Tag: Fixing the Prequels: AOTC

And after a brief layoff, we’re back and exploring Attack of the Clones. First, though, something interesting, in the form of something that I never thought I’d see happen: in comments to one of the Fixing the Prequels: The Phantom Menace posts (specifically), I was taken to task not by someone incredulously asking how I can possibly profess to like the Prequel Trilogy, but by someone who doesn’t think I like it enough.

The reader, whose blog is called “Felice’s Log” even though her Blogger profile says “Juanita”, says this:

Do you honestly think you can “FIX” the Prequel Trilogy? Do you honestly think you’re a better writer than George Lucas?

God! The arrogance of all this!

This is definitely the first time I’ve ever found someone who holds the Prequels more dearly than I do. It’s an odd feeling.

Taking this at face value (and I see little reason to do otherwise), well, obviously no, I can’t fix the PT, because the PT is done. It’s there. George Lucas has made the movies and is now doing other stuff. Still Star Wars, but other stuff. As for me being a better writer, well…maybe I am, maybe I’m not. George Lucas is the one sitting on an enormous pile of money by virtue of his having created something that is one of the great cultural touchstones of the last fifty years; I’m a blogger who does this as a hobby. But hey, maybe I’m a late bloomer! Maybe my own cultural touchstone project is still to come!

But seriously, I hope that Juanita/Felice reads a little deeper into this series of posts and into some of the many other posts I’ve written on the subject of Star Wars over the years of this blog. I yield to no one in my respect and admiration for George Lucas and what he has created over the years, even before Star Wars — American Graffiti is also a long-time favorite movie of mine. But such admiration surely need not preclude me from admitting that the Prequel Trilogy, as good as I believe it to be, simply isn’t perfect. It’s got problems. Some of the problems are bigger than others, even if I don’t think any of them are fatal problems which completely undermine his story. I don’t find the acting across-the-board awful; I don’t find Jar Jar Binks distracting to the point of loathing; I don’t find the dialogue uniformly bad. I’m not one of those people who sneers “I was bored during the opening crawl of TPM when it started talking about taxes and stuff!”

But the films are flawed, in my opinion. There are spots throughout the PT where Lucas doesn’t step soundly, and this series of posts is my examination of all such spots. But this exercise isn’t simply about that, however; this is, I hope it will be obvious when one reads the posts, certainly not a long-form critique of everything wrong and horrible and awful with TPM or AOTC. For that, you can go to YouTube and watch that guy who did those long “reviews” of both films*. For all my focus on the flaws that I perceive in the PT, this series is also about its strengths. I go out of my way to point out all of the places where I think Lucas gets things mostly, or even completely, right, and I’ve always felt that the moments of “rightness” far outnumber the moments that are less than perfect.

I remember back in 1999, when I realized that the prevailing opinion on TPM was turning out to be negative, and how quickly that negative view seemed to strengthen and intensify. Reading commentary on that film back then, it was almost as if every person felt the need to out-do the previous person in saying how bad the movie was. Every time I see any of the Prequels mentioned on just about any website that gets any kind of traffic at all, the result is the same: a chorus of voices, unanimously united in their abject hatred of the movie in question and the Prequels in general. And these discussions always veer into people saying mean things about George Lucas and keeping the happy myths going, such as the old canard that “Star Wars is best when Lucas doesn’t have much to do with it”, on the basis of The Empire Strikes Back and yet somehow ignoring Return of the Jedi (which was written again by Lawrence Kasdan and directed by Richard Marquand, and not Lucas).

These posts are part of a long effort of mine to establish somewhere online the notion that the Prequel Trilogy is not a disaster from pillar to post, and that there is, in fact, a great deal in the PT to love. By highlighting a number of problem areas and showing – or attempting to show, at least – how most of those problems could be solved by either re-writing existing scenes or creating some new ones, I hope to illustrate also the parts of these films that work quite well indeed. And there are a lot of those.

I’d finally point out, before getting back into AOTC, that George Lucas has always himself maintained that the writing is his least favorite part of filmmaking. All of the movies which are credited with Lucas as the writer saw uncredited script doctoring to some degree: Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz helped out with A New Hope; Carrie Fisher pitched in on TPM; and Tom Stoppard reportedly helped out with RotS. Lucas has always held up writing as his area of weakness – even if I don’t think he’s that bad a writer, he is clunky at times.

So that’s what we’re all about here. And with that, back to Attack of the Clones!

(But first, Felice/Juanita is running a pretty interesting blog herself — lots of in-depth reviews of movies and teevee shows there. Check it out.)

When last we left, Anakin and Padme were leaving Tatooine in direct defiance of the Jedi Council’s orders for them to stay right there, and heading to Geonosis to attempt to help Obi Wan. Meanwhile, back on Coruscant, the government is now very nervous at the evidence Obi Wan has presented that the Separatist movement is preparing for war. The scene, with material not actually in the film in red:

INTERIOR: CORUSCANT, CHANCELLOR’S OFFICE – DAY

BAIL ORGANA: The Commerce Guilds are preparing for war…there can be no doubt of that.

PALPATINE: Count Dooku must have made a treaty with them.

BAIL ORGANA: We must stop them before they’re ready.

JAR JAR: Exsueeze me, yousa honorable Supreme Chancellor, Sir. Maybe dissen Jedi stoppen the rebel army.

PALPATINE: Master Yoda, how many Jedi are available to go to Geonosis?

YODA: Throughout the galaxy, thousands of Jedi there are. To send on a special mission, only two hundred are available.

BAIL ORGANA: With all due respect for the Jedi Order, that doesn’t sound like enough.

YODA: Through negotiation the Jedi maintains peace. To start a war, we do not intend.

ASK AAK: The debate is over! Now we need that clone army…

BAIL ORGANA: Unfortunately, the debate is not over. The Senate will never approve the use of the clones before the separatists attack.

MAS AMEDDA: This is a crisis! The Senate must vote the Chancellor emergency powers! He could then approve the use of the clones.

PALPATINE: But what Senator would have the courage to propose such a radical amendment?

MAS AMEDDA: If only Senator Amidala were here.

JAR JAR steps forward from the back of the group.

JAR JAR: Mesa mosto Supreme Chancellor… Mesa gusto pallos. Mesa proud to proposing the motion to give yousa Honor emergency powers.

This is a good scene. I do wish some of the stuff about the limitations of the Jedi had remained in the finished film; maybe not specific numbers, but something like that to highlight the fact that the Jedi are simply not able to fight a Galaxy-spanning conflict. I do appreciate how, in the final film, Jar Jar’s last line is left out, and we just see him standing there, thinking on what’s just been said, instead of him stepping up and pledging to be the guy who basically introduces legislation to start the Republic on its final road to ruin. (I always thought that was a neat conclusion for Jar Jar’s character arc, by the way.)

One other thing I always loved about this scene is that even though the script indicates it takes place during the daytime, in the final film it’s set in early evening, when night is falling over the Capital part of Coruscant. The final debate over what to do about the clone army is underscored by being set at night; we are literally watching the darkness fall over the Republic. George Lucas has always done a good job with his progressions of color schemes through his films; note how in ANH the prevailing colors go from the bright desert yellows and oranges early on to more silvers and grays and blacks as the final confrontation with the technocratic Empire looms, and how after an hour or so of that, we get a brilliant dose of green when we finally meet the Rebellion. Or how, in TESB, the action on Bespin takes but a single entire day – dusk as the Millennium Falcon arrives on Cloud City, dawn the next morning as Leia is fretting over where C-3PO has disappeared to, mid-day as Luke is arriving and as Han is being frozen, and dusk again as Luke is being nearly destroyed by Vader.

Anyway, after this scene we cut to Geonosis and what is one of the best scenes in any Star Wars movie, a near miracle of a scene, considering George Lucas’s utter inability as a director. (Yes, that last is sarcastic.) Count Dooku visits a captive Obi Wan Kenobi:

INTERIOR: GEONOSIS, PRISON CELL – DAY

COUNT DOOKU walks into the cell holding OBI-WAN. OBI-WAN is suspended in a force field, turning slowly as blue electric bolts restrain him. COUNT DOOKU circles OBI-WAN as they talk.

OBI-WAN: Traitor!

COUNT DOOKU: Hello, my friend. This is a mistake. A terrible mistake. They’ve gone too far. This is madness.

OBI-WAN: I thought you were the leader here, Dooku.

COUNT DOOKU: This had nothing to do with me, I assure you. I promise you I will petition immediately to have you set free.

OBI-WAN: Well, I hope it doesn’t take too long. I have work to do.

COUNT DOOKU: May I ask why a Jedi Knight is all the way out here on Geonosis?

OBI-WAN: I’ve been tracking a bounty hunter named Jango Fett. Do you know him?

COUNT DOOKU: There are no bounty hunters here that I’m aware of. Geonosians don’t trust them.

OBI-WAN: Well, who can blame them. But he is here, I can assure you.

COUNT DOOKU: It’s a great pity that our paths have never crossed before, Obi-Wan. Qui-Gon always spoke very highly of you. I wish he were still alive. I could use his help right now.

OBI-WAN: Qui-Gon Jinn would never join you.

COUNT DOOKU: Don’t be so sure, my young Jedi. You forget that he was once my apprentice just as you were once his. He knew all about the corruption in the Senate, but he would never have gone along with it if he had known the truth as I have.

OBI-WAN: The truth?

COUNT DOOKU: The truth. What if I told you that the Republic was now under the control of the Dark Lords of the Sith?

OBI-WAN: No, that’s not possible. The Jedi would be aware of it.

COUNT DOOKU: The dark side of the Force has clouded their vision, my friend. Hundreds of Senators are now under the influence of a Sith Lord called Darth Sidious.

OBI-WAN: I don’t believe you.

COUNT DOOKU: The Viceroy of the Trade Federation was once in league with this Darth Sidious. But he was betrayed ten years ago by the Dark Lord. He came to me for help. He told me everything. The Jedi Council would not believe him. I tried many times to warn them but they wouldn’t listen to me. Once they sensed the Dark Lord’s presence, it would then be too late. You must join me, Obi-Wan, and together we will destroy the Sith.

OBI-WAN: I will never join you, Dooku.

COUNT DOOKU turns to leave.

COUNT DOOKU: It may be difficult to secure your release.

What’s so great about this scene? Well, for one thing, it’s just two good actors talking to one another. I’m of the opinion that there’s far more of that to be found in the Prequels than most seem to believe, but that’s neither here nor there. The scene is even better because in a short time it establishes a lot of ground. We learn something about Qui Gon Jinn that we hadn’t known, a possible source of some of his rebelliousness, if his own teacher was a Jedi who eventually left the order entirely. And how fascinating that the first time any of the Jedi learn that a Sith Lord is behind the political machinations in the Republic is from the lips of that very Sith Lord’s apprentice. Seriously, what a masterstroke that was: Obi Wan is actually hearing the truth, but because he knows the man he is talking to is a villain, he disbelieves it.

I also love how Lucas returns to a small thread that was mentioned originally in The Empire Strikes Back, in the way that Dooku (whom we later learn is actually “Darth Tyrannus”) tries to tempt Kenobi into joining him. It seems that one of the problems with the Sith lies in the way that apprentices are always planning to topple their masters, and it’s cool how Palpatine deals with this by always seeming to have his next apprentice either lined up or on the way; he treats his apprentices as disposable, so that they can never really get moving on their own schemes to topple him.

Next we go back to Coruscant, where in a night-time session, the Senate is taking up the matter of what to do about the immediate threat of the Separatist army. As Mace Windu and Yoda look on, Senator Jar Jar Binks is rising to the occasion and offering legislation to give “emergency powers” to the Chancellor, who immediately pledges to build “a grand army of the Republic” to deal with the Separatists. The road to war is now paved. Yoda and Windu agree that Windu will go to Geonosis, while Yoda plans to travel to Kamino to see the army for himself.

After this scene, we cut to Anakin and Padme arriving on Geonosis. After making their landing, they make their way through a back entrance into the droid factory. This leads to a very frenetic action sequence as they make their way through the factory assembly lines, with robotic machines whipping this way and that, giant buckets of ore being filled and dumped in the forges, and entire armies of droids being built.

I’ve thought about this quite a bit, and I honestly wouldn’t change any of it, save one thing: I never much liked the way C-3PO falls into the arms of a flying droid. I have no problem with him ending up on the assembly line himself, with his head replaced with that of a battle droid and a battle droid’s head replaced with C-3PO’s, but the way this unfolds is treated a bit too comically for my tastes. I’d cut out some of his one-liners through there – “It’s a nightmare!”, foremost – but other than that, I’m fine with the whole thing. R2-D2’s flying never bothered me, either. I know that a lot of Star Wars fans kvetched a lot over this, on the basis that he was never shown flying around in the Original Trilogy, but then, there weren’t any scenarios in the Original Trilogy that I can remember in which R2 flying would have been desirable, and having an astrodroid able to fly for short periods of time is fine with me. If your ship is damaged and drifting in space and your astromech droid can’t reach the thing that needs fixing from his assigned spot, then being able to propel himself in space a bit would be really useful, right?

So I’d tone down the C-3PO-related comedy in this sequence a bit, and if possible, have Anakin trying to get to Padme, instead of just trying to survive the assembly line. The way the sequence ends, with Anakin’s lightsaber being destroyed and his sheepish line, “Ohhh, not again. Obi Wan’s gonna kill me” is really good. I like that a lot.

In the film, at this point we cut to the great Arena on Geonosis where the executions of Obi Wan, Anakin and Padme are to be carried out. There was a scene filmed to take place before this, however, and the scene was cut due to the ever-present concerns about running time. It’s a good scene, though – well-written, and it shows Padme’s attempts to use diplomacy to defuse a bad situation as she meets with Count Dooku:

INTERIOR: GEONOSIS, CONFERENCE ROOM – DAY

COUNT DOOKU sits at a large conference table with PADMÉ on the far side. ANAKIN stands behind her with FOUR GEONOSIANS GUARDS standing behind him. JANGO FETT stands behind COUNT DOOKU, and SIX GEONOSIAN GUARDS stand behind him.

PADMÉ: You are holding a Jedi Knight, Obi-Wan Kenobi. I am formally requesting you turn him over to me, now.

COUNT DOOKU: He has been convicted of espionage, Senator, and will be executed. In just a few hours, I believe.

COUNT DOOKU smiles.

PADMÉ: He is an officer of the Republic. You can’t do that.

COUNT DOOKU: We don’t recognize the Republic here, Senator. But if Naboo were to join our Alliance, I could easily hear your plea for clemency.

PADMÉ: And if I don’t join your rebellion, I assume this Jedi with me will also die?

