Commentary — ‘Dune: Part Two’ Demonstrates The Consequence Of A Time Jump
by Frank Martin
Adapting any story to a different medium can be tricky. Each has their own particular styles, strengths, and weaknesses, so not everything will translate the same. Sometimes changes are necessary in order to better fit the story for a different kind of experience. That’s exactly what happened with Dune: Part 2. A major character from the second half of Frank Herbert‘s novel appears in a different form in the film. The reasons behind the change makes sense, but the change removes a time jump from the story that has consequences for other aspects of it.
An essential focus of Dune occurs when Paul Atreides (Timothee Chalamet) and his mother, Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), elevate their Bene Gesserit abilities through drinking the Water of Life. Jessica was pregnant when undergoing the ritual, thus awakening her unborn child in the process. In the novel, Paul’s sister, Alia, is born shortly after the ritual and has a crucial role in the second half of the book. In a major change for the film, she remains unborn throughout and communicates to her mother in utero. When Paul takes the Water of Life, he sees a vision of his sister in the future, where she’s played by the Anya Taylor-Joy — the actor who will play her in the eventual sequel.
The reasons for this change are obvious. Jumping forward in time would have drastically altered the film’s pacing. A movie is a different experience than a novel. The latter is meant to be enjoyed at the reader’s own pace, where as the former is meant to be an experience where the pacing is dictated by the director. Also, Alia is a difficult character to adapt as she’s a self-aware two year old in the book. The time jump also affects Paul’s story tremendously. He has years in the novel to build up his reputation amongst the Fremen. It happened gradually over time. The film did its best job to facilitate this with important scenes, but the fact remains it happened much quicker. Paul’s legend grew in months instead of years, which makes for a much different story in the end. How that will change the sequel film, Dune Messiah, remains to be seen
Dune and Dune: Part 2 are now streaming on Max.