Steven Spielberg heaps praise on ‘Dune: Part Two’, calls it, “one of the most brilliant sci-fi films”

Washington [US], March 28 (ANI): Acclaimed filmmaker Steven Spielberg has all the praise for ‘Dune: Part Two’ and the director of the film Denis Villeneuve. He talked about a particular scene that impressed him, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

‘Dune: Part Two’ is the second film in the action-packed franchise and it stars Timothee Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, and others.

Spielberg and Villeneuve appeared together on DGA’s Director’s Cut podcast, where the filmmaker behind sci-fi classics ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind’ heaped praise on the ‘Dune’ director.

“This is truly a visual epic, and it’s also filled with deeply, deeply drawn characters,” Spielberg said. “Yet the dialogue is very sparse when you look at it proportionately to the running time of the film. It’s such a cinema. The shots are so painterly, yet there’s not an angle or single setup that’s pretentious … you have made one of the most brilliant science fiction films I have ever seen.”

Spielberg added, “There is such a yearning for water in this movie. For all the sand you have in this film, it’s really about water — the sacred waters that you are yearning for; green meadows and the blue water of life. You filmed the desert to resemble an ocean, a sea. The sandworms were like sea serpents and that scene (of Paul) surfing the sandworm is one of the greatest things I have ever seen, ever. But you made the desert look like a liquid.”

Villeneuve stated that he shot particular moments at precise times of day, such as the scene in which Paul (Timothee Chalamet) and Chani (Zendaya) kiss, which was shot over four days at the same hour each day to preserve consistency. He added that sand dunes were “cast” for their orientation to each other within the frame. “It was the strangest casting I’ve done in my life,” Villeneuve said.

As per The Hollywood Reporter, Spielberg especially commended the VFX work of the spice harvesters, particularly compared with the first film. “Those machines were incredible,” he said. “I thought the machines were incredible in the first Dune, and I don’t know what you did, but you did something to detail them more this time with the sand falling off the treads, that was awesome … Warner Bros. paid for more pixels, is that right? Because of the success of the first film, it’s good to have more pixels in our business.”

At the start of the podcast, Spielberg stated that Villeneuve belongs to the pantheon of great world-building fantasy directors.

“So let me start by saying that there are filmmakers who are the builders of worlds, and we know it’s not a long list, but we know who a lot of them are,” Spielberg said. “Starting with (Georges) Melies and of course [Walt] Disney and (Stanley) Kubrick. George Lucas, George Pal, Ray Harryhausen … (Frederico) Fellini built his own worlds. Tim Burton, Wes Anderson, Peter Jackson, James Cameron, Christopher Nolan, Ridley Scott, Guillermo del Toro, the list goes on. But it’s not that long of a list, and I deeply, fervently believe that you are one of its newest members of that list.”

In another intriguing interaction, Spielberg questioned Villeneuve about working with the actors, and Villeneuve noticed that Zendaya appeared to be particularly interested in his direction, coming to set and observing him and listening even when she wasn’t in the scene.

“There’s someone that spent a lot of time behind the camera listening — Zendaya,” he said. “She’s very clever. I would not be surprised if one day we learn she wants to go behind (the camera),” according to The Hollywood Reporter.