A Thousand Stars: Episode I, Part 13
Mar. 31st, 2022 08:43 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
matrilSo the preparations for the podrace begin. Watching Anakin laboring over his handiwork, Qui-Gon is naturally curious about the origins of his remarkable skills. Shmi tells him the startling mystery of his conception (not an "immaculate conception," by the way, which is a Catholic notion referring to the conception of Mary the mother of Jesus, and it drives me slightly berserk every time the term is misapplied) but it's her nonverbal reactions that I'm going to focus on here.
Anakin's creation roars to life, and the mood is celebratory...for everyone except Shmi.
Look at how small and vulnerable she looks in this shot. Alone, distant, removed from her son and his adventures. It's a very deliberate choice to frame her like this. Then we come a little closer.
A wistful smile at first. Then:
A slight, subtle shift, but so expressive. I die every time Watto makes you do it. We see that anguish, just barely contained. Perhaps she also has the premonition that this race will change Anakin's fate forever, even if he survives it. Any chance he has at freedom, at pursuing his tremendous potential, must come at an awful price.
In case you have any remaining doubts about the symbolism here, watch as her image is literally swallowed up by the stars. Those distant, tantalizing lights that call to Anakin, drawing him away from home, away from safety and innocence, away from his mother.
Next time, the face of a dreamer....
Anakin's creation roars to life, and the mood is celebratory...for everyone except Shmi.
Look at how small and vulnerable she looks in this shot. Alone, distant, removed from her son and his adventures. It's a very deliberate choice to frame her like this. Then we come a little closer.
A wistful smile at first. Then:
A slight, subtle shift, but so expressive. I die every time Watto makes you do it. We see that anguish, just barely contained. Perhaps she also has the premonition that this race will change Anakin's fate forever, even if he survives it. Any chance he has at freedom, at pursuing his tremendous potential, must come at an awful price.
In case you have any remaining doubts about the symbolism here, watch as her image is literally swallowed up by the stars. Those distant, tantalizing lights that call to Anakin, drawing him away from home, away from safety and innocence, away from his mother.
Next time, the face of a dreamer....