COUNT DOOKU: I don’t wish to make you to join our cause against your will, Senator, but you are a rational, honest representative of your people and I assume you want to do what’s in their best interest. Aren’t they fed up with the corruption, the bureaucrats, the hypocrisy of it all? Aren’t you? Be honest, Senator.

PADMÉ: The ideals are still alive, Count, even if the institution is failing.

COUNT DOOKU: You believe in the same ideals we believe in! The same ideals we are striving to make prominent.

PADMÉ: If what you say is true, you should stay in the Republic and help Chancellor Palpatine put things right.

COUNT DOOKU: The Chancellor means well, M’Lady, but he is incompetent. He has promised to cut the bureaucracy, but the bureaucrats are stronger than ever, no? The Republic cannot be fixed, M’Lady. It is time to start over. The democratic process in the Republic is a sham, no? A shell game played on the voters. The time will come when that cult of greed, called the Republic, will lose even the pretext of democracy and freedom.

PADMÉ: I cannot believe that. I know of your treaties with the Trade Federation, the Commerce Guilds, and the others, Count. What is happening here is not government that has been bought out by business… it’s business becoming government! I will not forsake all I have honored and worked for and betray the Republic.

COUNT DOOKU: Then you will betray your Jedi friends? Without your cooperation I can do nothing to stop their execution.

PADMÉ: And what about me? Am I to be executed also?

DOOKU: I wouldn’t think of such an offense. But, there are individuals who have a strong interest in your demise, M’Lady. It has nothing to do with politics, I’m afraid. It’s purely personal, and they have already paid great sums to have you assassinated. I’m sure they will push hard to have you included in the executions. I’m sorry but if you are not going to cooperate, I must turn you over to the Geonosians for justice. Without your cooperation, I’ve done all I can for you.

JANGO FETT: Take them away.

Yes, I would have included this scene. I like how it draws the political lines a bit more sharply and shows more of the roots of the conflict that is about to engulf the Galaxy. I especially like that Dooku calls Palpatine “incomptent” – does Dooku know that his master, Darth Sidious, actually is Palpatine? That’s an interesting question.

I’ll stop there for now. I’m not sure, but I may well finish up Attack of the Clones next time out – seriously, I have very few quibbles with the movie after the Naboo sequence, and what I’m doing here is more fleshing out bits of the film that I really like a lot. We’ll see what happens then. Tune in!

* On the new 90-minute review of AOTC, I watched about five minutes of it and stopped there, once I realized again that this fellow was saying things I’ve heard before and disagreed with before, many times in this space. I’ve got better things to do with my time than listen anew to the same old criticisms. As soon as he brought up the “Lucas made Return of the Jedi so he could sell Ewok toys” notion, I knew what was to come and shut the thing off.

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Lengthy entry this time, folks!

Jumping back into our exhaustive look at Attack of the Clones, when last we left our Star Warriors in action, Anakin Skywalker was going off to try and rescue his mother from the sandpeople and Obi Wan Kenobi was following leads on Geonosis, having just followed Jango Fett and his little boy Boba there.

As we left off with Anakin, we start with Obi Wan. I noted that the cut from Tatooine to Geonosis is kind of awkwardly done, and it is: it’s not clear until we look at the scene we’re watching that we’ve switched planets at all. But anyway, Obi Wan wanders into a cave which turns out to lead to a corridor through which he finds an immense automated factory, building armies of battle droids.

In the script, there’s a deleted bit that has Obi Wan picking his way along a cliff when he is attacked by a couple of local creatures (dog-sized lizards); after dispatching these with his lightsaber, he finds himself overlooking the wide plain on which a hundred Federation starships are landed. As he watches through his macrobinoculars, thousands of battle droids are boarding the ships. Would I include this? I’m tempted, but it might not really add much to the proceedings. The subsequent material establishes what’s going on in the droid foundries of Geonosis: the construction of armies for a war that hasn’t begun yet. Maybe I’d include it, maybe not. It sounds cool, at least.

Next, after seeing the droids being built, Obi Wan happens upon Count Dooku himself, walking with some of his co-conspirators. In the finished film, this is the first time we see Dooku, but remember, in my re-imagining, we’ve already seen him a couple of times via news reports that showed him inciting star systems to secession from the Republic. I like all of this scene as filmed, except for one little thing: an odd moment when the representative of the “Techno Union” has to stop mid-sentence and adjust his own volume knob. I didn’t understand what George Lucas was doing there.

As seems to be the case in nearly every scene in this movie, there’s interesting stuff in the original script that wasn’t in the movie as released. Here’s the conversation that Obi Wan overhears, with the stuff not in the movie in red:

INTERIOR: GEONOSIS, CENTRAL SQUARE – MORNING

OBI-WAN arrives at a vast expanse in the stalagmite interior. Immense pillars, soaring Gaudi-Gothic arches, vaulted roofs. The huge space is deserted – completely silent.

OBI-WAN starts to cross the square. Suddenly he hears voices.

He darts behind a pillar as POGGLE THE LESSER (Archduke of Geonosis), his aide, SUN FAC, COUNT DOOKU and NUTE GUNRAY approach, closely followed by PASSEL ARGENTE and WAT
TAMBOR. COUNT DOOKU is tall, elderly, and saturnine, with beautiful manners. OBI-WAN flattens himself against the pillar as they pass by.

COUNT DOOKU: Now, we must persuade the Commerce Guild and the Corporate Alliance to sign the treaty.

NUTE GUNRAY: What about the Senator from Naboo? Is she dead yet? I’m not signing your treaty until I have her head on my desk.

COUNT DOOKU: I am a man of my word, Viceroy.

POGGLE: With these new Battle Droids we’ve built for you, Viceroy, you’ll have the finest army in the galaxy.

They move out of earshot. OBI-WAN peers around the pillar to see them going through an archway on the far side of the courtyard. There is a flight of stairs beside it.

OBI-WAN arrives at the stairs. He sneaks up them, to arrive at a narrow gothic archway. He looks down through it.

INTERIOR: GEONOSIS, CONFERENCE ROOM – DAY

POGGLE THE LESSER and his TWO AIDES are at one end of a large round conference table.

COUNT DOOKU: Now is the time, my friends. This is the moment when you have to decide between the Republic or the Confederacy of Independent Systems.

COUNT DOOKU is at the head of the table. JANGO FETT stands behind his chair.

In addition to the original group, there are also THREE OPPOSITION SENATORS: PO NUDO, TESSEK and TOONBUCK TOORA, and a COMMERCE GUILD DIGNITARY; SHU MAI and a MEMBER of the INTERGALACTIC BANK CLAN, SAN HILL.

COUNT DOOKU: As I explained to you earlier, I’m quite convinced that ten thousand more systems will rally to our cause with your support, gentlemen. And let me remind you
of our absolute commitment to capitalism… of the lower taxes, the reduced tariffs, and the eventual abolition of all trade barriers. Signing this treaty will bring you profits beyond your wildest imagination. What we are proposing is completely free trade. (looks at Nute) Our
friends in the Trade Federation have pledged their support. When their Battle Droids are combined with yours, we shall have an army greater than anything in the galaxy, The Jedi will be overwhelmed. The Republic will agree to any demands me make.

PASSEL ARGENTE, the Corporate Alliance Representative.

PASSEL ARGENTE: I am authorized by the Corporate Alliance to sign the treaty.

COUNT DOOKU: We are most grateful for your cooperation, Chairman.

SHU MAI, the Commerce Guild Representative.

SHU MAI: The Commerce Guilds do not at this time wish to become openly involved, But we shall support you in secret – and look forward to doing business with you.

There are chuckles around the table. COUNT DOOKU smiles.

COUNT DOOKU: That is all we ask.

SAN HILL, the banker.

SAN HILL: The Intergalactic Banking Clan will support you wholeheartedly, but only in a non-exclusive arrangement.

WAT TAMBOR, the Techno Union representative.

WAT TAMBOR: The Techno Unions are at your disposal, Count.

That stuff about capitalism is pretty interesting. This could be read as George Lucas associating capitalism with evil, or a more nuanced view might suggest that it’s not unusual for capitalists to be used as tools for warmongers. “Come with us and you’ll make tons of money!” is a refrain you’ll see throughout virtually all of history.

Interestingly, the promise of free trade actually has some precedent in Star Wars, in a pretty cool way. Obviously we know that Sith promises aren’t to be trusted. Maybe they’ll have “completely free trade”, maybe they won’t – but way back in A New Hope, there were some scenes famously deleted from the final cut of the film involving Luke Skywalker’s daily life on Tatooine. His buddy Biggs has come back to visit, and tells him that he’s actually going to be joining the Rebellion. One of the reasons he cites is that the Empire “is already starting to nationalize commerce in the central systems”. Maybe the promise of free trade was made, and only broken twenty years later once the Emperor felt that his power was consolidated enough? The Original Trilogy abounds in little details that suggest that the Empire isn’t the all-encompassing, all-powerful entity that some seem to assume it is.

Anyway, in this scene Obi Wan realizes that Count Dooku is not some idealistic politician leading a separatist movement; he’s a schemer who is planning a war. He hasn’t connected all the dots yet, though, and discovered that Dooku is now a Sith.

At this point we cut back to Anakin, who has found the Tusken Raider encampment. He looks over the camp from a high rise in a shot that is a direct homage to The Searchers, the obvious inspiration for this entire storyline. Anakin drops off the cliff, down to the village, in a shot that openly suggests that Anakin’s fall from grace is now in progress. Anakin makes his way through the sleepy Tusken Raider encampment until he finds the tent his mother is in. This is all done…well, I hate to say it because for the most part this part of the movie is really well-done, but this little but is done with almost no attention to detail. We don’t see Anakin actually looking for his mother in various tents; we don’t see him reaching out with The Force to see if he can sense her presence. No, Anakin just walks up to a particular tent and then uses his lightsaber to cut his way in. (Bringing up another question: why didn’t he just go in the front? Is it a tent with multiple chambers, one of which is full of Sandpeople? I’m reminded of the scene in Superman II when the supervillains make their way into the Daily Planet building by smashing their way in and leaving destruction in their wake, when lex Luthor follows them by walking through doors and commenting, “All those powers and they can’t use a doorknob.”) And it always seems weird that most times, lightsabers make that wonderful loud hum when they’re in use – except in this scene, when the blade is almost totally silent so as to avoid waking up the Sandpeople.

I don’t want to make a huge deal of all this, but again it shows what I think tends to work against George Lucas: his unflagging desire to get on with it, keep things moving, et cetera. Motion doesn’t always equal mood, but to Lucas, often it does.

But anyway, Anakin finds his mother. She’s in rough shape, tied to a beam and looking very out of it. Anakin unties her and cradles her, but it’s pretty clear on his face that he already sees that he’s too late. Hayden Christensen did a really good job with this scene, as did Pernilla August as Shmi. The little touch that stands out is when Anakin starts to say something like “Everything’s going to be all right”, but he can only stammer out the first couple of words before he stops and makes a face that shows that he knows it’s not. Shmi tries to tell him that she loves him, but she dies before she can get the words out. Anakin closes his mother’s dead eyes, and then…Anakin starts to get angry. Really angry. A slow closeup on Anakin shows his eyes burning as the music starts to get frantic. The next thing we see is Anakin in the middle of the camp, igniting his lightsaber and killing two Tuskens before they know what hits them. Another charges him and Anakin steps up and swings his lightsaber as we do a cinematic wipe to Yoda in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, where he’s meditating. We hear a voice we haven’t heard in a long time, that of Qui Gon Jinn, shouting “Anakin! Anakin! Noooo!”

I’m of two minds on this sequence. I like the way Lucas edits it and gets us out of there as we know that Anakin is going berserk and cuts to Yoda as he sense that something awful is happening, but I’m not sure if we shouldn’t have maybe seen a little more of Anakin’s actions. Not a lot, mind you – we don’t need to see a whole lot of carnage, but something to make very clear that Anakin is now channeling the Dark Side of the Force. Maybe a mass Force-choke of a bunch of Tuskens at once, or something like that.

(By the way, ever since Revenge of the Sith came out, I’ve seen lots of commentary expressing anger or dismay at George Lucas in allowing something like Anakin’s killing of the Jedi younglings to make the screen. Well, the implication is pretty strongly there from the mere existence of the younglings, and yet, some folks are shocked about it – I remember one person writing about how stunned they were that Anakin would stoop that low, and it made it “impossible to root for Anakin”. And I’m thinking, “Wow, you couldn’t possibly have missed the point more widely than that.” For one thing, we’re not watching some nice kid become a juvenile delinquent; we’re not watching the nice young boy from the next block join the Crips. We’re watching the genesis of one of the evilest individuals in Galactic history. That’s got to mean something; that’s got to imply that we’re going to see Anakin do some very dark things. And anyway, when I’ve seen comments like this, I always want to ask: “Did you even see Attack of the Clones?” I mean, it’s not like the slaying of the younglings isn’t foreshadowed about as strongly as George Lucas foreshadows anything.)

I also really wish that Lucas had retained the services of Liam Neeson for some “disembodied Jedi” acting in AotC and RotS. I’ve always wondered if Neeson was asked and refused? Anybody know?

After Yoda tells Mace Windu that he’s felt Young Skywalker’s “terrible pain”, we cut back to Geonosis, where Obi Wan is trying to make his report. He’s too far from Coruscant to contact the Jedi directly, so he tries contacting Anakin on Naboo…but Anakin isn’t there. Scanning about, Obi Wan discovers that, contrary to his orders, Anakin is on Tatooine, so he contacts him there. (Meanwhile, Obi Wan is being observed by a Geonosan. His cover is about to be blown.)

Back to Tatooine we go, where R2-D2 receives Obi Wan’s message. The timing isn’t very good, though, because right now Anakin’s returning to the Lars homestead with his mother’s dead body in his arms. Sadness pervades the homestead. (John Williams’s scoring of this entire sequence really stands out, by the way.)

Later on, Anakin is tinkering around in the Lars garage. It’s a garage we’ve seen before (or will see again, much later on, in A New Hope — it’s where Luke first sees the hologram of Princess Leia). In the script, there’s a brief scene between Padme and Beru in the kitchen, but it’s not in the film, and it’s nothing special, so I wouldn’t bother much with it. Instead, in the garage, Padme comes to Anakin, and Anakin isn’t doing very well at all:

INTERIOR: TATOOINE, HOMESTEAD, GARAGE – DAY

PADMÉ comes in with a tray of food. ANAKIN is standing at a workbench, repairing a part of the speeder bike.

PADMÉ: I brought you something. Are you hungry?

