matril

For exterior shots on Hoth, production went to an actual frozen, snow-laden location in Norway. But for the indoor shots, they needed to transform a soundstage into a giant ice cave hanger.

It looks quite convincing. The jagged icy stalactites and stalagmites, the freezing look of the floor, and the stark white color palette that includes even the pipes along the walls. Lastly, there's the blend of technology and organic, droids and tauntauns, that has always given Star Wars a distinctive flavor. It's just so visually interesting.

Next time, some emerging Jedi skills...

Han, unaware of his friend's dire situation, returns to the Rebel base. It's here that we are introduced to one of the primary conflicts of this film: will Han stay with the Rebellion or leave? There are compelling reasons on both sides. He's got a price on his head from Jabba, which not only endangers him but everyone he interacts with. On the other hand, after all his mercenary ways he's starting to develop a sense of loyalty to the Rebel cause, and as General Rieekan points out, his skills will be sorely missed.

And...one other thing.

Before Leia says a single word, we can see there's Something going on between her and Han. The entire time he's talking to Rieekan, we keep cutting back to the Princess. Han reveals that he's planning to leave, and Leia tries so very hard not to show any reaction. Han tries to be stoic too, but we get little glimpses like this, and we know there's a whole lot of feelings beneath the surface.

All of that, and they haven't even said anything to each other yet. Actually, their faces speak more truth than their subsequent conversation, in which they both dance around the incredibly vulnerable emotions they're both experiencing. Han wants Leia to admit her feelings before he does. Leia doesn't want to let her guard down when there's no guarantee that he'll stay for good. They're both stubborn people who have been burned in the past (you can make up whatever backstory you want for Han. Leia, we know, has lost an entire planet of family and loved ones) and they refuse to acknowledge anything verbally until the last possible moment. Maybe not even then.

But their faces can't lie.

Next time, some clever blocking....

Here we are at the end of Episode V at last. If this trend of ever-increasing posts continues, I suspect that Episode VI will easily exceed 50. That's perfectly fine with me; I'd be happy to spend another year on this series!

In any case, this middle film in the trilogy ends as any second act of a three-act story, with many questions and problems still unresolved amid a wistful, uncertain tone. Our heroes have made it to the Rebel fleet at last, and Lando is fully on their side now. But Han is still in the clutches of a bounty hunter, presumably frozen, Luke has lost a hand, the Rebellion has been forced to the very outskirts of the galaxy, and Vader's ominous declaration of parentage has yet to be addressed.

What else can be done except to move on? Our heroes don't give up; that's what makes them heroic. More than any extraordinary powers or mysterious origins, it is the determination to keep going no matter how great the challenges, no matter how hopeless the situation appears. Lando and Chewie are already embarking on a quest to rescue Han; Luke and Leia will follow soon after. Luke has a new mechanical hand that looks to function just as well as a real one. And his last line is full of hope.

"May the Force be with you."

(My husband likes to point out that technically, Luke's last line and the concluding line of the film is "Ow!" But let's not nitpick.)

This is the first time we've heard Luke speak this line. It's significant in its timing. It would have easy for him to declare at the end of Episode IV, when he was giddy with the success of his newfound powers and had every reason for optimism. Now he's had to confront a much darker view of the Force, not only from Vader but within himself. He could be questioning whether Ben was ever honest with him, doubting all his teachings. Still he affirms his faith. Invokes the blessings of the Force on their mission. Still he hopes.

I love Luke.

Then, with the final shot of the (unwitting) twins facing a vast vista and their uncertain future (paralleled quite poetically by the final shot with their parents in Episode II) we conclude this episode and move on to the final film!

Whew. This installment has gone on for quite a while, hasn't it? Longer than the previously reigning champion, Episode III. It could be that there are a lot of great lines in this film, but more likely it's just that I tend to get more long-winded the longer I write about something. (Also, my favorite scene in this film is very dialogue-heavy, so it took up five whole entries on its own...) Anyway, we're finally winding down. I'm planning on just two more entries after this to finish Episode V.

