Patrick Stewart Was The Heart Of David Lynch's Dune

David Lynch's 1984 film adaptation of "Dune" was a strange cinematic revelation for an 11-year-old. I'd read and grasped a fraction of Frank Herbert's novel (primarily because my older brother was wild about it), but when I took my seat in the Showcase Cinema's cavernous 70mm house, where ganja clouds wafted over the projected image, I fell under Lynch's spell. Freddie Francis' cinematography was intoxicating. I'd never seen such an epic. The book was a distant text, so I clung to the performances. The actors would be my guide through a truncated take on a complex text. Kyle MacLachlan was relatable as a frightened, unprepared Paul Atreides who had a palace coup thrust upon him. I was enamored of his struggle.

Paul would've seemed doomed, however, without the skillful blood-letting tutelage of Patrick Stewart's Gurney Halleck. And that's where I found the film's heart.

The late Patrick Stewart would go on to become the most humanistic of Starfleet captains as Jean-Luc Picard in "Star Trek: The Next Generation" (and the subsequent movies), but in 1984, I had no bead on the actor. If you walked into Lynch's "Dune" cold, you might've viewed Gurney as a villain. Via Paul's inner monologue, he couldn't figure out why Halleck is slashing at him with such viciousness. They're in protective shields, but Gurney is making a literal point. His blade crosses through the protective guard. War is imminent. And there are forces at play that are seeking to eliminate you from the equation. Gurney can't voice it, but he needs Paul to grow up fast. His survival depends on it.

Denis Villeneuve's "Dune" movies are a full meal, and I love Josh Brolin's portrayal of Halleck as a dutiful Atreides soldier. But it lands so hard in Lynch's "Dune," where Stewart's Halleck drifts out of the desert and realizes his pupil, Paul, is still alive and activating his teachings. Does this play out well? Yes — Lynch's film draws to a triumphant close because there would be no sequels. Stewart's joy at finding MacLachlan's Paul is the heart of Lynch's "Dune." He raised him as a combatant, and that's what mattered. It's a tragic upbringing, but the Atreides clan was a warlike one. There are no heroes here.