A Thousand Stars: Episode I, Part 23

[matril]

The scene in Palpatine's chambers is so brilliantly staged, it's mesmerizing. Ostensibly he is informing the queen on the situation in the Senate, preparing her for the upcoming session. In truth, he is weaving a web of precise manipulation, leading up to an apparently off-the-cuff suggestion that she call for a vote of no confidence in Chancellor Valorum. And like a spider creating its web, he is in constant, relentless motion, back and forth, round and round the couch where Amidala passively sits, an unwitting victim of his entangling plots. Like the previous entry, Palpaltine looms large. Sometimes he even eclipses the queen entirely.


He is pulling all the strings. He is in completely in command, whether anyone knows it or not.


A later scene will reverse much of this imagery, but for now we see a pointed visual representation of Amidala's helplessness.

Next, the power of body language...

Comments

[krpalmer]

I remember seeing "Palpatine the entangler" pointed out before, but I am interested in anticipating what scene might be explained as reversing the imagery. One thought that popped into my head looking at your frames was contemplating the relatively pale colours of Amidala's latest outfit; it's the first time in the movie I can think of her wearing something like that.

[matril]

That's true about her outfit; it does have a subdued, almost washed-out color palette compared to her other outfits. Even with the huge headdress, she seems so small.