Star Words: Episode III, Part 32

[matril]

So Padmé embarks on one final rescue mission. In the first film she intends to save her planet from Federation occupation. In the second, she plans to save Obi-Wan from execution at the hands of the Separatists. Now she goes to save Anakin's soul from the clutches of the Dark Side.

I suppose she could have other purposes. She might still be clinging to the hope that Obi-Wan is mistaken. But I'm pretty sure she knows, deep down, that Anakin has fallen, and she's formed a grim resolution to do whatever she can to bring him back. Honestly, I think my favorite instance of acting from Natalie Portman in the entire trilogy is the silent, mournful moment after she's landed on Mustafar. So much is expressed in that single look. It's as if she knows that once she leaves that spaceship, there's no going back.

Then she sees him, and they run to each other with that reckless fervor we've seen so many times before. We can see how far Anakin has already gone when he asks "What are you doing here?" with a harsh edge to his tone, already ready to accuse her.

The truth comes out. Anakin doesn't even try to deny what he has done; he just deflects and claims that Obi-Wan has ulterior motives, is trying to turn her against him. This supposed rivalry has already poisoned his mind; he bristles at the notion that she told Obi-Wan their secret. But Padmé pushes through all that and comes to the heart of the matter.

"Anakin, all I want is your love."
"Love won't save you, Padmé."

BUT ANAKIN, DON'T YOU REALIZE THAT LOVE COULD SAVE YOU??

Whew. Yeah. I'm not one of those starry-eyed romantics singing "Love is all you need." I mean, food and shelter and all those sort of necessities don't just spring up out of nowhere as long as you love someone. That's not what I'm saying here. Love isn't the only thing you need, but it is essential. And Anakin has lost sight of that. Padmé has never asked him to protect her life at all costs; all she has ever wanted from him is his love. And now in his obsession to keep her alive, his love has turned cold and warped (which will lead directly to her demise, sob.)

Meanwhile, love is exactly what Anakin needs in this moment, and it's exactly the thing he rejects. Padmé's love for him represents his better self, the goodness in him that she's always believed in. He's allowed the Dark Side to smother it. Even in the face of Padmé's appeals he refuses to let it be revived. But in all this tragedy, there is a bright spot -- the knowledge that the same unconditional love, the same unwavering hope in Anakin's capacity to do the right thing, will come to him again in the form of their son.

Next, the line that makes a scene in Episode VI a hundred times more poignant....

Comments

[krpalmer]

The "silent, mournful moment after she's landed on Mustafar" is where I think of Leia's line in Return of the Jedi "She was very beautiful. Kind but... sad." So far as "other purposes" go, though, I can think of the storyboard artist who was trying to suggest "all I can do for him is kill him myself..." (Basically, I don't miss that not getting in the movie.)

I'd like to believe "she might have saved him then, if..." At the same time, though, I am a bit conscious of an interpretation along the lines "it was only when Vader had really, truly lost something he'd tried to save that he was jolted to the point of eventual escape."

[matril]

I'm very glad the "kill him as a last resort" bit didn't end up the movie. It doesn't fit with Padmé's personality at all. And we wouldn't get the wonderful symmetry of Luke refusing to kill his father.

[krpalmer]

I recall glancing through a book of storyboards some time after hearing the suggestion, and remember the idea was supposed to be "we see her descending from her ship holding a knife, but she can't go through with it and drops the weapon before Anakin can notice her holding it." Even the clarification doesn't much affect your points, though.