Jodorowsky's Dune Uncovered

Scene 39-40 : Harkonnen Castle

In the script we approach the Harkonnen Castle, which is on the coast and feels more like the Atreides home than that normally associated with the Harkonnen.

Through a window we can see Peter (Piter) and Feyd playing chess, but Peter's pieces are spiders and scorpions, while Feyd's are butterflies and wasps.

Peter injects himself with liquid spice while Feyd wonders why the Baron is giving a party as "We've just lost Dune!", but Peter laughs at this notion.

At this point the references for the Moebius storyboards become more sporadic, but we still have a number relating to this scene.

The Harkonnen Castle is now a giant statue, and the storyboards suggest a more cinematic camera move panning up the statue to the head and then zoom in through the eye to Feyd and Peter playing chess.

Although there are no available references for the chess scene itself there is an image of Feyd burning a butterfly while smoking a joint. Perhaps this is a butterfly chess piece from the scene?

It is interesting to note the progression of the design of the Harkonnen Castle, from a traditional style build to a giant statue, perhaps combining the statue from the scene earlier in the script, and eventually into the design done by H.R. Giger.

Continue to Part 13: Baron's Party