that my vision, all my dreams, were brought to the screen. There were a lot of things we could do in front of the camera, but scenes like the sandworms versus the armies of Sardoka were a little beyond my capabilities, which is why I really needed Lambert’s visual effects talents. Likewise, as a film director, I like to shoot as much as possible. Of course, in such an (epic) movie, there is actually a limit to what we can do in front of the camera. There is a shot of a sandworm baby in the film. In order to let the audience see the sandworms swimming under the sand, we used In actual shooting, this is quite a tricky issue. Photographer Gerd used a very sophisticated tracking system, laying a carpet under the sand to create the illusion of sandworms swimming underneath. He also needed to model the bug and make a platform on the gimbal to achieve the specific motion I wanted. These are just two of the many things Gerd did, but he was certainly a pretty good magician. Thank them.
Beijing News reporter Zhou Huixiaowan
Editor Huang Jialing
Proofread by Li Lijun