Dune: Why Dennis Villeneuve Feared That Baron Harkonnen Would Be A Joke

Dune director Denis Villeneuve thought Baron Harkonnen easily could have become silly if he wasn’t careful. This was why the Baron’s appearance was considerably changed from Frank Herbert’s original novel. The House Harkonnen leader – and the main antagonist in Dune – had to exude a malevolence that intensified the film’s nail-biting suspense.

House Harkonnen commanded their subjects through terror and manipulation. They were known for underhanded political tactics, and none were more conniving than Baron Vladimir Harkonnen. His ominous presence was key in building the nerve-racking tension in Dune. Had he been like Frank Herbert described him, it might have counteracted the overall atmosphere of Villeneuve’s vision.

In the original book, Baron Harkonnen was portrayed as a 400-pound, talkative schemer, or like Villeneuve described him, a mustache-twirling caricature. The Dune director wanted something far more menacing than a loud-mouthed trickster who was so obese that he needed suspensor belts to support his own weight. When Villeneuve’s Baron levitated, everyone around him trembled with fear, and those who didn’t would soon regret their misjudgment. As much as he loved the book, Villeneuve feared that the dated image of the Baron would not have the right impact. So, he went to great lengths to make sure that Harkonnen seemed as intimidating as a true tyrant would.

The design of Baron Harkonnen was in fact one of Villeneuve’s biggest concerns when approaching the costume department. They worked a lot with the Baron’s shape to make him look more like a dangerous muscular gorilla than a morbidly obese baby. The prosthetic suit took many hours to put on every morning, but it gave Stellan Skarsgård (the Swedish actor who played Baron) full command to make Harkonnen a villain worthy of Dune. Villeneuve also approached the Baron’s persona, thinking he should be more like Colonel Kurtz from Apocalypse Now and less like a chatty oppressor.

It was Jacqueline West in the costume department who first suggested that Marlon Brando’s performance in Apocalypse Now might be a good place to start. The darkness in Brando’s performance fit Villeneuve’s vision like a glove. He liked the idea so much that he had Skarsgård slide his hand over his bald head just like Colonel Kurtz as an homage to Apocalypse Now. On top of this, Baron Harkonnen was made into a dangerously intelligent, inherently brutal man of few words, which turned him into the villain audiences loved to hate in Dune.

Dennis Villeneuve was an avid fan of Frank Herbert’s Dune since his early teens. He knew the book in and out, which is why he jumped at the opportunity to make the film he always wanted: Dune. But one obstacle caused the director grief. Villeneuve feared that Baron Harkonnen would become a joke since the character in the book was more of a chatty manipulator than a fear-inducing master of terror. With great help from his costume department, Villeneuve reshaped Harkonnen into a true movie monster for the ages.

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