Jodorowsky's Dune Uncovered

Scene 41-42 : The Baron's Party

In the Harkonnen drawing room a frantic party is going on, gargoyles are spitting wine into the room, which is an huge swimming pool with platforms made of crystal.

The Baron enters, being carried on a litter and slaves enter with food for the banquet, but offer each dish to the Baron first, who takes a tiny portion from each dish before the rest is thrown to the guests who scramble for their meal.

The Baron finishes eating while he is applauded and adulated, and more slaves appear who fasten his anti-gravitation devices to him. Once they are attached the Baron performs a floating dance throwing meat to his dogs, while Uman Kudu (his master at arms) sings aloud.

Opening the doors into the night club, the Baron floats in followed by Feyd, Peter, Uman Kudu and a group of slaves. A large spherical cake, a replica of the planet Dune, is in the middle of the room. The Baron hands out pieces of the cake - "A piece of desert? ... A giant sand-worm?"

Uman Kudu cracks a whip and curtains open revealing a group of Guild officials around a wooden packaging case, similar to those seen in Castle Caladan. The case is opened and a drugged Dr. Yueh is emptied onto the floor!

The Guild officials revive Yueh while servants bring in a slave tied against a pillar. Peter gives Yueh a crossbow and tells him to kill the slave.

Yueh smiles gently and points to the diamond inlaid in his forehead - "The Suk School. Imperial conditioning. ... I cannot kill."

Another crack of the whip and a wall rises revealing a torture room, in which Wanda, Yueh's wife (disturbingly 14 years old and naked), is attached to a "complicated and sadistic machine".

Peter moves the machine to one of Wanda's hands and turns it into crystal, Wanda screams and passes out. Peter then smashes the hand, leaving only a stump.

Yueh is once again given the crossbow, but despite his attempts he physically cannot kill the slave.

Peter continues to turns parts of Wanda's body into crystal before breaking them - eventually Yueh takes the crossbow and riddles the slave with arrows.

The Baron tells Yueh he is to kill Duke Leto, Yueh nods and is taken away by the Guild Officials. Peter is rewarded with syringes of spice and the Baron tells Feyd "They have all betrayed Leto. We shall betray them all. The Harkonnens can be emperors too."

References for the Moebius storyboards for this scene are pulled from a number of available sources, but they are still missing the torture scene.

Feyd and Peter leave the "eye" with three girls and enter the party, which is less like an orgy than the script descriptions. The Baron is fitted with his anti-gravity bracelets and, like the script, the Baron dances towards the cake while Kudu sings.

A portion of a poster for Jodorowsky's Dune provides some simplified drawings for the next shots, and in the podcast "Trick or Treat Radio" episode 105 producer Stephen Scarlata explains that the Baron reaches into the cake and throws it to all the happy people at the party, who eat it. Then Peter brings out Yueh and his wife, who is crystallised. Yueh is asked to shoot people at the party, Yueh refuses so pieces of his wife are broken off until he agrees and kills everyone at the party.

The storyboards pick up again with Yueh killing all the guests, and agreeing to kill Leto then being led away by the Guild. Peter gets his drugs, and the Baron talks to Feyd much as in the script.

An interesting scene, not only showing Yueh's conditioning being broken, but also sets up Peter as a master torturer - something that we will see more of later in the script.

Continue to Part 14: Fighting Robot