‘Dune’: Denis Villeneuve Modeled Baron Harkonnen After Marlon Brando in ‘Apocalypse Now’
Max Weinstein
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Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, the black-hearted baddie of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune, has a very particular look—as if birthed by one of H.R. Giger’s night terrors. In the wrong hands, the elements of body horror that the character brings to the film might not be taken seriously. To get it right, the director had one key reference point for the Baron’s distinct design: Marlon Brando’s Colonel Kurtz in Apocalypse Now.
“Denis was concerned that he needed to look strong and menacing; he couldn’t look silly,” says costume designer Stephanie West in The Hollywood Reporter‘s behind-the-scenes look at the making of Dune.
Villeneuve adds: “The book is filled with fantastic characters, but with the Baron, there was the danger that he could easily become a caricature if we weren’t careful.”
Also Read: Dune Has the Power to Instill Awe, But Its Story Feels Frustratingly Distant (Review)
“I suggested that maybe Marlon Brando in Apocalypse Now would be a good place to start—and that he could wear some kind of long black silk, almost diaphanous, muumuu,” West continues. “Denis really flipped out over that idea. I think he actually had been thinking about these Brando-inspired references himself, because he said, ‘Exactly!’”
In Frank Herbert’s original novel, Baron Harkonnen is a depraved and morbidly obese tyrant prone to breaking out into lengthy speeches. Herbert’s depiction of the character has rightly been subject to scrutiny for the way in which it conflates homosexuality with innate evil.
In Villeneuve’s version, Baron Harkonnen is played by Stellan Skarsgard. The director aimed to make the character less of a grandstander than he is in the book, and more of a cunning, quietly menacing figure. Modeling him after Brando’s Colonel Kurtz freed Skarsgard up to go in that entirely different direction.
“There was something about Kurtz that was a nice inspiration, and Stellan handled it masterfully,” Villeneuve says. “It’s one of the first times that I’ve allowed myself to have the pleasure to make a little homage like this.”
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