A Thousand Stars: Episode I, Part 9

[matril]

One of the things that delights me about the prequels is how Lucas continually flips our expectations and preconceptions. Perhaps the most prominent example of this is how young Anakin was portrayed. Many fans were expecting something like an ultra-cool, brooding, stoic teen. Instead we met an earnest, kind-hearted, entirely-unselfconscious boy of nine. Which ultimately fits the themes of the saga far better. He had to come from someplace good in order for his fall to be tragic, and in order for his return to goodness to make sense. It also indicates that his fall was not inevitable. He made a choice to become Vader. He wasn't born into it.

But what does this have to do with the visual composition? Well, let's look at his very first appearance. Mike Klimo's extensive "Ring Theory" has already offered a detailed analysis of how Anakin's entrance, stepping down the stairs from outside, is a perfect mirror to Luke's first appearance in Episode IV. I'll just add the observation that the framing continually emphasizes Anakin's small stature.

He's frequently in the background, and frequently placed against looming figures like Qui-Gon and Jar Jar. Even Watto, who is technically shorter, is always fluttering around above his head, glaring down at him. And take a look at the framing of this fateful meeting.

As we've seen previously, Padmé is not particularly tall. She's taller and older than Anakin, of course, but not by much. Here, however, the characters are placed so that she's definitely a more prominent figure. Even sitting on the counter, Anakin is still not quite at her level, relatively speaking. What I'm trying to say is, Anakin is teensy.

We've always known him as the towering, terrifying Darth Vader. Two meters of pure power and violence. Nothing is more jarring and paradigm-shifting than to introduce young Anakin as a little child. Precocious, yes, but quite innocent and vulnerable. People thought they would be giddily anticipating that moment when Vader gets to unleash the awesome fury of the Dark Side. Instead, we're forced to contemplate how truly awful his fall was, what a tragic waste of potential and a destruction of goodness and purity.

Vader isn't cool. He's bitter old man in a life-support system.

We'll finish on that cheerful note, hah, till next time brings us some foreshadowing....

Comments

[krpalmer]

Before I was pointed to the "Ring Theory" I'd seen Anakin's appearance here ("coming in through a doorway") contrasted to Darth Vader's first appearance in Episode IV ("stepping through the blockade runner hatch.") As interesting as "multiple connections" might be, though, this one could still be somewhat influenced by "seeing each trilogy as a separate unit," given Vader's dark armour is introduced at the end of Episode III.

[matril]

That's a good point about Vader's entrance. It's also a drawn-out moment with bombastic music and a dramatic pause as he stands in the doorway. Anakin's first entrance, in contrast, is quick and deceptively unremarkable.