PADMÉ puts the tray down.

ANAKIN: The shifter broke. Life seems so much simpler when you’re fixing things. I’m good at fixing things… always was. But I couldn’t… (stops working, tears in his eyes) Why did she have to die? Why couldn’t I save her? I know I could have!

PADMÉ: Sometimes there are things no one can fix. You’re not all-powerful, Annie.

ANAKIN turns and walks away from the bench.

ANAKIN: (angry) I should be! Someday I will be… I will be the most powerful Jedi ever! I promise you, I will even learn to stop people from dying.

PADMÉ: Anakin…

ANAKIN: (furious) It’s all Obi-Wan’s fault. He’s jealous! He knows I’m already more powerful than he is. He’s holding me back!

ANAKIN hurls the wrench across the garage. It CLATTERS to the floor. He looks at his trembling hands. PADMÉ stares at him, shocked.

PADMÉ: Annie, what’s wrong?

ANAKIN: I… I killed them. I killed them all. They’re dead, every single one of them…

ANAKIN focuses on her like someone returning from far away.

ANAKIN: Not just the men, but the women and the children too. They’re like animals, and I slaughtered them like animals… I hate them!

There is silence for a moment, then ANAKIN breaks down, sobbing. PADMÉ takes him into her arms.

ANAKIN: Why do I hate them? I didn’t… I couldn’t… I couldn’t control myself. I… I don’t want to hate them… But I just can’t forgive them.

PADMÉ: To be angry is to be human.

ANAKIN: To control your anger is to be a Jedi.

PADMÉ: Ssshhh… you’re human.

ANAKIN: No, I’m a Jedi. I know I’m better than this. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry!

PADMÉ: You’re like everyone else…

PADMÉ rocks him, and ANAKIN weeps.

I’ve always liked this scene a lot. Anakin pours out a lot of anger and frustration, some of it real and some of it his own imaginary baggage that nevertheless seems real to him because he’s really only a kid still, after all. He feels a desperate need to blame someone for what’s happened – himself, Obi Wan, the Sandpeople. And when he tells Padme that he killed them all, that he executed the entire encampment, he is shamed at first, and then he finds his anger again, and then almost as quickly he goes back to shame. Anakin is quick to anger and rage, quick to hatred, but he is resisting them. Not only are the seeds of his fall to the Dark Side now starting to blossom, but so are the seeds of his eventual redemption. That fascinates me.

I also note, again, that in my opinion, Hayden Christensen did a fine job in this scene. When he starts to tell Padme what he did to the Sandpeople, the look on his face isn’t even one of shame: it’s disbelief. Part of him can’t believe he just did those things last night. His disbelief becomes the shame, and then the shame the hatred. Christensen runs a fascinating emotional gambit in this scene that a lot of people like to denigrate because “Oh he’s just being a whiny teenager”, but I found it scarily convincing. And again, the music greatly helps the cause by quoting not just the Darth Vader theme, but also the Emperor’s theme (or the “Dark Side” Theme), showing how intertwined everything is becoming.

The next scene after this is another good one: Shmi’s funeral. Anakin’s farewell to his mother is very touching, particularly his vow that he “won’t fail again”. After they say their farewells to Shmi, C3PO comes bustling up to tell them that R2 has received a transmission from “an Obi Wan Kenobi”. They retransmit the signal to Coruscant, so the Jedi and the Chancellor are watching the transmission while Anakin and Padme do as well. Obi Wan has discovered the battle army being built on Geonosis and that the Trade Federation is behind the assassination attempts on Padme, but before he can say more, the hologram shows him reacting to being attacked by a destroyer droid. Mace Windu orders Anakin to stay where he is and protect the Senator, but Padme says, “Your orders are to protect me and I’m going to help Obi Wan.” So off they go.

This whole sequence works very well, except there’s one thing that’s always bugged me: Padme and Anakin jet off without so much as a word to the Lars family, taking C3PO with them! There should have been something like this:

EXTERIOR: Tatooine – Lars homestead – Day.

ANAKIN and PADME are ready to board their ship; the Lars family gathers before them.

CLIEGG: Thank you for coming, son. And for bringing Shmi home.

ANAKIN: Thank you for loving her.

The shake hands.

CLIEGG: You know, she never stopped talking about you and she never once stopped believing she’d see you again. She was proud of you. Never doubt that.

ANAKIN: I won’t.

Anakin turns to go, but Cliegg speaks again.

CLIEGG: One last thing…she said you built that protocol droid. Well, he does pretty well here, but really, we’re just moisture farmers. We don’t really need a protocol droid. You should take him. He’s yours, anyway.

ANAKIN: Thank you.

He turns to board the ship, after taking one last look around. Then he disappears onto the ship, which lifts off.

INTERIOR: Naboo ship – cockpit.

ANAKIN looks out the window as the planet surface drops away below them.

PADME: Are you all right?

ANAKIN: Fine. I just don’t think I ever want to see this planet again.

Behind them, C3PO looks around nervously.

C3PO: This is space travel? I knew I wouldn’t like it.

R2-D2 beeps in sympathy.

And that’s where we’ll stop for now. When we return, the Chancellor and the Senate have some choices to make, Obi Wan Kenobi meets Dooku for the first time, and a rescue attempt goes awry. Tune in!

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OK, Star Warriors, we’re back into Attack of the Clones. After the Naboo sequences, which needed quite a bit of fixing, we’re into the sections of the film that I consider the strongest; thus, we should be able to quicken the pace somewhat.

When last we left our adventurers in space, Anakin had (in my version) just thwarted another attack on Padme and made the Executive Jedi Decision to take her away from Naboo, since the assassins know she’s there. Remember, though: he hasn’t mentioned to her, yet, his fears about his mother. Plus, back on Kamino, Obi Wan has been ordered by Yoda to bring Jango Fett in for questioning.

That’s where we start: with Obi Wan on his way to arrest Jango Fett. In the film, we cut right to Obi Wan charging onto the landing platform as the Fetts are about to leave, but in the script, there’s a bit where Obi Wan goes back to the Fett’s apartment and finds the place empty and looking like the Fetts have left in a hurry. I would have left that in, but I don’t think the film suffers without it. And for all that, the fight scene between Obi Wan and Jango Fett is one of my favorite parts of the film; it’s exciting and well-staged, and I like how evenly-matched Obi Wan and Jango are, even though Jango’s is more a function of his having the niftiest utility belt since Batman and having his kid at the firing controls of his spaceship on the same platform. I can’t think of a single thing I’d change in this sequence.

What’s so nice about this is the fact that it illustrates anew that Jedi aren’t superhuman warriors who can’t be defeated. It further illustrates a fact that will later come back to haunt the Jedi badly: that while they can slice their way through armies of battle droids (unless they are undone by sheer numbers), fighting against humans is far less of a given.

After Slave I flies off, with Obi Wan’s homing beacon secure about its hull, we cut to Tatooine, where a chrome-hulled Naboo ship is landing. Anakin and Padme venture out to find Watto, in order to seek out Shmi Skywalker. When they find Watto, he’s not in his shop but just sitting in a little stall on the street of Mos Espa. He looks like hard times have befallen him. I actually like this little scene, and after a bit of consideration, I really wouldn’t change it, except for a couple of tiny things:

ANAKIN and PADMÉ get down. Sitting on a stool in front of the shop is WATTO. He is using a small electronic screwdriver on a fiddly DROID. THREE PIT DROIDS are chattering away and are trying to help him, but they seem only to make him madder.

WATTO: (yelling, in Huttese) No, not that one – that one!

ANAKIN: (in Huttese) Excuse me, Watto.

WATTO: (in Huttese) What?

ANAKIN: (in Huttese) I said excuse me.

WATTO turns to the chattering PIT DROIDS.

WATTO: (in Huttese) Shut down.

The PIT DROIDS snap into their storage position.

ANAKIN: Let me help you with that.

ANAKIN takes the fiddly piece of equipment and starts to play with it. WATTO blinks in surprise.

WATTO: (continuing, in Huttese) What? I don’t know you…What can I do for you? You look like a Jedi. Whatever it is… I didn’t do it.

WATTO drops the screwdriver and curses loudly in Huttese.

ANAKIN: I’m looking for Shmi Skywalker.

WATTO looks at him suspiciously. He stares at PADMÉ, then back to ANAKIN.

WATTO: Annie?? Little Annie?? Naaah!!

Suddenly, the fiddly piece of equipment in Anakin’s hands WHIRS into life. WATTO blinks at it.

See, in the movie, this doesn’t happen! The thing that Anakin fixes just sits there, doing nothing. It’s a very weird detail for George Lucas and company to have completely missed. Something needs to happen there! (I’m indebted to D. Trull for pointing this out.)

WATTO: You are Annie! It is you! Ya sure sprouted! Weehoo! A Jedi! Waddya know? Hey, maybe you couldda help wit some deadbeats who owe me a lot of money…

ANAKIN: My mother…

WATTO: Oh, yeah. Shmi… she’s not mine no more. I sold her.

ANAKIN: Sold her?

WATTO: Years ago. Sorry, Annie, but you know, business is business. Sold her to a moisture farmer named Lars. Least I think it was Lars. Believe it or not, I heard he freed her and married her. Can ya beat that? Always wondered where he got the money for her….

That last bit is something I threw in there, in order to highlight something that will come in to play later on.

ANAKIN: Do you know where they are?

WATTO: Long way from here… someplace over on the other side of Mos Eisley, I think…

ANAKIN: I’d like to know.

Anakin holds out a small bag of coins, which Watto takes and examines.

WATTO: Republic credits? Annie, you know these aren’t no good out here–

He stops when he sees that ANAKIN’S grim look means business, and gets the hint quickly.

WATTO: Yeah… sure… absolutely. Republic credits will be fine. Let’s go look in my records. Too bad you can’t stay, eh? I just got in a YT-1300 freighter that needs some engine work….

PADME follows as ANAKIN and WATTO go into the shop.

I have to confess that Watto has always been one of my favorite supporting characters in the Prequel Trilogy. He’s not mean or sadistic, but he’s greedy enough to make him willing to make himself a pain in the ass on occasion, even if his greed never leads him to anything more than being a dealer in junk. (Of course, those of us out there who are self-programmed to find offensive things wherever we go might see Watto’s big nose and his obvious monetary greed and assume therefore that George Lucas is making a statement about Jews. I’m not willing to see things that way and am uninterested in discussing that line of thought.)

Immediately after this, we cut to the planet Geonosis, where Slave I comes out of hyperspace and heads down toward the planet. (Geonosis is, by the way, beautiful from space: a red, ringed world.) Behind him, Obi Wan arrives in his own ship. Jango’s scanners pick up Obi Wan’s ship, and Jango decides to try to lose Obi Wan in the asteroid field (the rings). What ensues is a fairly brief action sequence that obviously has some echoes of the asteroid field chase in The Empire Strikes Back, but this one is briefer and more of a high-speed cat-and-mouse game. Also interestingly, the first two-thirds of the scene is unscored; no music at all. I wondered at this when I first saw it, until I heard the sound produced by the “seismic charges”, which are for my money one of the coolest weapons ever unleashed in Star Wars.

Moments like this are why my general response to people who utter the constant refrain of SF whiners the world over, “There’s no sound in space!”, is basically “Oh, suck it.”

(By the way, I love the way Boba Fett laughs evilly and plays “backseat driver” as his Dad tries to fight off a Jedi knight.)

Anyway, I love this action sequence, which ends quickly with Obi Wan making Jango believe he’s been blown to bits and then hiding on an asteroid as Jango goes down to the planet surface. Obi Wan follows, and I like what follows here, as Obi Wan discovers during his flyover that Jango Fett has come to a planet where a lot of Trade Federation (the bad guys from The Phantom Menace) ships are landed. Then Obi Wan lands and proceeds to explore the happenings on Geonosis on foot.

We cut back to Tatooine, where Anakin and Padme arrive at the Lars homestead to learn that Shmi Skywalker has been abducted by Sandpeople. This all works very well for me; I love how the whole scene is shot near sunset, imbuing the scene with a sense that something is ending here on Tatooine. I also like the actor who plays Cliegg Lars, Shmi’s husband; he’s got this great grizzled and weary air about him. This whole sequence plays very well, with a sense of foreboding and impending doom. This whole subplot (an homage to the classic Western The Searchers) is very well done.

Anyway, Anakin decides that he’s going after the Sandpeople who kidnapped Shmi, which leads to this brief scene of farewell between Anakin and Padme:

EXTERIOR: TATOOINE, HOMESTEAD, MOISTURE FARM – LATE DAY

ANAKIN stands looking across the desert. PADMÉ comes running out of the homestead after him. ANAKIN turns to PADMÉ.

ANAKIN: You are going to have to stay here. These are good people, Padmé. You’ll be safe.

PADMÉ: Anakin…

PADMÉ hugs him. ANAKIN walks over to OWEN’S speeder bike, which is standing close by.

ANAKIN: I won’t be long.

ANAKIN swings onto the bike. The engine fires. He takes off across the desert. PADMÉ watches him go.

Again, in the context of the actual film, this is a very nice little scene. Visually it’s inventive: Lucas doesn’t show Anakin and Padme hugging, but rather he shows only their shadows, cast by the setting suns on the side of the white-domed Lars homestead farm building, as they embrace. I do need to make a change, though, owing to the fact that in my version of the film, Anakin has never actually told Padme that he’s been dreaming about his mother.

EXTERIOR: TATOOINE, HOMESTEAD, MOISTURE FARM – LATE DAY

ANAKIN stands looking across the desert. PADMÉ comes running out of the homestead after him. ANAKIN turns to PADMÉ.

ANAKIN: You are going to have to stay here. These are good people, Padmé. You’ll be safe.

PADME: You know something like this was happening, didn’t you?

ANAKIN: I…I feared it.

PADME: You saw it, didn’t you? You saw it through the Force. Those dreams you’ve been having…that’s why you brought me here.

ANAKIN: I brought you here to protect you.

PADME: But also to protect her.

She steps closer to him and takes his hand.

PADME: You know you can trust me, Anakin. You could have told me why you wanted to come here, of all the worlds you could have taken me to. I’d have come.

ANAKIN struggles for words, but finds he has none.

ANAKIN: I have to go. While it’s still light.

PADMÉ nods and hugs him. ANAKIN walks over to OWEN’S speeder bike, which is standing close by.

ANAKIN: I won’t be long.

ANAKIN swings onto the bike. The engine fires. He takes off across the desert. PADMÉ watches him go.

PADME: May the Force be with you.

