James Gandolfini as Vladimir Harkonnen

[sopranosfan]

I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this... But anyway...

If there are fans of 'The Sopranos' like me in this forum, what do you think of the idea of casting James Gandolfini (Tony Soprano) as the old baron Harkonnen?

After all, both characters share similar traits and I'm not just talking about their girth... ;D

One is a mob boss; the other is the ruler of a criminal House (which is not much different from ruling a multinational corporation). What's the difference?

[Emperor Harkonnen]

I am not a sopranos fan, only watched it a few times, but I'll still answer  :P

I can't say I see him as Baron Harkonnen, now the guy who casted him in the mini-series was perfect. Better than in the movie in my opinion.

I can't say I see similarities between a multinastional corporation and House Harkonnen... could you please explain?

[sopranosfan]

Quote: "I can't say I see similarities between a multinational corporation and House Harkonnen... could you please explain?"

I am not a specialist of economic matters, but I think both entities fit the same functions. If the world of yesterday was ruled by kings and nobles of all kind, the world of today is ruled by entrepreneurs and businessmen of all type. House Harkonnen exploits Dune for its Spice the same way corporations exploit this world for its resources. But that's only my opinion.

[MrFlibble]

Sorry, but I can't imagine this Gandolfini guy anything close to the vicious Baron. Ian McNeice, on the other hand, was the perfect representation of this character (although Kenneth McMillan from Lynch's Dune is also a possible, albeit bizarre, vision of the Baron).

[Emperor Harkonnen]

as far as I can see, the Baron is interested in power and vendetta.

A multinational corporation can have different goals, one of the obvious being profit. But many also have the welfare of their emploies, such as Google.

And if your opinion is that they exploit natural resources, then your opinion is wrong. The corporations and the market functions ensure that all resources which ALL OF US demand, are efficiently being used as inputs for our products. So it is the humans who exploit the world, the corporations reflect our demands. so the real bad guy here is us.

[sopranosfan]

Is Ian McNeice really that good as the Baron? I only saw Children of Dune where he doesn't have much onscreen presence so I can't really comment his performance... Apart from that, I saw him playing small parts as sympathetic characters in movies such as "Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls" and "David Copperfield" causing me trouble picturing him as a ruthless and calculating antagonist.

The problem I have with Kenneth McMillan is that his portrayal of the Baron makes him too different from the character of the book. He lacks this self-restraint, this Machiavellian aspect intrinsic to the very nature of Vladimir Harkonnen. In the movie, the only scene where he begins to show these traits is when he informs Hawat of the residual poison in his veins. Rest of the time, he floats, he screams and doesn't do much.

[MrFlibble]

Well, Lynch's version of Dune is quite idiosyncratic but none the less I like it. The Baron is horrible - this trait was pushed literally beyond the extreme.

As for Ian McNeice, he's good in the Dune miniseries. Sadly, many other characters aren't that good there; almost every other Harkonnen in the series is just plain boring. I was especially disappointed at Piter, who performs poorly, especially compared to the brilliant character of Brad Dourif. Also, the miniseries feature a very good Dr. Kynes, played by an apparently very talented Czech actor.