Why I love Star Wars: Episode IV
Oct. 14th, 2014 10:58 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
matrilSo I've been thinking. I know that I'm in the minority for unapologetically liking the prequels. Prequel bashing is so omnipresent that I'm constantly having to suppress the knee-jerk inclination to pop in and explain why I'm not an idiot for liking them. But then I realized - why fill someone else's space with explanations? The tone comes across like I'm an apologist, and I'm not - as I just said, I unapologetically like them. So I'm going to talk about my love for the prequels here, in my own space, unabashed and non-confrontational. Just happy positivity. And I'll include the original trilogy too, going in the order that I think the saga is best viewed: IV, V, I, II, III, and VI. Here we go!
Episode IV, from any analytical standpoint, should have failed. It was full of risks, of storytelling and moviemaking choices that had never been attempted. But somehow it works, and I think it's because the film gives the sense of trusting its audience. Don't worry that this is a little strange, it seems to say - you're smart enough to figure it out.
For starters, the main protagonist doesn't show up for a good portion of the movie! We know from the opening crawl that Princess Leia is important, and we follow her through her capture, but the other narrative focuses on two droids. One of whom speaks only through beeps and whistles. The studio was so sure this was a mistake they made Lucas film some extra scenes with Luke hanging out with his friends. And Lucas immediately cut them as soon as the editing started. Because following a pair of bickering droids? It absolutely works. We care what happens to these two hunks of metal. By the time Luke shows up, we're already invested, because we know he's going to get sucked into this plot. And we start to get little bits about his backstory, hints of his father, as well as his impatience to get off the farm and go somewhere important. We can guess that sooner or later, his story and the Princess's are going to collide.
Star Wars doesn't waste a lot of time on info dumps. When Obi-Wan comes along, he gives a brief history of the Jedi and a explanation for Luke's father's death. Of course we know it's only a half-truth, but on first viewing, the whole "bad guy killed my father" storyline is enough to grab you. Now, as the cliché says, it's personal.
Star Wars also doesn't dwell over-long on emotional beats. Luke discovers the death of his aunt and uncle and the destruction of his home, and his head goes down and the music swells, and then we move on. We understand. It's the brutal event that pushes him over the threshold into his hero's journey. We don't need ten minutes of Luke sobbing. The same is true when Obi-Wan dies. It's sad, we're sad, but the film trusts that we don't need a prolonged slow-motion sequence with close-ups of everyone's anguished faces (am I possibly referring to another film saga that's ever-so-slightly heavy-handed in its emotional beats? Hmm).
The cantina scene is iconic, particularly remarkable considering a lot of the shots were filmed in a sort of desperate session after the principle shooting when Lucas was thoroughly dissatisfied with the original footage. Some masterful editing makes it all come together, and we're truly transported to another world where humans might just be the minority. Han Solo's character is established very quickly with his mercenary attitude, his focus on money, his cynicism and braggadocio. (I have to say, if you think just one alteration of his behavior - shooting second - ruins his entire character, you're not giving much credit to the loads of character development that still remain. As Harrison Ford himself said to the question of who shot first - I don't care.)
Chewbacca. He never says a word in a human language, and yet we understand him. Peter Mayhew's superb body language (the man wasn't even an actor when they found and cast him!) and Ben Burtt's sound design for his growls and shouts cannot be praised enough. What a fantastic creation.
Vader, of course, is the ultimate villain. Even before we get a bigger glimpse of his backstory in the next film, there's something intriguing about this masked terror - he's brutal and violent and controlling, yet deeply religious, as it were. He calls the ability to destroy an entire planet "insignificant" next to the Force. If we judged the Jedi solely on the basis of his attitudes, we might conclude it was a group of terrifying fanatics. But we have Obi-Wan to provide the contrast, a serene, monk-like mentor whose primarily uses his skills to cast confusion over weak minds and sneak around unnoticed. When it's time to fight, as in the cantina or against Vader, he's undoubtedly skilled. Yet he doesn't glory in it. He puts away his weapon after, er, literally disarming someone, and returns to his usual serenity. And when he sees what he must do for the greater cause of the Rebellion, he puts up his saber and lets Vader strike him down. His cryptic words are so intriguing - more powerful than you could possibly imagine? How? The first hint comes immediately, when we hear his voice speaking to Luke. But we're still left wondering exactly what he meant.