I’ve always thought that a big part of Anakin’s fall to the Dark Side stems from his desire to do the right thing coupled with his confusion about what the right thing actually is. He’s in love with Padme, but he’s not entirely trusting with her, either; he doesn’t always let her in, until things have turned disastrous in the end. It would be entirely in keeping with his character to not tell her his underlying motivation for bringing her to Tatooine.

So Anakin speeds off on the speeder bike, whipping across the sands of Tatooine in search of the sandpeople who took his mother. This is very brief in the movie: a couple of shots of Anakin on the speeder bike, then Anakin conferring with some Jawas, and then we cut back to Obi Wan. In the script, however, there’s a little more: Anakin comes across a campsite where three moisture farmers have been slaughtered by Sandpeople. Not surprisingly, I’d have left this in.

Also in the script is a brief scene where a worried Padme talks to C-3PO about her growing confusion over her feelings for Anakin. I wouldn’t restore this, actually – it’s a pretty clunkily-written scene, after all – but I would show Padme at night, gazing in the direction Anakin has gone, maybe again holding that little pendant he’d carved for her in TPM. For purposes of information, though, here’s the scene as written:

INTERIOR: TATOOINE, HOMESTEAD – GARAGE (FULL MOON) – NIGHT

PADMÉ enters the garage where C-3PO sits working.

C-3PO: Hello, Miss Padmé.

PADMÉ: Hello, Threepio.

C-3PO: You can’t sleep?

PADMÉ: No, I have too many things on my mind, I guess.

C-3PO: Are you worried about your work in the Senate?

PADMÉ: No, I’m just concerned about Anakin. I saidthings… I’m afraid I may have hurt him. I don’t know. Maybe I only hurt myself. For the first time in my life, I’m confused.

C-3PO: I’m not sure it will make you feel any better Miss Padmé, but I don’t think there’s been a time in my life when I haven’t been confused.

PADMÉ: I want him to know I care about him. I do care about him.

C-3PO: Don’t worry about Master Annie. He can take care of himself. Even in this awful place.

Yeah, not the best thing in the world. As noted, I wouldn’t have included this entire thing — a nicely shot scene with no dialogue at all would have served fine — but its existence in the original script indicates that originally, Padme’s feelings for Anakin didn’t progress as quickly as they seem to in the finished film. Again I find myself wishing that George Lucas had realized that story should determine a film’s running time, and not the other way around.

One last quibble: in the film, we cut from Anakin conferring with the Jawas back to Obi Wan on Geonosis. The problem here is that the Tatooine landscape and the Geonosis landscapes are pretty similar, so it takes a few seconds before we realize we’re looking at Obi Wan and not Anakin (he’s shown from a distance). I think that cutting back there after showing a worried Padme would help the transition a bit, making it less confusing.

And that’s where we’ll leave things for this time. Next time, the Sandpeople discover that if you kidnap a human woman, you’d best make sure her son isn’t a Jedi Knight with a hair-trigger temper. Ah, the wisdom of Star Wars!

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Wow! Two of these posts in the same month! Will wonders never cease!

So, having addressed what I feel to be the most damaging scene in the Prequel Trilogy in the preceding post, we’ll address what I consider to be the biggest missed opportunity in the Prequel Trilogy in this post. As much as I love Attack of the Clones — and really, I love it, it’s a terrific movie and I’ll have words with anyone who says otherwise – George Lucas just didn’t get the Naboo scenes right, and they drag down everything else that happens.

But first, after Padme and Anakin’s fireside chat, we cut back to Obi Wan on Kamino, where he checks in with the Jedi Council (actually, just Yoda and Mace Windu):

INTERIOR: TIPOCA CITY, CORRIDOR – DAY

OBI-WAN stands with TAUN WE just inside the open door.

LAMA SU: Tell your Council the first battalions are ready. And remind them that if they need more troops, we will need time to grow them.

OBI-WAN: I won’t forget. And thank you.

TAUN WE: Thank you.

EXTERIOR: TIPOCA CITY, KAMINO LANDING PLATFORM (RAINSTORM) – LATE DAY

OBI-WAN comes out from the tower into the driving rain. The door closes behind him. He pulls his robe around him and stands braced against the gale. OBI-WAN glances back toward the closed door, confirming that LAMA SU has left.

Below, a huge wave crashes against the stilts. Spray flies high and whips across the platform to where OBI-WAN is standing. He walks over to his Starfighter, looks to see if anyone is watching, then addresses ARFOUR.

OBI-WAN: Arfour.

EXTERIOR: TIPOCA CITY LANDING PLATFORM, JEDI FIGHTER (RAINSTORM) – LATE DAY

The R4-P17, OBI-WAN’S Astro-Droid, who is still sitting on top of OBI-WAN’S Starfighter, switches on and BEEPS.

OBI-WAN: Arfour, relay this, “scramble code five,” to Courscant: care of “the old folks home.”

ARFOUR BEEPS and WHISTLES. The panels light up inside the cockpit. A transmitter disc emerges from the top of the Starfighter and the message is transmitted.

INTERIOR: JEDI TEMPLE, YODA’S QUARTERS – LATE AFTERNOON

YODA sits with MACE WINDU. between the two Jedi, a hologram of OBI-WAN speaks.

OBI-WAN: (V.O.) I have successfully made contact with the Prime Minister of Kamino. They are using a bounty hunter named Jango Fett to create a clone army. I have a strong feeling that this bounty hunter is the assassin we’re looking for.

MACE WINDU: Do you think these cloners are involved in the plot to assassinate Senator Amidala?

OBI-WAN: (V.O.) No, Master. There appears to be no motive.

YODA: Do not assume anything, Obi-Wan. Clear, your mind must be if you are to discover the real villains behind the plot.

OBI-WAN: (V.O.) Yes, Master. They say a Master Sifo-Dyas placed the order for a clone army at the request of the Senate almost ten years ago. I was under the impression he was killed before that. Did the Council ever authorize the creation of a clone army?

MACE WINDU: No. Whoever placed that order did not have the authorization of the Jedi Council.

YODA: Into custody, take this Jango Fett. Bring him here. Question him, we will.

OBI-WAN: (V.O.) Yes, Master. I will report back when I have him.

The hologram of OBI-WAN fades.

YODA: Blind we are, if creation of this clone army we could not see.

MACE WINDU: I think it is time to inform the Senate that our ability to use the Force has diminished.

YODA: Only the Dark Lords of the Sith know of our weakness. If informed the Senate is, multiply our adversaries will.

I wouldn’t change any of this. The Kamino sequences are extremely well done; as has been so often the case in this series, I keep finding things that are well done in this trilogy of movies that most people have derided as wall-to-wall suck. Oh well.

I like that the mystery apparently shows no sign of being solved at this point; in investigating an assassination attempt on Padme, Obi Wan has happened on something much larger. I like how Yoda and Mace Windu are now suspecting that something very grim is going on, and that it’s something they’ve failed to sense. The implication that the Jedi have been so successful for “over a thousand generations” by virtue of their ability to sense what the servants of the Dark Side were up to is a big one, as is their suspicion that those days are at an end. This scene lays it out clearly: the Jedi are on the wane, and they are nowhere near their top form anymore. One snarky complaint about the Prequel Trilogy I often hear goes like this: “Jeez, the Jedi sure get their butts kicked! How can these be the cream of the Jedi crop?” Obviously, they aren’t. It amazes me how often George Lucas’s critics manage to completely miss the point.

By the way, I love that Obi Wan’s coded reference to the Jedi Council is “the old folks’ home”. The Prequel Trilogy is full of little details like that which are awesome; it’s almost as if George Lucas thrives on the small details and thus sometimes loses sight of the entire thing.

Anyhow, just after this, we cut back to Naboo. Anakin is trying to sleep, and having some difficulty: we see him writhing about in bed, moaning a lot, before he suddenly wakes up. Clearly he’s having a nightmare, although the way the scene is filmed, well…let’s just say that it’s shot in such a way as to allow the more juvenile members of the audience to jeer the screen as though Anakin is doing something else in bed. By himself.

Yeah.

Anyway, here’s where Lucas made the mistake of showing Anakin having a nightmare about his mother without actually showing the nightmare. After Anakin awakens, we fade to a gorgeous Naboo sunrise (really, the shot of the sun-dappled waters of the lake is one of the most beautiful shots in the entire Star Wars saga), and Anakin standing on a veranda, watching it:

EXTERIOR: NABOO LAKE RETREAT, LODGE, BALCONY OVERLOOKING
GARDENS – MORNING

ANAKIN is on the balcony overlooking the gardens. After a moment, PAMDÉ comes onto the balcony behind him. She sees he is meditating and turns to go.

ANAKIN: (eyes closed) Don’t go.

PAMDÉ: I don’t want to disturb you.

ANAKIN: Your presence is soothing.

Brief pause.

PADMÉ: You had a nightmare again last night.

ANAKIN: Jedi don’t have nightmares.

PADMÉ: I heard you.

ANAKIN opens his eyes and looks at her.

ANAKIN: I saw my mother. I saw her as clearly as I see you now. She is suffering, Padmé. They’re killing her! She is in pain… I know I’m disobeying my mandate to protect you, Senator. I know I will be punished and possibly thrown out of the Jedi Order, but I have to go. I have to help her! I’m sorry, Padmé. I don’t have a choice.

PADMÉ: I’ll go with you. That way you can continue to protect me, and you won’t be disobeying your mandate.

ANAKIN: What about Master Obi-wan?

PADMÉ smiles and takes his hand.

PADMÉ: I guess we won’t tell him, will we?

This scene starts out really well, as shot: the gorgeous sunrise, the way Anakin is standing on the veranda, with his hands behind his back, suggestive (and therefore foreshadowing) of the shots in the Original Trilogy of Darth Vader standing on the bridge of his Star Destroyer, and the awkwardness between Anakin and Padme after the conversation the night before. I also like what Lucas is trying to do here: he’s setting up another of the many parallels between Anakin’s experiences and the later experiences of his son, Luke. Remember in The Empire Strikes Back, how Luke is tormented by visions of his friends suffering, so he abandons his Jedi duties to go after them, with disastrous consequences? Anakin is doing the same thing here, and the consequences will be even more far-reaching.

And yet, I’d replace the scene entirely. Bummer. Why? Because, while I think the scene is nice and gets some things done nicely, those things can be done better in another way, and some other things that need to get done can get done.

In previous installments, I’ve argued that Padme’s feelings for Anakin come to the fore a little too quickly in the film, and that they need something to help them along. In the great movie traditions, what drives film romance is often shared adversity. So I’d use this part of the film to give Anakin and Padme some adversity to share, in the form of something I’ve thought the film needed ever since I first saw it: a third assassination attempt on Padme. So here’s how I would rewrite this entire sequence:

INTERIOR: Naboo – Lake retreat – bedroom – night.

ANAKIN is sleeping restlessly. He is tossing about and moaning.

ANAKIN: Mom…no…Mom, look out!

ZOOM IN on ANAKIN as we FADE TO a series of confusing shots: SHMI SKYWALKER standing in the Tatooine desert, holding out her arms to ANAKIN; ANAKIN trying to reach her but not being close enough; SHMI being set upon by shadowy attackers and carried off; SHMI and ANAKIN screaming.

ANAKIN snaps awake. He is sweating heavily.

ANAKIN: No!

His shout is loud enough to awaken ARTOO, who whistles with concern as ANAKIN rubs his eyes and swings his legs out of bed. He gets up, pulls on a robe, and exits the room. ARTOO follows.

EXTERIOR: Naboo – Lake retreat – balcony – night.

ANAKIN emerges from the house onto the balcony and gazes at the moonlight upon the lake. Then he glances down and sees the boats tied at the pier.

INTERIOR: Naboo – Lake retreat – Padme’s bedroom.

PADME is awake as well. She is sitting in an armchair, sipping a cup of tea and looking at some holographic photos of her life, from the time of the occupation ten years earlier. She glances at the table beside her, and we see what she is looking at: the little wooden pendant that ANAKIN had carved for her ten years before. She sighs, and then gets up and exits.

EXTERIOR: Naboo – Lake retreat – beach – night.

PADME is walking along the beach, a short distance away from the villa. She comes to a particular spot, where she removes her robe, revealing a beautiful but discrete bathing suit underneath. She wades out into the water and then starts swimming toward the small island she’d indicated earlier.

EXTERIOR: Naboo – Lake retreat – island – night.

PADME swims onto the shore of the island and walks up onto the grass, and then onto the knoll where the small island’s highest point is. She gasps: ANAKIN is sitting there, gazing out at the water. She starts to say something, and then doesn’t; she turns to go back when ANAKIN speaks.

ANAKIN: Don’t go.

PADME: I didn’t realize you were here.

ANAKIN: I wanted to see this island. You talked about it the other day.

PADME: You said you don’t like to swim.

ANAKIN points to where he beached the boat.

PADME: Oh.

She comes to his side and sits down in the grass.

PADME: I don’t remember it being this cold up here when I was young.

ANAKIN: Most planets feel cold to me. It took a long time after I left home to get used to that. Sometimes I miss Tatooine. I guess that seems weird to you…you saw my planet….

PADME: It’s normal to miss home, no matter where that is.

ANAKIN: I guess.

A silence. Away to the north, the surface of the lake is dotted with golden lights.

PADME: Anakin, I shouldn’t have been so harsh with you before.

ANAKIN: You were right. It’s time I stopped dreaming about you.

Something in his voice makes PADME look a bit sad. There is another silence. PADME points to the northern end of the lake.

PADME: Those lights, out there? Those are Gungan fishers. As it gets close to dawn, they come up from their cities, near the surface, to catch the lampfish that gather at the top of the lake. Now they’re moving back north and deeper into the water. They’ll get dimmer and dimmer until they’re all gone. Tomorrow they’ll do it again.

They watch the lights for a few moments.

ANAKIN: It’s beautiful. But…

PADME: But what?

ANAKIN: Why are three of those lights coming this way?

He points. Three of the golden lights are, indeed, moving toward them.

ANAKIN: Come on. Those aren’t Gungans.

They get up and run down to the boat. PADME jumps in while ANAKIN shoves it into the water and climbs in and starts to fumble with the engine.

PADME: I’m sure it’s nothing.

ANAKIN: That’s not what the Force is telling me.

He gets the engine started and points the nose of the boat back at the villa. They can now hear three ENGINES whining behind them.

ANAKIN: Do the Gungans use craft with engines to go fishing?

PADME: No.

The boat moves slowly across the water. ANAKIN looks back and sees three WATER SPEEDERS bearing down on them.

ANAKIN: We’re not going to make it back to the villa. Hold on.

