Dune 2 director Denis Villeneuve reacts to Javier Bardem’s Stilgar becoming a major meme trend.
Dune: Part Two director Denis Villeneuve had no way of knowing that his Dune (2021) sequel would generate some of the biggest memes of 2024 (so far) – but he’s sure finding out now!
In a recent interview, Villeneuve was asked about the character of Stilgar, played by Javier Bardem. After a somewhat muted introduction to Stilgar in the first Dune movie, Bardem became a scene-stealer in Dune 2 by playing Stilgar as a religious fanatic, ready to give cult-like devotion to Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) when he comes to believe he is the prophesied savior, “Lisan al Gaib,” come to save the Fremen people.
Stilgar’s paper-thin threshold for hailing Paul as “Lisan al Gaib” has become a meme that will live long after interest in Dune tapers off. Scenes of Bardem’s animated reactions and praise have become meme metaphors for anything that easily surprises, thrills, or validates someone.
No one expects Denis Villeneuve to be scouring social media keeping up with Dune memes. Surprisingly enough, the filmmaker was pleasantly surprised to learn from NYT that Stilgar is now a meme king. Not for the silly reasons most of us love a good Stilgar meme, mind you, but rather the meme signifying that audiences truly understood the deeper subtext of Stilgar’s character arc:
“No. I am very happy when you say that he is a tragic figure. For me, he is the most tragic figure of all,” Villeneuve explained. “The idea to bring humor to Stilgar was to make him lovable, to feel the humanity in that character. He’s not an austere figure, he has a big heart. But his beliefs, his faith, his reactions bring humor – and that is something I love about making a sci-fi film, because I can talk about that without offending people because it’s a fake religion. I designed all the prayers myself, so I know it’s fake. I find Stilgar very funny. And when people laugh, I’m happy because that was the intention.”
Dune: Part Two certainly parked a lot of passionate debate about the intersection of religion, politics, colonization, race, and culture – basically, the biggest topics of human existence. It’s the kind of feat that only the best sci-fi stories can pull off, and Dune 2 has quickly earned its place in that conversation.
Dune: Part Two is available for purchase/rental on digital platforms.