The duel with Vader culminates with a fascinating twist -- and I'm not just talking about the reveal of Vader's true identity. That line is pretty simple, though oft misquoted (It doesn't start with Luke; it's No. I am your father) but it leads into the deeper implications of Luke's parentage. It's not just that Luke's father is the bad guy. With this ominous birthright, Luke possesses the capacity to follow in his dark footsteps and become like him. And there's a particularly tantalizing claim amid Vader's call for Luke to join him.

"You can destroy the Emperor; he has foreseen this. It is your destiny. Join me, and together we can rule the galaxy as father and son. Come with me. It is the only way."

Quite a mouthful, and Luke is done interrupting. After his initial anguished outburst, he has withdrawn into his own thoughts, silently working through these shocking revelations. He may deny them all he wants, but his feelings are telling him otherwise.

And that claim about destroying the Emperor. Who wouldn't be tempted by that? To be told that destroying the leader of the Empire is nothing less than his destiny -- well, didn't Luke already destroy the Death Star and lead the Rebels to their first great victory? Isn't he the last Jedi apprentice for a reason?

We know about Vader's ploy to turn Luke from his earlier communication with the Emperor, but until the end of the duel Luke probably still assumed that Vader just wanted to kill him. That's what he did to Obi-Wan; that's what he supposedly did to Luke's father. Instead, Vader offers him victory, power, the chance to build the galaxy anew. As father and son. I already addressed the parallels with Episode III in that installment's 34th entry, the heartbreaking moment when Anakin makes a similar offer to Padmé.

Both of them reject it. The price is too high.

It is the only way. It says so much about Anakin/Vader that he believes this. That he sees nothing but the narrow, shadowed path of the Dark Side. That he cannot conceive how anyone could choose differently. When Padmé chooses differently, his frenetic mind casts the blame upon Obi-Wan. When Luke lets himself fall into the void, there is no one else to blame. He chose, of his own volition, to reject power and embrace passivity -- even a possible death. Though Vader's thoughts remain unexpressed, I imagine this marks the beginning of a change in his perspective, a broadening of possibilities that will draw him gradually back to the light.

Next, Threepio is dependably hilarious in the face of peril....

Vader is quite the chatterbox during the first part of the duel. Luke has just one line (a rash and arrogant You'll find I'm full of surprises) while Vader rambles on and on. There is a definite purpose to his words, however. He isn't looking to simply defeat Luke -- and as we'll see later on, he's toying with him at the beginning. His skills are far superior and he holds back only to test Luke's abilities. No, he doesn't just want to claim his life. It's Luke's soul that Vader is after.

So the Sith Lord taunts him, offers faint praise and cutting insults. Acknowledges that his training has been good, but points toward a very different sort of training.

"Now, release your anger. Only your hatred can destroy me."

This is our first intimation of the great paradox contained within the Dark Side. To slay one's foe might not be a victory at all. If you kill your enemy by becoming like him, you haven't really defeated him at all.

Then how can you win? Well, we won't get that answer till Episode VI, when the Emperor continues this strange tactic of encouraging Luke's vicious anger against him. Meanwhile, Luke falls prey to Vader's taunts quite readily, striking out in hatred, seeking vengeance and destruction rather than the fruits of the good side of the Force. He has a lot of hard lessons to learn.

Next, Vader's relentless attacks on Luke's body and mind continue...

This is the point of the film when it looks like everything is going wrong for our heroes. Han has been frozen and Boba Fett is carting him off, Vader has changed his mind yet again and demands that Leia and Chewie remain in Imperial custody, and Luke is about to fall directly into the Sith Lord's trap -- in spite of Leia's screaming plea that warns him of that very thing.

Well, the darkest pits make for the most thrilling escapes. What makes Episode V so compelling isn't being "darker" than the other films; it's that only some of its perils are overcome by the end of the movie. It was truly a middle act, leaving the full resolutions for the third. It made for a very unusual, daring sequel in an era where movies were reliably self-contained, single stories. Yet another way that the Star Wars saga forever changed the landscape of cinema.

Anyway, Luke enters the trap. On some level I think he's aware of this. He's not oblivious...just rash and reckless and over-confident. As Vader declares:

"The Force is with you, young Skywalker. But you are not a Jedi yet."