He yanks the rudder and aims the boat right at the beach. Seconds later they run aground and ANAKIN and PADME leap out.

ANAKIN: Run!

But it’s too late. The speeders run aground around them, and the three ASSASSINS on them leap out onto the shore, firing blasters at their feet to stop them. ANAKIN and PADME come to a stop. They are surrounded by human ASSASSINS who level blasters at them.

ASSASSIN #1: You were hard to find, My Lady.

ANAKIN: Who are you? Who hired you to–

ASSASSIN #1: Shut up, Jedi. Your Council should have known better than to send a Youngling to do a man’s job. You couldn’t even remember to put on your lightsaber.

ANAKIN glances down at his belt. His lightsaber isn’t there. A look of intense anger is coming over his face.

ASSASSIN #1: You Jedi are getting worse and worse. “Guardians of Peace and Justice!” You can’t even stop the Republic from falling apart.

There is a sudden WHISTLING sound. Everyone turns to see ARTOO rolling out of the grass onto the rocky beach.

ASSASSIN #1: An astrodroid?

ANAKIN: He’s no astrodroid. Now, Artoo!

ARTOO snaps open one of his compartments and extends a probe that emits a crackling burst of electricity that SHOCKS one of the ASSASSINS, who leaps back in pain. In that instant, ANAKIN thrusts out his hand and uses the Force to RIP the blaster out of the ASSASSIN’s hand. The weapon flies to him, and he quickly blasts the first two ASSASSINS. Then he whirls about to face ASSASSIN #1, who has already grabbed PADME from behind and is holding his own weapon to her head. He is holding her by hair hair, pulled back tightly.

ASSASSIN #1: Ahh ahh, Jedi. That will be enough. Thanks for doing that, by the way. Now I don’t have to kill them myself.

PADME: Killing me won’t stop opposition to the Separatist movement.

ASSASSIN #1: Senator, what makes you think I care about your politics? This is just a job. Now, Jedi, you just stand there while I take the Senator away. I promise that when I kill her, I’ll make it fast and painless. She won’t feel a…a….

A strange look comes over the ASSASSIN’s face. ANAKIN is staring at him, hard, his jaw clenched. We hear the low RUMBLE of the Force being used. The ASSASSIN opens his mouth and his eyes grow wide. Suddenly he can’t breathe. He involuntarily releases PADME, who falls to the ground, and reaches for his throat, which is being constricted by something invisible. ANAKIN’s eyes are blazing with rage. The ASSASSIN is choking to death. With his dying gasp he lifts his blaster and tries to aim it, but ANAKIN Force-grabs it from his hand as well. The ASSASSIN falls to his knees, still clawing at his throat. PADME watches as ANAKIN comes forward and, standing over him, makes full eye contact with the ASSASSIN as he finally falls over dead. ANAKIN suddenly HOWLS with rage and kicks the corpse.

PADME: Anakin! Anakin, it’s over.

She rushes to his side and puts her hand on his shoulders, trying to calm him in his rage. Finally he snaps out of it, a little. He stumbles away and rubs his forehead as if what’s happened has caused him physical pain.

PADME: Anakin?

ANAKIN: That…didn’t feel…I’ve never done that before…using the Force shouldn’t feel like that….

Finally he looks at Padme, and gets some control over himself again.

ANAKIN: Pack your things, Senator. We can’t stay here.

PADME: I’ll talk to the Queen. There is a place in the mountains —

ANAKIN: No. Ask the Queen for a ship. We’re leaving Naboo.

PADME: (growing stubborn) Anakin, you can’t command me.

ANAKIN: I was charged with your protection, My Lady. Whoever wants you killed just found you, and they’ll find you again. I listened to you before and they almost murdered you at the secret place “you know very well”. We can not stay here.

PADME: Then where will we go?

ANAKIN thinks for a moment. He suddenly has another flash of memory from his dream: he sees SHMI again, smiling before being taken away. He looks at PADME.

ANAKIN: We’ll go to Tatooine. Can you get us a ship?

PADME is a bit taken aback at his intensity. She nods.

ANAKIN: Good. You’ll be safer there, My Lady.

He turns and starts walking back toward the villa, with ARTOO rolling along behind him.

ANAKIN: Artoo, don’t ever let me go anywhere without my lightsaber again.

ARTOO whistles. PADME glances one more time at the dead assassins on her family’s ancestral beach, and hastens to follow.

Another attack would have helped matter so much, I can’t fathom why George Lucas didn’t think of it. I think it would save the whole Naboo sequence of AOTC from feeling like the “Romancey” part of the movie; it would add some more tension and nuance to a part of the film that’s pretty tension-free; and it would start to move Anakin in our minds toward a more adult view. He’s not just a child or a teenager. By giving Padme a new way to start seeing Anakin, it would give us a new way to see him.

And of course, shouldn’t we see the first time Anakin uses the Force to strangle someone? His first hint of using the Dark Side of the Force? Why not?

That’s a good place to stop for now. Next time, we’re done with Naboo and we’re almost done with Kamino as well, which means we’ll go to Tatooine and to Geonosis. Stay tuned!

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Heavens, it’s been a while since I left off. A long while, actually. Oh well, sorry about that…even if there hasn’t exactly been a massive clamoring for me to continue this series. But really, if procrastination was an Olympic sport, I’d be Bruce Jenner. But now we’re back to it, so hopefully I can work up a bit of momentum.

(Before I get back to my own business at hand, a brief word about something that’s been shooting ’round the Interweb of late: some guy’s 70-minute long rant-review of The Phantom Menace. No, I haven’t watched it beyond the first 90 seconds or so. First, I found the guy’s voice very odd – he seems to keep saying “Phrantom Menace” instead of Phantom; second, from the plaudits being heaped on that video by the usual suspects (people who like to bitch about the Prequel Trilogy on a regular basis), I gather that the review says nothing that I haven’t heard before about the movie. He apparently puts on display some of the footage from the “Making of TPM” feature that’s been in the DVD for years, footage from the first screening of the film’s rough cut at Lucasfilm, and the apparent atmosphere in the room that TPM-haters like to interpret as everybody but George Lucas realizing that the movie is crap. No, folks, this stuff is not new, and I don’t think it’s particularly revelatory, either. Basically, though, I’m just not interested in yet another iteration of everyone’s favorite complaints about TPM. I just don’t share them, and for some of the many reasons why, see my previous posts on the subject (although I would single out one particular complaint in the video I’ve seen cited by people high-fiving it, that TPM has no “main character”. For many reasons that I’ve already discussed, this is complete nonsense.) Jason Bennion also comments on the 70-minute review, for those interested.)

And now, back to Attack of the Clones.

When we’d last left off, Anakin and Padme were hanging out by the lake on Naboo while Obi Wan was actually doing some Jedi work-related stuff, investigating the creation of a clone army on Kamino. Specifically, Obi Wan has just finished meeting Jango Fett and left the bounty hunter troubled to the point of deciding to leave Kamino with his son, Boba. After that, we cut back to Naboo and the romantic adventures of Anakin and Padme – with, in my opinion, some very poor results. This sequence features what is, for me, the single most damaging scene in the entire Prequel Trilogy. But first, we get a brief look at Anakin and Padme at dinner (red type indicates material not in the final cut of the film):

EXTERIOR: NABOO LAKE RETREAT, LOUNGE – LATE AFTERNOON

The setting sun touches the mountain peaks. The lake glows in the rose-tinted light. Floating lamps gleam softly like jewels at the lodge.

INTERIOR: NABOO LAKE RETREAT, DINING ROOM – LATE AFTERNOON

NANDI places dessert in front of PADMÉ. TECKLA does the same for ANAKIN. The dessert is some kind of fruit.

ANAKIN: And when I got to them, we went into… aggressive negotiations. (to Teckla) Thank you.

PADMÉ: “Aggressive negotiations,” what’s that?

ANAKIN: Uh, well, negotiations with a lightsaber.

PADMÉ: (laughing) Oh.

PADMÉ picks up her fork and goes to spear a piece, but it moves! She frowns and tries again – the fruit moves. She looks up at ANAKIN. His eyes are on his plate.

PADMÉ: You did that?

ANAKIN looks up – wide-eyed innocence.

ANAKIN: What?

PADMÉ scowls at him. PADMÉ jabs at the fruit – ANAKIN subtly moves his hand and it lifts up from the plate and hovers in front of her.

PADMÉ: That! Now stop it!

PADMÉ laughs. ANAKIN laughs. She reaches out for the fruit – it loops.

PADMÉ: Anakin!!

ANAKIN moves his fingers. The fruit flies into his hand.

ANAKIN: If Master Obi-Wan caught me doing this, he’d be very grumpy.

ANAKIN is pleased. He cuts the fruit into several pieces and sends one back to PADMÉ. She bites it out of the air and laughs.

The only thing that genuinely bugs me about this scene is, frankly, the special effects, which always look off to me. The relative size of the fruit Anakin levitates across the table seems to change, and when Padme takes a bit of it, she doesn’t seem to exert any actual effort, so it actually looks like what it is: she’s biting nothing. The pear (or whatever it is) has been added digitally. But that’s a small complaint, and I like Anakin’s description of something he’s done as “aggressive negotations”. It’s a nice little scene, and I like the idea of mischievous Anakin using the Force to move Padme’s food around. That strikes me as exactly the kind of practical joke a Jedi would do. (It occurs to me that a Jedi pie fight would be a pretty creepy thing to watch, though – just a bunch of people standing still while pies are Force-thrown through the air.)

And then…the fireplace scene. The fireside chat. The scene by the fire. The scene that…well, while I don’t think it’s the worst scene in Star Wars history (that’s still in The Phantom Menace, this is the single scene I’d re-do in a heartbeat if George Lucas himself asked me to make a single change in any Star Wars film. Seriously, this scene, in terms of the impact it has on what comes after, is orders of magnitude worse than Greedo shooting first.

Why? Well, we need to look at the scene itself:

INTERIOR: NABOO LAKE RETREAT, LODGE, FIREPLACE ALCOVE –
TWILIGHT

A fire blazes in the open hearth. PADMÉ and ANAKIN are sitting in front of it, gazing into the flames. She looks up as ANAKIN leans in to kiss her.

PADMÉ: Anakin, no.

ANAKIN: From the moment I met you, all those years ago, a day hasn’t gone by when I haven’t thought of you. And now that I’m with you again, I’m in agony. The closer I get to you, the worse it gets. The thought of not being with you makes my stomach turn over – my mouth goes dry. I feel
dizzy. I can’t breathe. I’m haunted by the kiss you should never have given me. My heart is beating, hoping that kiss will not become a scar. You are in my very soul, tormenting me. What can I do? I will do anything you ask…

Silence. The logs flame in the hearth. PADMÉ meets his eye, then looks away.

ANAKIN: If you are suffering as much as I am, tell me.

PADMÉ: …I can’t. We can’t. It’s just not possible.

ANAKIN: Anything’s possible. Padmé, please listen…

PADMÉ: You listen. We live in a real world. Come back to it. You’re studying to become a Jedi Knight. I’m a Senator. If you follow your thoughts through to conclusion, they will take us to a place we cannot go… regardless of the way we feel about each other.

ANAKIN: Then you do feel something!

PADMÉ: Jedi aren’t allowed to marry. You’d be expelled from the Order. I will not let you give up your future for me.

ANAKIN: You’re asking me to be rational. That is something I know I cannot do. Believe me, I wish I could wish my feelings away… but I can’t.

PADMÉ: I am not going to give in to this. I have more important things to do than fall in love.

There is silence as they stare at the fire. ANAKIN is thinking.

ANAKIN: It wouldn’t have to be that way… we could keep it a secret.

PADMÉ: Then we’d be living a lie – one we couldn’t keep up even if we wanted to. Mt sister saw it. So did my mother. I couldn’t do that. Could you, Anakin? Could you live like that?

Silence for a moment.

ANAKIN: No. You’re right. It would destroy us.

That first bit, with Anakin leaning in to kiss her, isn’t in the finished film; but the way the scene plays, there’s about six or seven seconds of body language between Anakin and Padme before he begins his “From the moment I met you” speech. Padme is turning away from Anakin, looking uncomfortable with something; Anakin is looking sad and disappointed. This makes clear that something has just happened, but the way it plays onscreen, we don’t know what.

And then there’s Anakin’s speech itself, in which he just bluntly lays it all out there, making his love for Padme sound like an awfully unpleasant feeling. Now, since he’s a Jedi and since he’s been in love with the only girl he’s ever met since he met her, I suppose it’s possible that he wouldn’t have picked up on this, but telling the object of your affections how miserable you are by feeling the way you feel about her isn’t a strategy that’s likely to bring her into your arms. But that speech isn’t even my big objection, even though I’d rewrite it to be a bit less overly dramatic. Anakin is, after all, a deeply immature person, and this speech again strikes me as something that is awkward and overly dramatic by design. Anakin’s a teenager in love with an adult, and he can’t help but voice his feelings in the way teenagers sometimes do. Teenage love can be pretty unpleasant, sometimes. So I can somewhat see what’s behind Anakin’s lovelorn speechifying here, even if he comes off a bit too stalkerish. (Plus the simple fact that at one point he uses the same word twice in the same sentence — “I wish I could just wish my feelings away!” I remember that line ringing horribly in my ear when I saw the movie at a midnight screening opening day.)

Where the scene starts to really go wrong, though, is Padme’s response. She discourages him, yes; she tells him they shouldn’t, that it’s impossible, that she’s a Senator and he’s a Jedi…but she admits that there is something there. That’s the crucial mistake. Lucas has Padme slamming on the brakes, when she shouldn’t even be admitting to being on a ride in the first place. She should not even be aware of her burgeoning feelings for Anakin yet, much less admit their existence. And she absolutely should not seem to at least be partially open to the idea of keeping a relationship a secret. So, what should she have done?

She should have smacked him down, hard.

Yes, it would seem harsh and maybe even a bit mean, but it would also establish her as the clear mature person here; it would clarify Anakin’s lack of maturity, so that over the remainder of the film he could be seen more clearly to have grown; it would make their love story more real by showing it to be more of a struggle and less of a pre-ordained drama to be acted out. It would establish Padme more as a strong character in her own right – we don’t get nearly enough of a look at things from her point of view – and it would focus our sympathies on Anakin, which is where they should be. We need to be rooting for Anakin, which is hard when (a) he’s being depicted as something of a crazy guy already, and (b) it’s already being conceded that he’s on his way to getting the girl.

So, it seems to me that the fireplace scene should go something like this:

Fire blazing in the hearth, ANAKIN and PADME sitting on the couch, looking at the flames.

PADME: You haven’t said anything in a while.