The Force. It's generic enough that it can be universal, this sort of power that the Jedi can draw upon. The actual powers it lends are the stuff of fantasy, of course, but the notion that by clearing our minds, ignoring the distractions of our senses and remaining calm, we can access great power? That sounds pretty close to reality. And what a thrilling moment in the battle of Yavin when Luke switches off his computer and lets the Force guide him. I still get excited seeing that victory, even after all the many times I've watched it.
Princess Leia is a landmark character, and even thirty-plus years later, she is rarely surpassed in terms of well-developed, compelling females in movies. Of course it's too bad she's practically the only female character, but anyway - she's tough, assertive and fearless, but still capable of warmth and compassion. Even when she's a prisoner, or when she's being rescued, she never gives the sense of being passive, of filling the prototypical princess in the tower role. I love it. And I routinely put my hair up to imitate hers. :)
The music. Everyone knows I adore John Williams, and my husband helped fulfill a glorious dream of mine a few years back when we went to see him guest-conduct the Boston Pops. The man is such a genius. The themes from Star Wars are instantly memorable, evocative and, though I've probably overused the word already, iconic. They were the soundtrack of my childhood, and Star Wars would be only a fraction of the film it is without its music.
Oh, and also - this movie is hilarious. So quotable, so funny. Sure, some of Lucas's dialogue is clunky, but sometimes that's half the charm of it. "Curse my metal body!" Hah. Luke is and always will be my favorite character, but Han definitely provides a lot of the humor. He's too cynical to take things seriously all the time. He changes in later films...though that's for a future post. I feel like I've only scratched the surface of what makes the first Star Wars film so awesome, but it's a good start. Next time, Episode V!
Episode IV, from any analytical standpoint, should have failed. It was full of risks, of storytelling and moviemaking choices that had never been attempted. But somehow it works, and I think it's because the film gives the sense of trusting its audience. Don't worry that this is a little strange, it seems to say - you're smart enough to figure it out.
For starters, the main protagonist doesn't show up for a good portion of the movie! We know from the opening crawl that Princess Leia is important, and we follow her through her capture, but the other narrative focuses on two droids. One of whom speaks only through beeps and whistles. The studio was so sure this was a mistake they made Lucas film some extra scenes with Luke hanging out with his friends. And Lucas immediately cut them as soon as the editing started. Because following a pair of bickering droids? It absolutely works. We care what happens to these two hunks of metal. By the time Luke shows up, we're already invested, because we know he's going to get sucked into this plot. And we start to get little bits about his backstory, hints of his father, as well as his impatience to get off the farm and go somewhere important. We can guess that sooner or later, his story and the Princess's are going to collide.
Star Wars doesn't waste a lot of time on info dumps. When Obi-Wan comes along, he gives a brief history of the Jedi and a explanation for Luke's father's death. Of course we know it's only a half-truth, but on first viewing, the whole "bad guy killed my father" storyline is enough to grab you. Now, as the cliché says, it's personal.
Star Wars also doesn't dwell over-long on emotional beats. Luke discovers the death of his aunt and uncle and the destruction of his home, and his head goes down and the music swells, and then we move on. We understand. It's the brutal event that pushes him over the threshold into his hero's journey. We don't need ten minutes of Luke sobbing. The same is true when Obi-Wan dies. It's sad, we're sad, but the film trusts that we don't need a prolonged slow-motion sequence with close-ups of everyone's anguished faces (am I possibly referring to another film saga that's ever-so-slightly heavy-handed in its emotional beats? Hmm).
The cantina scene is iconic, particularly remarkable considering a lot of the shots were filmed in a sort of desperate session after the principle shooting when Lucas was thoroughly dissatisfied with the original footage. Some masterful editing makes it all come together, and we're truly transported to another world where humans might just be the minority. Han Solo's character is established very quickly with his mercenary attitude, his focus on money, his cynicism and braggadocio. (I have to say, if you think just one alteration of his behavior - shooting second - ruins his entire character, you're not giving much credit to the loads of character development that still remain. As Harrison Ford himself said to the question of who shot first - I don't care.)
