A Thousand Stars: Episode II, Part 4

[matril]

With the appearance of Obi-Wan and his Padawan, we get to experience a whole buffet of awkward. First, watch the silent reactions as Anakin fumbles his way through his greeting to Padmé.


The second-hand embarrassment is so strong, Obi-Wan has to look away.


Padmé is...nonplussed, to say the least.

Then we have the confrontation between the two Jedi, the clash of by-the-book Obi-Wan with Anakin's more outside-the-box thinking (and of course, eagerness to follow Padmé's wishes). It's a reversal of the Qui-Gon/Obi-Wan dynamic, and far more rife with contention.

And everyone in the room notices it.




I love how Jar Jar visibly gulps from the tension.





That pause, right before the cutting reply of What?. Brrrr. It's the silences, the breaks in between dialogue, that really convey the awkwardness of this scene. Things are not all sunshine and rainbows with Master and Padawan.

Next, shadows and symbols...

Comments

[krpalmer]

Bringing up these moments does remind me of comments the previous scene with Obi-Wan and Anakin riding the elevator up to Padme's apartment had been added in reshoots to introduce them as getting along. At the same time, I'm quite aware of the risks in sliding into "it's not the way I'd been imagining them to be for all those years." (There's also a problem in assuming "Clone Wars was needed to show us 'how Anakin's supposed to be'"; the opening of Revenge of the Sith seemed sufficient to me.)

[matril]

I think Star Wars has always used a kind of shorthand for character development rather than belaboring the details over and over. And Episode III's opening is a perfect example of that. The battle scene provides thrilling action, moves forward the plot and offers a showcase of how Obi-Wan and Anakin's relationship has evolved, all within the first half hour. It's efficient while also tremendously entertaining.