ANAKIN: I just don’t want this moment to end.

She meets his gaze, and he leans in to kiss her, but she turns her head away at the last second.

PADME: No, Annie. It was a mistake before, I can’t let it happen again.

Silence as ANAKIN turns away and glowers. She makes no motion to comfort him.

PADME: You’re still not saying anything.

ANAKIN: (angry) Anakin.

He looks at her.

ANAKIN: My name is Anakin. I was ‘Annie’ ten years ago, not now. Why can’t you see me for who I am?

A silent moment….

ANAKIN: From the moment I met you, all those years ago, a day hasn’t gone by when I haven’t thought of you. And now that I’m with you again, I’m in agony. The closer I get to you, the worse it gets. The thought of not being with you makes my stomach turn over – my mouth goes dry. I feel
dizzy. I can’t breathe. I’m haunted by the kiss you should never have given me. My heart is beating, hoping that kiss will not become a scar. You are in my very soul, tormenting me. If you–

Finally Padme grows exasperated and stands up.

PADME: Stop it, Anakin. Can’t you hear yourself? You live in a real world. Come back to it! You’ve been living a dream. How can I be “in your soul, tormenting you”? You barely know me, Anakin! I’m ten years older than you. Like it or not, you’re still a Jedi Padawan, and I’m a former Queen and a Senator.

ANAKIN looks like he’s been kicked in the gut. PADME shakes her head.

PADME: I see now that this was a mistake. I shouldn’t have allowed the Jedi Council to assign you and Obi Wan to my protection. When this affair is over, I will speak with them.

She goes to leave the room, and stops at the door.

PADME: None of this was your fault, Anakin. But I’m not the person you’ve been dreaming about. No one is.

She exits, leaving a devastated ANAKIN to stare at nothing.

That’s how the scene should have gone, I think. We know that Anakin’s already in love with Padme, but she needs some time to get there, and a reason to get there. The reason the scene, as originally written and shot for the film, doesn’t work is that if you’re going to have a character acting weird, you need to have someone acknowledge that his behavior is weird. No one does that here, and it’s damaging, as we can see that Anakin’s love for Padme isn’t the healthy kind.

And that’s a good place to stop. Next time, we wrap up Obi Wan on Kamino and Anakin on Naboo. And I promise it won’t be seven months until the next installment!

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I suppose I should try to make some effort to update this series more often, huh? One entry a month isn’t getting it done. I’m only now approaching the halfway point in Attack of the Clones.

Anyhow, Anakin and Padme have arrived on Naboo, met with the Queen and spent a night with Padme’s family (remember, I restored all of that material to the film). Next we turn our attention back to Obi Wan Kenobi, who is now arriving on the oceanic world of Kamino to investigate the source of the toxic dart. I’m not going to quote all of this from the screenplay, because frankly, there’s virtually nothing from this scene that I would change. It’s one of the best bits in the entire PT. Why? Well, I love the way the mystery unfolds: we’re probably expecting Obi Wan to receive a less-than-enthusiastic welcome, but as soon as gets off his ship, the somewhat elegantly beautiful Kaminoan Taun We greets him with: “We’ve been expecting you. We were beginning to fear you weren’t coming.”

The Kaminoans are, for me, the best aliens in the entire PT, with their long bodies and nearly indistinguishable features; and yet, there is something undeniably feminine about Taun We versus Lama Su, the Prime Minister who gives Obi Wan his tour of the cloning facility. I also love the whole design of the Kamino cloning facility in the first place, with its gleaming white walls and floors and that teardrop-shaped chair that drops down out of the ceiling for Obi Wan to sit in. And I love when the mystery deepens at the mention of Jedi Master Syfo Dyas, who has apparently been dead for ten years. (Right around the Trade Federation blockade and invasion of Naboo, interestingly enough – what Lucas has done here is to subtly indicate that the invasion of Naboo wasn’t the only thing the mysterious Darth Sidious had going on back then.)

So anyway, as Lama Su begins to show Obi Wan around the cloning facility, we return to Naboo as Anakin and Padme arrive at the resort in “the lake country”. Here is where, for most fans, so far as I can tell, the very worst material in the movie resides. I don’t hate it as much as most – hell, I don’t really hate it at all – but the Naboo Lake Country scenes do need some revision. So, for the rest of this post, we’ll be doing that.

In the movie, we see the boat pulling up to the resort. I’d actually start a bit earlier, and actually show the boat moving across the surface of the water:

EXTERIOR: NABOO – LAKE – BOAT.

An elegant-looking speedboat cruises across the surface of a spectacular lake, vast and deep, set amidst very high mountains on all sides. The boat is piloted by a Naboo commoner; sitting in the rear are ANAKIN and PADME. PADME looks very happy to be here; ANAKIN looks very ill-at-ease.

PADME: I think that my soul comes from here. (looks at Anakin) Annie, you look awful. Are you afraid?

ANAKIN: There’s more water in this lake than on my entire planet.

PADME: Your planet has a lot of water. It’s all in the atmosphere or trapped so far underground. If Tatooine were closer to the industrial worlds of the Republic, perhaps–

She trails off, seeing his discomfort.

PADME: You can swim, can’t you?

ANAKIN: Of course I can swim. All Jedi are taught to swim. I just don’t like to.

PADME: We’ll have to see if we can change that!

He looks at her, and she smiles. He looks marginally more happy.

Then, the arrival, and they walk across the veranda to look over the panorama of the lake. This leads us up to what I suspect is the most loathed line of dialogue in Star Wars history:

ANAKIN and PADMÉ stop at the balustrade. PADMÉ looks out across the garden to the shimmering lake and the mountains rising beyond. ANAKIN looks at her.

PADMÉ: When I was in Level Three, we used to come here for school retreat. See that island? We used to swim there every day. I love the water.

ANAKIN: I do too. I guess it comes from growing up on a desert planet.

[Obviously I’d leave this out, as it would clash with what Anakin just said on the boat about being uncomfortable around this much water.]

PADMÉ becomes aware that ANAKIN is looking at her.

PADMÉ: …We used to lie on the sand and let the sun dry us… and try to guess the names of the birds singing.

ANAKIN: I don’t like sand. It’s coarse and rough and irritating, and it gets everywhere. Not like here. Here everything’s soft… and smooth…

He touches her arm. PADMÉ has become receptive to the way he looks at her but is nervous.

Ah, yes: the infamous “I don’t like sand” pickup line. Interestingly, though, we can contrast the movie versus the script. Here he says that here, everything is soft, while in the movie, he addresses Padme: “Not like you. You’re everything soft.” The line is obviously quite a bit less creepy in the original wording.

Now, I’ve never objected to this line, as I’ve indicated in previous posts on this movie. I’ve always seen it for what it is: an attempt by an awkward young adult who is trying, without a great deal of self-confidence, to win over the girl he’s desperately in love with. I simply have never had a problem with the idea of Anakin saying something like this. I’ve always figured that the awkwardness of this line was intentional, because when you really look at this script, it stands out that every single awkward line of dialogue is given to Anakin. He sounds awkward by design.

In the film, when Anakin says “I don’t like sand”, Padme has a very subtle reaction: she shifts, ever so slightly, and her face kind of freezes in the way women tend to freeze up a bit when the guy they’re with has said something that they’re not sure whether to ignore or acknowledge. Lucas might have drawn the contrast a bit more strongly by encouraging a stronger reaction from Natalie Portman, but it’s there anyway. In any event, you know what? I would not cut that line – especially in light of the fact that the line is followed by some material that, in what is emerging as a real pattern with AotC, isn’t in the finished film! According to the script, Padme notes Anakin’s attempts at poetic seduction and continues trying to make conversation:

PADMÉ: There was a very old man who lived on the island. He used to make glass out of sand – and vases and necklaces out of the glass. They were magical.

ANAKIN: (looks into her eyes) Everything here is magical.

PADMÉ: You could look into the glass and see the water. The way it ripples and moves. It looked so real… but it wasn’t.

ANAKIN: Sometimes, when you believe something to be real, it becomes real.

They look into each other’s eyes.

PADMÉ: I used to think if you looked too deeply into glass, you would lose yourself.

ANAKIN: I think it’s true…

ANAKIN kisses PADMÉ. She doesn’t resist. She comes to her senses and pulls away.

PADMÉ: No, I shouldn’t have done that.

ANAKIN: I’m sorry. When I’m around you, my mind is no longer my own.

He looks at her.

The scene would have worked a lot better this way, I think, although I’d cut out the stuff about losing yourself when you look into glass. I’d have had Padme’s voice trail off after “It looks so real…but it wasn’t….” Anakin would hold her eyes, and then draw her in for the kiss.

The kiss itself and the aftermath are actually perfectly done in the movie; I like how she walks away, leaving Anakin to awkwardly apologize and just stand there, wondering what the heck he’s done wrong. Here’s one instance where I wouldn’t follow the script. He certainly wouldn’t say, “When I’m around you my mind is no longer my own.” I’m glad that line didn’t make it into the movie.

After this scene, we cut back to Kamino, for more of Obi Wan’s tour of the cloning facility. Still nothing for me to say, since I like this sequence a lot too, although here we have something of a difficulty that also afflicts The Empire Strikes Back: events on two different worlds are intercut, seeming to imply that they’re happening simultaneously, but the stuff happening to one character or set of characters seems to imply a longer period of time than the stuff being depicted at the same time happening to the other character(s). In TESB, logic would suggest that Luke has to be on Dagobah for quite a while, right? Maybe even a few months? But it doesn’t really seem that Han, Leia, Chewie and C-3PO spend that same amount of time stuck on board the Millennium Falcon trying to fix the ship. But we know that they do, right? They have to, in order for everything to work out right.

Here, the same kind of thing happens. The stuff with Padme and Anakin at the lake house doesn’t seem to take a single afternoon; rather, a few days at the least. But Obi Wan’s exploration of Kamino doesn’t seem to take days at all, does it? But maybe it does. Anyway, the investigation on Kamino continues, with Obi Wan learning interesting things about the cloning process itself (such as the fact that the development process is accelerated), and about the clones themselves (that the seed person for all this cloning is a bounty hunter named Jango Fett). We also learn that Fett wanted a son, a clone of himself who isn’t accelerated; thus we learn the origin of Boba Fett. He’s a stormtrooper who never became a stormtrooper. I actually like this, although it would have been nice to learn a bit more about Jango himself: what made him the ideal person on whom to base an entire army of clones? What qualities does he bring? Something like this:

OBI WAN: Why was a bounty hunter used as the basis for an army?

LAMA SU: We conducted a great deal of testing on a number of suspects over several years before beginning the cloning process, I can assure you. Jango Fett’s testing was the best we found. He is extremely skillful with arms of all sorts, as well as a superlative pilot. He is also single-minded in pursuit of a job he has been appointed to do. What he does not have is an inquisitive nature; he does not seek to understand why he is asked to do the things his employers request of him. These traits make him an ideal soldier, wouldn’t you say?

OBI WAN: I suppose. I should very much like to meet Jango Fett.

LAMA SU: We shall arrange it.

In the script, it is mentioned that the Kaminoans thought a Jedi would be the logical choice for a clone army, but Jango Fett was hand-picked by Master Syfo-dyas. I don’t remember if that line made it into the film, but it’s an interesting facet of what’s going on: clearly someone was acting as Syfo-dyas after Syfo-dyas was killed.

There’s a bit more talk of clones, and then Obi Wan looks on the finished article: platoons of clone troopers boarding ships. It’s a nice culmination to the scene, and what’s all the better is that we don’t know what’s going on with these clones. Who are they going to be attacking? What side will they be on, if anyone’s? What is going on here? John Williams does something interesting with the music here, in scoring the shots of the clone army with the same theme he had used in TPM to underscore the droid armies. Who is the enemy here, and why?

We then cut back to Naboo. Anakin and Padme are having a picnic and talking politics. I’m not sure what the general consensus on this scene is, but I’ve always liked it. Here’s how it goes:

EXTERIOR: NABOO, MOUNTAIN MEADOW – LATE AFTERNOON

PADMÉ and ANAKIN are in the middle of an idyllic hilly meadow, its lush grasses sprinkled with flowers. At a distance, a herd of SHAAKS graze contentedly. Beyond is the shimmering expanse of the lake. Several other lakes stretch to the horizon. The warm air is full of little floating puffballs. They sit on the grass, in a playful, coy mood, talking. PADMÉ is picking flowers.

PADMÉ: I don’t know…

ANAKIN: Sure you do… you just don’t want to tell me.

PADMÉ: Are you going to use one of your Jedi mind tricks on me?

ANAKIN: They only work on the weak-minded. You are anything but weak- minded.

PADMÉ: All right… I was twelve. His name was Palo. We were both in the Legislative Youth Program. He was a few years older then I… very cute… dark curly hair… dreamy eyes.

ANAKIN: All right, I get the picture… whatever happened to him?

PADMÉ: I went into public service. He went on to become an artist.

ANAKIN: Maybe he was the smart one.

PADMÉ: You really don’t like politicians, do you?

ANAKIN: I like two or three, but I’m not really sure about one of them. (smiling) I don’t think the system works.

PADMÉ: How would you have it work?

ANAKIN: We need a system where the politicians sit down and discuss the problem, agree what’s in the best interests of all the people, and then do it.

PADMÉ: That is exactly what we do. The trouble is that people don’t always agree. In fact, they hardly ever do.

ANAKIN: Then they should be made to.

PADMÉ: By whom? Who’s going to make them?

ANAKIN: I don’t know. Someone.

PADMÉ: You?

ANAKIN: Of course not me.

PADMÉ: But someone.

ANAKIN: Someone wise.

PADMÉ: That sounds an awful lot like a dictatorship to me.

A mischievous little grin creeps across his face.

ANAKIN: Well, if it works…

PADMÉ stares at ANAKIN. He looks back at her, straight faced, but can’t hold back a smile.

PADMÉ: You’re making fun of me!

ANAKIN: (sarcastic) Oh no, I’d be much too frightened to tease a Senator.

PADMÉ: You’re so bad!

PADMÉ picks up a piece of fruit and throws it at him. He catches it. PADMÉ throws two more pieces of fruit, and ANAKIN catches them.

ANAKIN: You’re always so serious.

PADMÉ: I’m so serious?!

ANAKIN then starts to juggle the fruit. PADMÉ laughs and throws more fruit at him. He manages to juggle them too until there are too many, and he loses control and ducks, letting food fall on his head. They both laugh.

ANAKIN stands in front of a SHAAK, yelling at it and waving his arms. PADMÉ starts laughing as ANAKIN runs in circles, chased by the SHAAK.