The visuals of this scene give me chills. Everything in stark shadow. Two bold silhouettes. A simple image, in many ways, and yet so evocative and memorable. And Vader's taunts, the faint praise wherewith an abusive parent damns his child.

There are shades of this exchange in the Count Dooku/Anakin duel in Episode II. Insults and sneers are as much a Sith Lord's weapons as a red-bladed lightsaber. Much like young Anakin, Luke does not yet have the emotional dexterity to parry those taunts. He despises Vader, and yet he is determined to prove his worth to him, to conquer this monstrous figure. That goes about as well as you might expect, alas.

In truth, it is only by recognizing the monstrous figure inside himself that Luke can become a Jedi Knight.

Next time, sparks fly amid a shifting allegiance...

Still hoping to salvage something out of his deal with the Empire, Lando goes to inform the prisoners of their fate. Fett has claimed Han, but Leia and Chewie will find relative safety in the City. Leia doesn't buy it for a second. Why would the Empire let any of them live?

Because Luke is Vader's true prey.

It's no surprise that this shocking revelation sends Han into an attack against Lando -- and also no surprise that he's too feeble, post-torture, to get in more than one punch before the guards take him down. But his sarcastic words might wound Lando far deeper.

"You fixed us all real good, didn't you? My friend.


I'm going to include two quotes today, since they're part of the same scene and the same idea. Lando offers what weak apologies he can, referring to his own rather sizable problems, but Han's sarcasm doesn't diminish one bit.

"Yeah. You're a real hero."


There's something particularly striking about the way Harrison Ford conveys his character's sarcasm. You can hear the contempt dripping from every word, the bleak humor. And it's clear to me that his contempt hits Lando where it really hurts. Whatever their disagreements in the past, they have a history of friendship, of hijinks and adventure. Of heroism? Maybe. Or maybe they were just a bunch of no-good scoundrels. Either way, both of them have shifted to something more selfless. But Han doesn't see it in Lando. He betrayed their friendship; he's no hero at all. I doubt you could summon up a more cutting way to insult Lando.

Next time, a (hopefully) new perspective on an old favorite....

After Chewie retrieves Threepio's parts from a junk pile, Lando shows up to offer everyone "some refreshment." Knowing what's coming, I have to wonder if he's still wishing he could somehow warn them away before it's too late, with his veiled references to Imperial influence. Whatever his secret motives, the betrayal is revealed as soon as the door slides open to reveal Darth Vader.

There's a lot of memorable visuals here, like Vader deflecting blaster bolts with his hand and snatching the weapon out of Han's astonished grip...as well as the speculation about what that "dinner" must have looked like afterwards. But let's look at Lando's words. A strained monotone, explaining that the Imperials showed up right before the Falcon; that he had no choice.

"I'm sorry."
"I'm sorry too."

First off, this is a marvelously passive-aggressive way to reply to any apology. Of course I don't recommend it in serious situations, but in response to a flippant "I'm sorry," particularly from a fellow Star Wars fan, it's quite appropriate. ;)

I believe that Lando really is sorry. It was his old friend or his entire city, and he chose what seemed like the greater good. Frankly, I don't blame him in the least. Maybe I'm biased because my earliest memories of Lando come from the unambiguous hero in Episode VI, but I've always felt like he did the best he could under awful circumstances. He couldn't take the chance of endangering all of the people under his protection. And later on, when it becomes obvious that the Empire never really planned on leaving Bespin alone, he attaches his allegiance quite solidly to the good guys.

But the apology is obviously going to seem pretty hollow to Han and company. Lando can say he's sorry a thousand times; they've still been betrayed. Anger will come later. For now Han is just stunned, exhausted, offering a simple ironic response. I'm sorry too. Sorry you turned out to be a traitor. Sorry we thought we could trust you, sorry we came here, sorry we were ever friends at all. Those three words could carry a whole lot of meaning.

Next time, the cold calculations of Imperial bargaining...