Chewbacca. He never says a word in a human language, and yet we understand him. Peter Mayhew's superb body language (the man wasn't even an actor when they found and cast him!) and Ben Burtt's sound design for his growls and shouts cannot be praised enough. What a fantastic creation.
Vader, of course, is the ultimate villain. Even before we get a bigger glimpse of his backstory in the next film, there's something intriguing about this masked terror - he's brutal and violent and controlling, yet deeply religious, as it were. He calls the ability to destroy an entire planet "insignificant" next to the Force. If we judged the Jedi solely on the basis of his attitudes, we might conclude it was a group of terrifying fanatics. But we have Obi-Wan to provide the contrast, a serene, monk-like mentor whose primarily uses his skills to cast confusion over weak minds and sneak around unnoticed. When it's time to fight, as in the cantina or against Vader, he's undoubtedly skilled. Yet he doesn't glory in it. He puts away his weapon after, er, literally disarming someone, and returns to his usual serenity. And when he sees what he must do for the greater cause of the Rebellion, he puts up his saber and lets Vader strike him down. His cryptic words are so intriguing - more powerful than you could possibly imagine? How? The first hint comes immediately, when we hear his voice speaking to Luke. But we're still left wondering exactly what he meant.
The Force. It's generic enough that it can be universal, this sort of power that the Jedi can draw upon. The actual powers it lends are the stuff of fantasy, of course, but the notion that by clearing our minds, ignoring the distractions of our senses and remaining calm, we can access great power? That sounds pretty close to reality. And what a thrilling moment in the battle of Yavin when Luke switches off his computer and lets the Force guide him. I still get excited seeing that victory, even after all the many times I've watched it.
Princess Leia is a landmark character, and even thirty-plus years later, she is rarely surpassed in terms of well-developed, compelling females in movies. Of course it's too bad she's practically the only female character, but anyway - she's tough, assertive and fearless, but still capable of warmth and compassion. Even when she's a prisoner, or when she's being rescued, she never gives the sense of being passive, of filling the prototypical princess in the tower role. I love it. And I routinely put my hair up to imitate hers. :)
The music. Everyone knows I adore John Williams, and my husband helped fulfill a glorious dream of mine a few years back when we went to see him guest-conduct the Boston Pops. The man is such a genius. The themes from Star Wars are instantly memorable, evocative and, though I've probably overused the word already, iconic. They were the soundtrack of my childhood, and Star Wars would be only a fraction of the film it is without its music.
Oh, and also - this movie is hilarious. So quotable, so funny. Sure, some of Lucas's dialogue is clunky, but sometimes that's half the charm of it. "Curse my metal body!" Hah. Luke is and always will be my favorite character, but Han definitely provides a lot of the humor. He's too cynical to take things seriously all the time. He changes in later films...though that's for a future post. I feel like I've only scratched the surface of what makes the first Star Wars film so awesome, but it's a good start. Next time, Episode V!
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no subject
Date: 2014-10-15 01:00 am (UTC)This is the second time in a month I've seen someone proposing afresh the "hybrid order" of the saga. It's certainly one I've tried myself before, and yet I do keep wondering how someone's impressions of the Jedi and the Force would be shaped could they manage to start from a blank slate watching in "numerical order"...
I've heard myself how Star Wars starts by "throwing a lot of strange things at the audience," and how that was a deliberate choice of George Lucas, struck by his own impressions of the Japanese movies he'd seen. Nowadays, again, I suppose it's hard to keep all the elaborate glosses provided over the years from our minds...
This did come along right when I'd been thinking it was about time to watch all the Star Wars movies in this year (I try to do it just once a year, but to watch all of them, whether it takes weeks or just a crowded weekend). I am conscious I have recorded DVDs of the "pre-Special Editions" that I downloaded disc images of a full ten years ago, in something of a dark and despairing time fandom-wise, but I've never watched through them, having been lucky enough to encounter the nascent "prequel appreciators" then and move on to the official DVDs. I'm inclined these days, though, to try and argue that the cantina shootout may have reduced the potential interpretations of it, but the current official interpretation was implicit in the first version too...
no subject
Date: 2014-10-15 01:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-10-15 02:30 am (UTC)