I’m glad this last bit didn’t appear in the movie. It just reads silly, doesn’t it? Instead we cut to the two of them frolicking in the meadow, with Anakin showing off by trying to ride some kind of large beastie that looks like a six-legged cow with a wildly distended arse. He falls down and appears to be trampled, but he fakes unconsciousness until a scared Padme rushes to his side. I like this little bit as well, and the only change I’d make would be to make the cow-beasties look a little less ridiculous. All I could think, first time I saw the movie, was, “How can that thing’s tiny little legs hold up that gigantic arse?”

But the thing is, I like all of these scenes, really; especially the scene with Anakin and Padme chatting in the grass. Sure, they’re talking politics, but what else are they going to talk about? That’s what Padme’s all about, really, and it’s important that we hear her talking about herself at some point (especially with the earlier scenes in her family’s home cut from the movie). I like how the scene establishes Padme as intelligent and quick to disagree when she sees fit; I also like how it shows Anakin starting to regain some confidence around her, even to the point of grinning bashfully when she realizes he’s teasing her. (Kind of, anyway.) I consider this another entry in the surprisingly long list of well-done character scenes in the Prequels, considering that the general wisdom is that George Lucas can’t direct actors to save his life. If anything, this scene is worthy because we get to see this smile from Padme:

And right after that, we’re back to Kamino, where we have one of my favorite scenes in any Star Wars movie: Obi Wan’s meeting with Jango Fett.

EXTERIOR: TIPOCA CITY (RAINSTORM) – DAY

Rain lashes the city. Below, mighty waves pound the stilts, breaking almost to the height of the platforms. A large AVIAN carrying a RAIN-SOAKED RIDER flies above the water toward a floating city.

INTERIOR: TIPOCA CITY, CORRIDOR – DAY

TAUN WE and OBI-WAN stand in front of the door of Jango Fett’s apartment. TAUN WE waves his hand, and a muted bell RINGS. As they wait, OBI-WAN notes the door lock entry mechanism. Then the door opens, and a ten-year-old boy, BOBA FETT, looks at them. He is identical to the boys in the classroom.

TAUN WE: Boba, is your father here?

There is a brief pause.

BOBA FETT: Yep.

TAUN WE: May we see him?

BOBA FETT: Sure.

Another brief pause, then BOBA FETT steps aside, and TAUN WE and OBI-WAN go through.

INTERIOR: TIPOCA CITY, FETT APARTMENT – DAY

OBI-WAN, TAUN WE, and BOBA FETT enter the apartment. OBI WAN looks around the room.

BOBA FETT: Dad! Taun We’s here!

JANGO FETT comes in from the bedroom. He wears a jumpsuit. He is unshaven and mean looking, his face pitted with scars of old wounds. There are a couple of weird tattoos on his muscular forearms. He eyes OBI-WAN with suspicion.

TAUN WE: Jango, welcome back. Was your trip productive?

JANGO FETT: Fairly.

OBI-WAN and JANGO FETT size each other up. BOBA FETT studies both of them.

TAUN WE: This is Jedi Master, Obi-Wan Kenobi. He’s come tocheck on our progress.

JANGO FETT: That right?

JANGO FETT’S eyes fix OBI-WAN coldly.

OBI-WAN: Your clones are very impressive. You must be veryproud.

JANGO FETT: I’m just a simple man, trying to make my way in the universe, Master Jedi.

OBI-WAN: Aren’t we all?

OBI-WAN eyes the half-open bedroom door, through which a couple of pieces of body armor can be seen on the floor. JANGO FETT registers OBI-WAN’S look. He moves in front of him, blocking the view.

OBI-WAN: Ever make your way as far into the interior as Coruscant?

JANGO FETT: Once or twice.

OBI-WAN: Recently?

JANGO FETT: (eyes Obi-Wan carefully) Possibly…

OBI-WAN: Then you must know Master Sifo-Dyas?

JANGO FETT: (in Huttese) Boba, close the door.

BOBA FETT moves to close the bedroom door. JANGO FETT smiles thinly at OBI-WAN.

JANGO FETT: Master who?

OBI-WAN: Sifo-Dyas. Is he not the Jedi who hired you for this job?

JANGO FETT: Never heard of him.

OBI-WAN: Really.

JANGO FETT: I was recruited by a man called Darth Tyranus on one of the moons of Bogden.

OBI-WAN: No? I thought…

TAUN WE: Sifo-Dyas told us to expect him. And he showed up just when your Jedi Master said he would. We have kept the Jedi’s involvement a secret until your arrival, just as your Master requested.

OBI-WAN: Curious…

JANGO FETT: Do you like your army?

OBI-WAN: I look forward to seeing them in action.

JANGO FETT: (grinning) They’ll do their job well, I’ll guarantee that.

OBI-WAN: Thanks for your time, Jango.

JANGO FETT: Always a pleasure to meet a Jedi.

OBI-WAN and TAUN WE go out. The door slides closed. JANGO FETT turns to his son. He is deep in thought.

BOBA FETT: What is it, Dad?

JANGO FETT: Pack your things. We’re leaving.

As I noted, one of my favorite scenes in the entire Star Wars saga. It’s very well acted, between Ewan McGregor and Temuera Morrison, and there’s real tension there as Obi Wan is realizing that something is very amiss here, even if he can’t tell exactly what. I also like the chemistry between Morrison and the kid who plays young Boba Fett; they have a comfort level with each other that nicely conveys father-and-son.

After that scene, we cut back to Naboo for some more of Anakin and Padme, passing the time. We’ll do that next time, though, because we’re coming up on what I consider to be the most damaging scene in the entire PT, as far as Anakin’s relationship with Padme goes, and I want to devote some time to discussing it and proposing my fix. So that’s where we’ll start next time. Tune in!

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Yes, it’s been a while since we got into this; sorry about that. But now we’re back, so it’s time to return to Naboo and Coruscant for further examination of Attack of the Clones!

When last we left our Star Warring heroes, Obi Wan Kenobi was starting to dig a bit into the mystery of the assassination attempts on Senator Amidala, while Anakin Skywalker had been sent as Padme Amidala’s bodyguard back to Naboo for safekeeping. That’s where we start!

So Obi Wan Kenobi has learned that the toxic dart originated on a planet called Kamino, a planet whose chief industry is the creation of clones. However, in trying to further investigate this Kamino business, he discovers that the vast Jedi Archive contains nothing at all on Kamino, and what’s more, the librarian there is really unhelpful and gets annoyed when Obi Wan suggests that maybe her archive isn’t complete.

And that’s where we pick up, with one of my favorite scenes in any Star Wars movie: Obi Wan goes to see Yoda about this, interrupting Yoda’s session of Lightsaber 101 with a bunch of four-year-old Jedi younglings. Here’s the scene as written, which is, aside from a couple of lines of dialogue’s difference, pretty much exactly what happens onscreen (RED text indicates stuff not in the movie):

INTERIOR: JEDI TEMPLE, MAIN HALLWAY – DAY

OBI-WAN walks through the main hallway to the training area.

INTERIOR: JEDI TEMPLE, TRAINING VERANDA – DAY

OBI-WAN comes out onto the veranda and stops, watching TWENTY or so FOUR-YEAR-OLDS doing training exercises, supervised by YODA. They wear helmets over their eyes and try to strike little TRAINING DROIDS with their miniature lightsabers. The DROIDS dance in front of them.

YODA: Don’t think… feel… be as one with the Force. Help you, it will. (he sees Obi-Wan) Younglings – enough! A visitor we have. Welcome him.

The CHILDREN turn off their lightsabers.

YODA: Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, meet the mighty Bear Clan.

CHILDREN: Welcome, Master Obi-Wan!

OBI-WAN: I am sorry to disturb you, Master.

YODA: What help to you, can I be?

OBI-WAN: I’m looking for a planet described to me by an old friend. I trust him. But the system doesn’t show up on the archive maps.

YODA: Lost a planet, Master Obi-Wan has. How embarrassing… how embarrassing. Liam, the shades. An interesting puzzle. Gather, younglings, around the map reader. Clear your minds and find Obi-Wan’s wayward planet, we will.

The reader is a small shaft with a hollow opening at the top. The CHILDREN gather around it. OBI-WAN takes out a little glass ball and places it into the bowl. The window shades close, the reader lights up and projects the star map hologram into the room. The CHILDREN laugh. Some of them reach up to try and touch the nebulae and stars. OBI-WAN walks into the display.

OBI-WAN: This is where it ought to be… but it isn’t. Gravity is pulling all the stars in this area inward to this spot. There should be a star here… but there isn’t.

YODA: Most interesting. Gravity’s silhouette remains, but the star and all its planets have disappeared. How can this be? Now, younglings, in your mind, what is the first thing you see? An answer? A thought? Anyone?

There is a brief pause. Then a CHILD puts his hand up. YODA nods.

JEDI CHILD JACK: Master? Because someone erased it from the archive memory.

CHILDREN: That’s right! Yes! That’s what happened! Someone erased it!

JEDI CHILD MAY: If the planet blew up, the gravity would go away.

OBI-WAN stares; YODA chuckles.

YODA: Truly wonderful, the mind of a child is. The Padawan is right. Go to the center of the gravity’s pull, and find your planet you will.

YODA and OBI-WAN move away from the CHILDREN. With a hand movement, OBI-WAN causes the star map to disappear. OBI-WAN uses the Force to call the glass ball back to his hand as
the two walk into an adjoining room.

OBI-WAN: But Master Yoda who could have erased information from the archives? That’s impossible, isn’t it?

YODA: (frowning) Dangerous and disturbing this puzzle is. Only a Jedi could have erased those files. But who and why, harder to answer. Meditate on this, I will. May the Force be with you.

In the past I’ve seen some criticism of this scene on the basis that Obi Wan shouldn’t need the children to figure out that the Jedi archives have been tampered with, but I don’t think that’s what’s going on here; I think that Obi Wan has clearly already figured that out and is going to bring this matter to Yoda’s attention. Yoda simply decides to make it a teaching exercise for the younglings. (Love that word, by the way. “Younglings”.) Note that Yoda and Obi Wan move away from the children to further discuss the fact that the erasure of the archive data indicates a deeper problem. (A deeper problem, I might add, that never gets mentioned again. That’s an error we’ll be correcting at some point.)

And aside from all that, this is just a lovely scene to behold. The music for this scene is gentle and wonderful, and I’ve long believed that if I could own one non-weapon gizmo from the Star Wars movies, Obi Wan’s pocket holographic planetarium would be the one. Who wouldn’t want to be able to walk through a room full of stars? I would have liked to see the kids responds more; Lucas scripted it that way, so why didn’t he film it?

So, Obi Wan’s next move is plain: he has to actually go to Kamino. Meanwhile, Anakin and Padme have arrived on Naboo and are proceeding to the Palace to meet with the current Queen.

There is a lot of material from the Naboo arrival sequence of the film that didn’t make it into the final cut. It’s all available on the extra material on the DVDs, and in every single case, producer Rick McCallum says the same thing: these scenes, while nice, were all cut because they didn’t move the action along. Once again, I can sympathize with this somewhat, but again, I think that mistakes were made here. There are times when moving things along is called for, and there are times when you need more time for things to unfold. Specifically, the major fault I find with AOTC is that Padme falls in love with Anakin too quickly. She seems to go very quickly from seeing him as the child she once knew to the man she loves. Preserving some of this material would help that along, I think; it would show her coming to see him in a new light. (Plus a couple of other changes I would make along the way.)

Additionally, I think these scenes were well done; the acting’s good, and maybe the general perception of Anakin would be different had these scenes been preserved, since he’s not terribly whiny in them. Yes, once again I’m lobbying for a significantly longer movie, but once again, I think that George Lucas simply got too attached to the idea of a specific running time.

So here are the scenes as in the script, with occasional comment scattered within:

EXTERIOR: NABOO PALACE, GRAND COURTYARD – AFTERNOON

The speeder bus pulls up and stops. PADMÉ, ANAKIN, and ARTOO get out. The great courtyard stretches before them, and they see the rose-colored domes of the palace on the far side. ARTOO WHISTLES. They pick up their gear and start to cross the courtyard. ARTOO trundles behind them.

ANAKIN: If I grew up here, I don’t think I’d ever leave.

PADMÉ: (laughing) I doubt that.

ANAKIN: No, really. When I started my training, I was very homesick and very lonely. This city and my Mom were the only pleasant things I had to think about… The problem was, the more I thought about my Mom, the worse I felt. But I would feel better if I thought about the palace – the way it shimmers in the sunlight – the way the air always smells of flowers…

PADMÉ: …and the soft sound of the distant waterfalls. The first time I saw the Capital, I was very young… I’d never seen a waterfall before. I thought they were so beautiful… I never dreamed one day I’d live in the palace.

ANAKIN: Well, tell me, did you dream of power and politics when you were a little girl?

PADMÉ: (laughing) No! That was the last thing I thought of, but the more history I studied, the more I realized how much good politicians could do. After school, I became a Senatorial advisor with such a passion that, before I knew it, I was elected Queen. For the most part it was because of my conviction that reform was possible. I wasn’t the youngest Queen ever elected, but now that I think back on it, I’m not sure I was old enough. I’m not sure I was ready.

[See, I like this whole conversation. Does it whisk the plot along? No, but a lot of this fleshes out what’s gone on since TPM, and it fleshes out Padme’s character quite a lot. I would like a bit of exploration into a society that actually has children capable of governing an entire planet, but I never had much problem with that notion to begin with, so….]

ANAKIN: The people you served thought you did a good job. I heard they tried to amend the Constitution so you could stay in office.

PADMÉ: Popular rule is not democracy, Annie. It gives the people what they want, not what they need. And, truthfully, I was relieved when my two terms were up. So were my parents. They worried about me during the blockade and couldn’t wait for it all to be over. Actually, I was hoping to have a family by now… My sisters have the most amazing, wonderful kids… So when the Queen asked me to serve as Senator, I couldn’t refuse her.

ANAKIN: I agree! I think the Republic needs you… I’m glad you chose to serve. I feel things are going to happen in our generation that will change the galaxy in profound ways.

PADMÉ: I think so too.

ANAKIN and PADMÉ walk toward the palace. ARTOO continues to follow.

INTERIOR: NABOO PALACE, THRONE ROOM – AFTERNOON

QUEEN JAMILLIA is seated on the throne, flanked by SIO BIBBLE and a COUPLE OF ADVISORS. FOUR HANDMAIDENS stand close by, and GUARDS are at the doors.

QUEEN JAMILLIA: We’ve been worried about you. (takes her hand) I’m so glad you’re safe, Padmé.

