"Dune" and the delicate art of making fictional languages (or, how Dune was de-Arabized)

[imnotasquirrel]

The words Timothée Chalamet speaks to the Fremen in “Dune” are not gibberish; they’re part of an intricate linguistic system that was devised for the film adaptations. But something was lost in the language’s construction, @mnvrsngh writes. https://t.co/fbmNtIBsJs
- The New Yorker (@NewYorker) February 29, 2024
David J. Peterson is considered the

Comments

[sandstorm]

I liked the movie a lot, but every time they talked, I was going "Ok, which Arabic language is this based off of?"

His excuses don't make sense. "the time is too vast" ok if it's just as vast in the book....they do it. Just have a mention.

[spankmypirate]

I loved the first film (seeing Part 2 tonight and super excited) but yep, was super disappointed at how the Fremen's language was diluted. My own language is super similar to Arabic so when I was reading the book I could even understand most phrases (for example, we say "x'kull wahda!" When angrily surprised). I was quite let down that these things didn't make it into the movie and I think Frank Herbert would be disappointed too.

Still super excited to watch the sequel though

[disgruntledyawn]

Maltese?

[spankmypirate]

Yup! :)

[a_files06]

Watched it last night and loved it.

I didn't see the first one in theaters so i couldn't fully immerse myself into the world which is why theaters are always better for these types of films.

I question what CBM do with their $200m budgets because they certainly don't look as convincing as this on $190m budget.

[smilla_sini]

To be fair, Greig Fraser can make anything look superb on any budget

[tilney]

That man is UNBELIEVABLE

[lovelylaura23]

I don't care about his sci fi shit....but Bright Star is absolutely stunning.

[ohwutevernvm]

Lemme check this out when it hits somewhere I can watch online

[des_pudels_kern]

The time depth of the Dune books makes the amount of recognizable Arabic that survived completely (and I mean COMPLETELY) impossible."

Oh, so they also don't use English in the movie and made up an entirely new language, right? Right?

[kris_terror]

I assumed it was like when you watch an adaptation of War and Peace where clearly they are meant to be speaking Russian but everyone is actually speaking English so we the viewer understands. I don’t think the “English” sections are meant to literally be English.

[jontargaryen]

But they also speak in modern Chinese. Why is it okay to have Chinese in the far future, but not Arabic?

[kris_terror]

Well then idk, I haven’t seen the movie yet so my context was just this post