Movies - TV
The Classic Horror Flick That Inspired Dune’s Harkonnen Look
By JOE ROBERTS
According to the book "The Art and Soul of Dune: Part Two," costume designer Jacqueline West developed the Harkonnen look based on 1922’s "Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror."
As the Arena scenes show Geidi Prime during the day, director Denis Villeneuve's overall guidance for these scenes was that "This will be a world in which sunlight kills color."
West asked Villeneuve what the Harkonnen civilians look like. He described them as "a homogenous group of men and women [...], all wearing the same style of clothing."
But West needed more to go on, and it was Villeneuve’s last piece of advice that really gave these faceless crowd members their ominous aura. "Like a crowd of nosferatu," he added.
When discussing his choice to make Feyd-Rautha bald in "Dune: Part Two," Villeneuve said: "I loved the idea that Harkonnens are a society that doesn't like hair. [...]"
"[...] They remove everything. They want to be as far away from any part of their past as possible, where they are coming from. There's a will of purity," he concluded.
As the antagonists, these pale, hairless figures project much more than a sense of purity, and it makes sense that their menacing look is due to the iconic character of Nosferatu.
With the connection between the pallid visage of this 1920s screen monster and the Harkonnens, the crowds in the arena scenes take on a much more eerie and unsettling aspect.