With Comic-Con well and truly behind us, news has been slower. But there is still plent y of stuff on the Internet to enjoy: Lucasfilm wasn’t happy about Amy Schumer’s Star Wars photoshoot (Comic Book Resources) Did you know you needed … Continue reading Weekly Round-Up
Today is Natalie Portman’s 34th birthday and in honour of that I thought it would be interesting to take a look at Padmé Amidala’s role in one of the key moments in Attack of the Clones: the Battle of Geonosis. So here … Continue reading Scene It? – Padme in the Geonosis Arena
So, what’s been happening in Star Wars-related news this week? Jedi’s Journey back to Star Wars – Ahsoka’s journey (USA Today) Could we be getting an Obi-Wan Kenobi trilogy? (Cinema Blend) Star Wars novel Heart of the Jedi resurfaces (IO9) Clone Trooper gets … Continue reading Weekly Round-up
In today’s Scene it? I am looking at a very contested story-line within The Return of the Jedi. Although I will be discussing the whole story arc, I will be focusing on the scene that brings it to an end. I am talking about ‘slave Leia’ and especially “the bikini”, which is one of the things that has been incredibly divisive within the Star Wars fandom.
What’s been happening inStar Wars-related news this week? On the Web: Colin Hanks and his daughter brought attention to the lack of female merchandise (Mary Sue) Diego Luna joins the cast for Rogue One (Variety) Star Wars villains for adoption: the … Continue reading News Round-Up
In today’s Scene It? post I’ll be looking at one of the most heart-breaking scenes in The Revenge of the Sith (2005), the third prequel film which depicts Anakin’s switch to the Dark Side of the Force. I am, of course, talking about the scene between Padme and Anakin on Mustafar, shortly before the battle between Anakin and Obi-Wan. Naturally, this post contains spoilers for The Revenge of the Sith. If you want a quick refresher on the scene, help yourself to the video below, the first half of which I will be discussing:
Some of the criticism directed towards RotS focused on the development of Padme Amidala’s character. In The Phantom Menace she is a young queen, exclusively focused on saving her planet from being taken over by the Trade Federation. In The Attack of the Clones she returns as a senator of Naboo and a key senator in trying to stop the outbreak of a war. We also see her trying to cope with her feelings for Anakin Skywalker and fighting for her life. In The Revenge of the Sith, Padme and Anakin are married, with the twins on the way, while she continues in her role as senator. As the Republic falls apart, so, it could be argued, does everything she has worked for. The difficulty with which Padme switches between her roles as senator and wife is, I believe, on purpose. As Anakin slowly loses himself it becomes harder for her to unite her principles with her emotions. The reason this scene is heart-breaking is because everything Padme believed in has either been corrupted or fallen apart. Below I will discuss why her choice of response to this is one which is probably singular in modern cinema and makes her stand out as one of the strongest women in sci-fi.
Scene It? is a feature we’re hoping to do frequently, if maybe not each week. As the title may suggest, we’ll be looking at different scenes within the Star Wars-canon and analyse how they can be interpreted.
Today I want to look at a scene that I believe is crucial to the development of Anakin Skywalker and sets him on the path to the Dark Side. This is the scene between Anakin and his mother, followed by the slaughter of the Sandpeople and Anakin dealing with the consequences of his actions. In the second prequel film The Attack of the Clones (2002) Anakin Skywalker goes through an enormous amount of development. The last time we see him he was a child, who had left home behind and was about to start training as a Jedi-padawan. In TAoC, Anakin has grown into a young man who is struggling with being mature at all times. He is torn between following his emotions and his high expectations of himself.
The scenes on Tatooine are truly tragic and, for the first time, we see Anakin take a conscious step towards the Dark Side. Shortly after finding his mother, she dies in his arms before being able to say she loves him. George Lucas and Hayden Christensen show us an Anakin who is already conflicted between what he knows is right and what he feels. I want to spend some time analysing what happens in this moment to show how delicate the film is in showing us Anakin’s development. The two scenes in the video above are the ones I will be looking at.
Clone Corridor 