Ah, there's so many good lines here too. I don't want to lose you to the Emperor the way I lost Vader and Mind what you have learned; save you it can! and oh well, I'd better just hurry to the last line before I spend another month on a single scene. ;)

As Luke's ship takes off, Yoda offers Obi-Wan a sad I-told-you-so. Luke was reckless, now everything is worse. Ben doesn't dispute this, even going so far as to claim that boy is our last hope. Not so, according to Yoda.

"No. There is another."

This must have encouraged quite a bit of speculation among audiences back in 1980. I've heard that some assumed it referred to Han, which seems quite curious to me. Did anyone guess correctly? My understanding is that even Lucas was still working out some of the details before the sibling reveal in Episode VI, but then it's also clear from a scene near the end of this film that Leia has some kind of sensitivity.

Anyway, that was 1980. Knowing Leia's identity brings on a different set of speculations. Why does Yoda see hope in Leia while Obi-Wan doesn't? It would be a bit absurd to accuse Ben of sexism when he was well-acquainted with many powerful female Jedi in their heyday (even if, ahem, none of them had any speaking parts in the films, but whatever). It seems more specific to Leia herself. But doubtful too, that he would consider her less capable than Luke. Maybe he believes that he introduced Luke to Force training just in the nick of time, and now that a few years have passed it's too late for Leia? Or he supposes that her strengths lie more in the direction of their mother's gifts rather than their father's? That carries its own sort of sexism, though.

Last hope. Only hope. These phrases lend the films an air of high urgency, of desperate stakes and only the slimmest of chances. Is Yoda more optimistic in holding out hope for Leia? Is he more sensitive to the whisperings of the Force than Ben? There are so many questions, and I find it all the more interesting that we aren't given definite answers. More room for imagination.

I am, however, eternally disgusted with the cop-out the Disney Space Movies offered for why Leia never became a Jedi. They could have chosen differently, and it wouldn't have required Carrie Fisher to be as fit as a 20-year-old. There are other ways to show Jedi strength. And I have no doubt that Leia would have become a fantastically mighty Jedi. The daughter of Anakin and Padmé? Are you kidding me? She wouldn't have wasted time sitting around as a passive "general;" she would have been unstoppable. Tough but compassionate, brilliant and empathetic, fearless and bold. She and Luke would create a new Jedi Order that would surpass the old one in every detail, including its longevity. What a waste to miss out on that!

Welp, next time we return to Cloud City and a few pointed words from Leia herself...

Bespin is a gorgeous place, a city floating amid the clouds. Thanks to Luke's vision, however, we're already tensing ourselves for the horrors lurking beneath the beautiful surface. There are ominous glimpses: in the hostile words of the guards directing them to land, and in Lando's initial angry appearance. Then he breaks the tension with a delightful chuckle, and things are looking light-hearted again. Bouncy music, bright interiors, friendly chatter from Lando. Han is downright amused by his old friend's transformation into a responsible leader.

Lando pauses for a moment, his buoyancy settling into something more wistful and nostalgic. It's these little glimpses of Han and Lando's shared past that provide dimensionality to their characters, an implied history that gives their friendship depth and nuance. Of course, if you know the betrayal that's coming -- and even first-time viewers know that some sort of danger is approaching -- you could interpret Lando's wistfulness as more complicated, perhaps the guilt of someone caught between betraying his friend or losing his beloved city to Imperial control.

In any case, he shakes it off and replies to Han's earlier comment.

"Yeah, I'm responsible these days. It's the price you pay for being successful."

It's a simple line, but I think it says a lot about Lando. As we'll see later, he's much more than a con man who tricks Han and company into trusting him so he can hand them over to the Empire for profit. Whatever his shady past, he has become a respected leader, and he's learned to accept that role. And I don't think it's merely because he endures it for the sake of attaining greater financial success. When everything falls apart after Han is frozen in carbonite, Lando makes a point of warning the citizens of his city about the Imperials. There's no monetary advantage to that; it only further endangers him. His priority at that point is people, not possessions.

Of course I'm getting ahead of myself. I just really like this line and what it illustrates about Lando's unexpected journey into becoming respectable.

Next, more ominous warnings of treachery....