Quote Originally Posted by Catullus64 View Post
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Chani, in the book, is a pretty passive character; her most meaningful contributions to the plot are as mother to Leto and Ghanima...
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...Chani is persistently framed by the film as the voice of Fremen opposition to Paul's ascendency, someone who realizes, correctly, that Paul's ascendancy as a messiah will not liberate the Fremen, and will instead turn them into the tools of a despotic regime.
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I think this highlights why I disliked the films treatment of Chani. In the book, she is Pauls closest confidant, the literal well (Sihaya) from which he draws strength and in part, the reason he's able to ground himself in the face of his prophetic vision and at least attempt to guide his fate away from the Jihad. For her to misunderstand Paul in any way misrepresents her character intensely, so for her to run off in a strop because he chose a political marriage (among other things, granted) felt like a sucker punch. Where the book deals in such themes, Paul and Chani represent an aspect of devotional love that mirrors that of Leto and Jessica (both in their politically motivated beginnings as well as how they developed emotionally) and the Atreides in general, highlighting the strength, will and autonomy that can be born of such, vs. other relationships a person might make, such as the manipulation of people/bloodlines displayed by the Bene Gesserit or the political manoeuverings of the Emperor and Great Houses, for example. Motive is a massive theme of the book, perhaps even THE theme, and his relationship with Chani is an intensely important part of Pauls character and the choices he makes; to coin the phrase; it's not her, it's him i.e. what she represents to Paul and why is what makes her character important or meaningful, not what she does in terms of deeds.

To turn that core aspect on its head and dump the doubts of the Fremen as a whole, regarding Paul, his motives and his veracity as the Lisan al'Gaib, feels disingenuous to her character and what she is supposed to represent to him. I can understand that those doubts need to be voiced by a character in the film, particularly to contrast their choice to highlight Stilgars' hero worship of Paul, but it shouldn't be at the cost of as prominent a character as Chani. Harah, Jamis' widow, would (and in the book, does) provide the perfect voice for this; someone intrinsically linked/tied to Paul by his introduction to the true Fremen culture, who has legitimate reason to dislike/distrust him, but through her contact with him comes to understand him as he learns to understand her/them. It's basically her entire purpose for existing in the book and she could easily have been introduced in the film too.


As much as I appreciated the films cinematography, a little less time spent on flippy-spinny fight scenes, explosions and shots of vibrating sand, and a little more time spent on actually developing characters and their interactions to make them feel more genuine or book/lore accurate might not have gone amiss. The run time felt very padded, which in a 3hr film is not something a film-maker should really be affording themselves, IMO.