Angelus News | March 22, 2024 | Vol. 9 No. 6

NOW PLAYING DUNE: PART II
A TRAGIC MAHDI-FICATION
The box office hit has plenty to get excited about,
but makes a lazy, weak argument against religion.
Timothée Chalamet as Paul
Atreides in “Dune: Part II.”
| IMDB
BY MSGR. RICHARD ANTALL
What’s not to like about
“Dune: Part II”?
The sequel to Denis Villeneuve’s
2021 box office hit features
special effects that would have amazed
us only a few years ago, set in a complicated,
not-so-brave world created by
the visionary late science fiction writer
Frank Herbert, author of the “Dune”
novels. The story weaves a tapestry
of themes and references to history,
religion, technology, political intrigue,
ecology, and even, ironically, mystical
powers.
It is sometimes alleged that popular
culture has a tendency toward the
simplest and away from the complicated,
but “Dune,” with its generations of
fans, is a counterexample.
Herbert himself admitted allusions to
Arthurian tales in his personal “Dune”
universe. But others include the
feudal civilization of the Holy Roman
Empire, colonialism as it played out in
Islamic countries (think Lawrence of
Arabia), a world economy dependent
on unevenly distributed energy sources,
a religious caste of women with
unusual powers who represent a kind
of deep state power behind the thrones
of the great families that, in unceasing
rivalry, play games with the balance of
cosmic power.
Like the first installment, this year’s
sequel is mostly set in Arrakis, a desert
planet rich with a precious natural
resource: “Spice” not only powers
space travel but can also open human
consciousness to knowledge of the past
and future. The planet’s indigenous
have taken refuge from their colonizing
oppressors in its cliffs and caves,
while finding ways to survive without
virtually any water.
The movie plays down some of the
Islamic references (the book talked
about jihad and mujahidin, but moviegoers
probably have enough uncomfortable
memories of Afghanistan) but
Paul Atreides (played by Timothée
Chalamet) is still recognized as the
“Mahdi,” the same word for the messianic
savior traditionally awaited by
Shiite Muslims.
28 • ANGELUS • March 22, 2024