A Thousand Stars: Episode III, Part 43

[matril]

Padmé is gone, and everything that kept Anakin tethered to goodness and hope seems to be gone as well. Here he is with his master, looking every bit the heartless Vader we know from the original films. The construction of the Death Star, The Imperial fleet, the glimpse of a young Tarkin, the layout of the Star Destroyer and its officers -- all the images from Episodes IV-VI that we associate with evil.

But Padmé's influence isn't gone. We don't finish on the bleak note of the rising Empire. We follow the twins to their adoptive families. First on Alderaan, with Bail and Breha admiring their new daughter.

The shot transitions around Leia's little face into a far humbler but more familiar location, where Obi-Wan delivers Luke to Beru and Owen.

What image could be more poignant as a finish than this one? The same sort of binary sunset that Luke will watch some twenty years later, the quiet homestead he yearns to leave, yet will also mourn deeply when it is lost to him forever. The past and the future, the son follows the father but ultimately finds a different, better path.

Episode III is, frankly, a brutal thing to watch. We hadn't seen an ending this bleak since 1980, and Episode V didn't finish nearly as dark as this one. But like the twins standing together, determined to make things right, this movie also finishes with hope. Though the suns are setting, there will always be a new day.

Next time we move on to Episode IV!

Comments

[krpalmer]

While Vader crossing his arms across his chest is a familiar gesture (and one Anakin did in Episode I), I did at one point think Shmi did much the same thing as Anakin was leaving her for the first time, which might allow for some hint of "loneliness."

The very end of this movie still gets to me all these years later, although the score could have something to do with that too. Not that long ago I did see someone contemplating how Owen starts off in the same position that became so famous for Luke, although maybe having just brought up "time has passed" might lend ambiguous shades to the comparison.

I am glad to see we're moving on beyond the halfway point, even if we're stuck with unillustrated posts. I'll have to see if I can comment more often in the weeks ahead.

[matril]

Yes, I like the notion of the cross-armed gesture being vulnerable rather than the imposing look we usually associate with Vader. To me, that's the greatest power of the prequels, to cast Vader as pathetic rather than cool.

[jppiper]

if only more fans would see that