PADMÉ: Thank you, Your Highness. I only wish I could have served you better by staying on Coruscant for the vote.

SIO BIBBLE: Given the circumstances, Senator, you know it was the only decision Her Highness could have made.

QUEEN JAMILLIA: How many systems have joined Count Dooku and the separatists?

PADMÉ: Thousands. And more are leaving the Republic everyday. If the Senate votes to create an army, I’m sure it’s going to push us into a civil war.

SIO BIBBLE: It’s unthinkable! There hasn’t been a full scale war since the formation of the Republic!

QUEEN JAMILLIA: Do you see any way, through negotiations, to bring the separatists back into the Republic?

PADMÉ: Not if they feel threatened. The separatists don’t have an army, but if they are provoked, they will move to defend themselves. I’m sure of that. And with no time or money to build an army, my guess is they will turn to the Commerce Guilds or the Trade Federation for help.
[Some of this is in the movie, and some of it isn’t. I can’t recall exactly, so I’m not color-coding everything. Suffice it to say that this discussion of the political situation in the Republic is truncated a bit in the movie.]

QUEEN JAMILLIA: The armies of commerce! Why has nothing been done in the Senate to restrain them?

PADMÉ: I’m afraid that, despite the Chancellor’s best efforts, there are still many bureaucrats, judges, and even Senators on the payrolls of the Guilds.

SIO BIBBLE: It’s outrageous that, after all of those hearings, and four trials in the Supreme Court, Nute Gunray is still the Viceroy of the Trade Federation. I fear the Senate is powerless to resolve this crisis. Do those money mongers control everything?

QUEEN JAMILLIA: Remember, Counselor, the courts were able to reduce the Federation’s armies. That’s a move in the right direction.

PADMÉ: There are rumors, Your Highness, that the Trade Federation Army was not reduced as they were ordered.

QUEEN JAMILLIA: We must keep our faith in the Republic. The day we stop believing democracy can work is the day we lose it.

PADMÉ: Let’s pray that day never comes.

QUEEN JAMILLIA: In the meantime, we must consider your own safety.

SIO BIBBLE signals. All the OTHER ADVISORS and ATTENDANTS bow and leave the room.

SIO BIBBLE: (to Anakin) What is your suggestion, Master Jedi?

PADMÉ: Anakin’s not a Jedi yet, Counselor. He’s still a Padawan learner. I was thinking…

ANAKIN: (nettled) Hey, hold on a minute!

PADMÉ: Excuse me! I was thinking I would stay in the Lake Country. There are some places up there that are very isolated.

ANAKIN: Excuse me?! I am in charge of security here, M’Lady.

SIO BIBBLE and QUEEN JAMILLIA exchange a look. Something is going on here.

PADMÉ: Annie, my life is at risk, and this is my home. I know it very well… that is why we’re here. I think it would be wise for you to take advantage of my knowledge in this instance.

ANAKIN: (takes a deep breath) Sorry, M’Lady.

QUEEN JAMILLIA: Perfect. It’s settled then.

[This is one of my favorite “character” moments in AotC. I love the little seed of conflict planted here, borne of the fact that Padme still refuses to see Anakin as something more than the resourceful little kid she had known years before. I also think that this exchange could have set up a more effect event later on. That’s something I’ll get to in due course. I’ll also note that the actress playing Queen Jammillia, Ayesha Dharker, is very beautiful and does a great job in her brief screen time in creating a Queen who, despite the funky makeup, is distinct from the former Queen Amidala.]

ANAKIN glares at PADMÉ. Then QUEEN JAMILLIA gets up, and they all start to leave.

QUEEN JAMILLIA: Padmé, I had an audience with your father yesterday. I told him what was happening. He hopes you will visit your mother before you leave… your family’s very worried about you.

PADMÉ: Thank you, your Highness.

PADMÉ looks worried. They ALL exit down the main staircase.

One might be tempted to wonder why they bothered traveling as refugees if they were simply going to make contact with the Queen when they arrived on Naboo; that’s not much of a way to maintain cover if they’re trying to avoid being found by whomever is behind the assassination attempts. I assume, then, that the “traveling as refugees” bit was just to keep them safe while they were on their journey, and was always intended to be dropped as soon as they arrived on Naboo.

In the film, we now cut to Obi Wan landing on Kamino, but in the original script there are several scenes following the reception with the Queen, still on Naboo, in which we meet Padme’s family. It’s fairly unremarkable stuff, but frankly, that’s why I like it. These scenes are available on the DVD’s special features, along with the reason for their cutting from the film: that old bagaboo, running time and the desire to keep the action moving. The problem here is that while yes, the scenes would lengthen the movie a bit and slow down the pace, I think they would also serve several pretty useful purposes. First, it would allow the fleshing out of Padme a bit, and second, the scenes give Anakin a chance to do something aside from appearing stalkerishly attached to Padme or teetering on the edge of Vaderhood.

Ultimately, I think that the Anakin-Padme love story needed more time to unfold. Padme seems to go from rejecting Anakin’s advances to accepting them fairly quickly; in these scenes, we are allowed to see that the seeds of her attraction to him are already well in flower, probably before she has even had a chance to realize this herself. The love story actually unfolds when this material is included, as opposed to simply happening when Lucas adheres rigidly to his internal demands for a specific running time.

I like these scenes quite a bit, and I’d restore them, since I don’t think they add much more then seven or eight minutes total to the movie, and sometimes that makes a ton of difference. Here are the scenes, as taken from the script:

EXTERIOR: THEED, RESIDENTIAL AREA, SIDE STREET – AFTERNOON

PEOPLE are passing through the little street, OLD MEN are sunning themselves, WOMEN are gossiping, KIDS are playing. ANAKIN, PADMÉ and ARTOO turn onto a side street. ANAKIN is back in his Jedi robes. PADMÉ wear a beautiful simple dress. She stops, beaming.

PADMÉ: There’s my house!

PADMÉ starts forward; ANAKIN hangs back.

PADMÉ: What? Don’t say you’re shy!
ANAKIN: (untruthfully) No, but I…

Suddenly, there are shouts from two little girls, RYOO (age 6) and POOJA (age 4). They come running toward PADMÉ.

PADMÉ: Ryoo!! Pooja!!

PADMÉ scoops up RYOO and POOJA and hugs them.

PADMÉ: Go wake up Artoo.

RYOO & POOJA: Artoo!!!

As they see the droid, they hug him. ARTOO WHISTLES and BEEPS. PADMÉ laughs. ANAKIN and PADMÉ go on toward the house. The GIRLS stay and play with ARTOO.

INTERIOR: PADMÉ’S PARENTS’ HOUSE, MAIN ROOM – AFTERNOON

SOLA, PADMÉ’S beautiful older sister, comes in from the kitchen carrying a big bowl of food.

SOLA: (over her shoulder) They’re eating over at Jev Narran’s later, Mom. They just had a snack. They’ll be fine.

SOLA puts the bowl down on the table, where ANAKIN, PADMÉ and RUWEE NABERRIE (Padme’s father) are coming into the room.

SOLA: Padmé! (hugging her) You’re late. Mom was worried.

PADMÉ: We walked. Anakin, this is my sister, Sola.

SOLA: Hello, Anakin.

ANAKIN: Hello.

SOLA sits, as JOBAL NABERRIE (Padme’s mother) comes in with a heaped bowl of steaming food.

PADMÉ: …and this is my mother.

JOBAL: You’re just in time for dinner. I hope you’re hungry, Anakin.

ANAKIN: A little.

PADMÉ: He’s being polite, Mom. We’re starving.

RUWEE: (grinning) You came to the right place at the right time.

EVERYONE sits and starts passing food.

JOBAL: (to Padmé) Honey, it’s so good to see you safe. We were so worried.

PADMÉ gives JOBAL a dirty look. RUWEE smiles as he watches.

RUWEE: Dear…

JOBAL: I know, I know… but I had to say it. Now it’s done.

SOLA: Well, this is exciting! Do you know, Anakin, you’re the first boyfriend my sister’s ever brought home?

PADMÉ: (rolls her eyes) Sola!! He isn’t my boyfriend! He’s a Jedi assigned by the Senate to protect me.

[If preserving this, I’d put in a reaction shot here from Anakin. Something subtle – maybe he hesitates in taking a bite of food or glances at Padme quickly or something like that. But no man who is genuinely interested in a woman enjoys hearing her say that they’re just friends or whatever.]

JOVAL: A bodyguard?! Oh, Padme! They didn’t tell us it was that serious!

PADMÉ: It’s not, Mom, I promise. (glances at Jobal) Anyway, Anakin’s a friend. I’ve known him for years. Remember that little boy who was with the Jedi during the blockade crisis?

They nod.

PADMÉ: He grew up.

JOBAL: Honey, when are you going to settle down? Haven’t you had enough of that life? I certainly have!

PADMÉ: Mom, I’m not in any danger.

RUWEE: (to Anakin) Is she?

ANAKIN: …Yes …I’m afraid she is.

[As they filmed this, in the deleted scenes on the DVD, Hayden Christensen delivers this line softly and a little sadly. It’s nicely done, and it’s the kind of moment that might have helped the general perception of Anakin.]

PADMÉ: (quickly) But not much.

EXTERIOR: PADMÉ’S PARENTS’ GARDEN – AFTERNOON

ANAKIN and RUWEE are walking.

RUWEE: Sometimes I wish I’d traveled more… but I must say, I’m happy here.

ANAKIN: Padmé tells me you teach at the university?

RUWEE: (nodding) Yes, and before that, I was a builder. I also worked for the refugee relief movement when I was very young.

INTERIOR: PADMÉ’S PARENTS’ HOUSE, MAIN ROOM – AFTERNOON

PADMÉ, SOLA and JOBAL are clearing the table.

SOLA: Why haven’t you told us about him?

PADMÉ: What’s there to talk about? He’s just a boy.

SOLA: A boy? Have you seen the way he looks at you?

PADMÉ: Sola – stop it!

SOLA: It’s obvious he has feelings for you. Are you saying, little baby sister, that you haven’t noticed?

PADMÉ: I’m not your baby sister, Sola. Anakin and I are friends… our relationship is strictly professional. (to Jobal) Mom, would you tell her to stop it?

SOLA: (laughing) Well, maybe you haven’t noticed the way he looks at you. I think you’re afraid to.

PADMÉ: Cut it out.

JOBAL: Sola’s just concerned… we all are.

PADMÉ: Oh, Mom, you’re impossible. What I’m doing is important.

JOBAL: You’ve done your service, Padmé. It’s time you had a life of your own. You’re missing so much!

EXTERIOR: PADMÉ’S PARENTS’ GARDEN – AFTERNOON

ANAKIN and RUWEE are walking in the garden. RUWEE stops and faces ANAKIN directly.

RUWEE: Now tell me, son. How serious is this thing? How much danger is my daughter really in?

ANAKIN: There have been two attempts on her life. Chances are there’ll be more. My Master is tracking down the assassins. I’m sure he’ll find out who they are. This situation, won’t last long.

RUWEE: I don’t want anything to happen to her.

ANAKIN: I don’t either.

INTERIOR: PADMÉ’S PARENTS’ HOUSE, PADMÉ’S ROOM – AFTERNOON

PADMÉ throws some things into a bag.

PADMÉ: Don’t worry, this won’t take long.

ANAKIN: I just want to get there before dark.

PADMÉ goes on packing. ANAKIN looks around the room.

ANAKIN: You still live at home.

PADMÉ: I move around so much, I’ve never had a place of my own. Official residences have no warmth. I feel good here. I feel at home.

ANAKIN: I never had a real home. Home was always where my Mom was.

ANAKIN picks up a framed hologram.

ANAKIN: Is this you?

The hologram shows PADMÉ at age seven or eight surrounded by forty or fifty little green creatures. She is holding one in her arms. They are all smiling hugely.

PADMÉ: That was when I went with the relief group to Shadda-Bi-Boran. Their sun was imploding, and the planet was dying. I was helping to relocate the children. See that little one I’m holding? His name was N’a-kee-tula, which means sweetheart. He was so full of life. All those kids were. They were never able to adapt… to live off their native planet.

ANAKIN picks up another hologram. It shows PADMÉ at age ten or eleven. She is wearing official robes and standing between two robed legislators. Her expression is severe.

PADMÉ: My first day as an Apprentice Legislator. Notice the difference?

PADMÉ pulls a face. ANAKIN grins. She continues packing.
ANAKIN sets the two holograms down side by side – the
beaming little girl, and the stern, unsmiling adolescent.

And with that, I’ll wrap up this installment. Next time we’ll look into Obi Wan Holmes and the Hound of the Kaminovilles, and at the further exploits of a lovelorn Jedi and his older object of affection. Tune in, Star Warriors!

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Before resuming with Attack of the Clones, I note the existence of Darths and Droids, a comic strip not unlike Shamus Young’s DM of the Rings, which even now, more than a year after its completion, still brings a few visitors to this blog every day, owing to his link to me in the commentary on this installment. The notion of Darths is simple: what if the story of Star Wars, beginning with The Phantom Menace, actually came about via a role-playing campaign? I’ve actually looked in on Darths before, but I haven’t been following it in detail, so I’ll try to get caught up over the next short while.

Anyway, Shamus also mentions an interview with the Darths creative team, in which one of them notes that close mining of the movies for comic strip material has led to a greater approach for the movies. I say, “Great!”, although given my own process with the Fixing the Prequels series, I wonder what effect it’ll have. I haven’t watch The Phantom Menace all the way through since I wrapped up fixing it, so I don’t yet know if I’ll be able to watch it without summoning up all of my repairs in my head. I certainly hope I can; I don’t want to not like these movies.

And with that, time to get back to AOTC.

Anakin and Padme have just left Coruscant for Naboo, with R2-D2 tagging along. (You know, what I wouldn’t give to basically be able to go through life with a sentient mobile toolbox trundling along behind me. Wow, that would be useful.) While Anakin is playing bodyguard to the Senator, Obi Wan is doing his Sam Spade of the Stars bit.

In the script, and in a scene which was shot but edited out, Obi Wan takes the mysterious toxic dart to the analysis droids in the Jedi Temple, only to have them tell him that they can’t identify the thing. This scene doesn’t accomplish anything, and watching it on the DVD’s deleted scenes, it’s not even that cool of an effects scene (just more CG droids doing CG droid stuff), and it ends with a goofy bit where Obi Wan looks at the dart in his fingers and says “I know who can identify this!” It’s a funny line delivery, and it naturally makes one ask, “Well, why didn’t you go there in the first place, dummy?”

So Obi Wan heads off to visit an old friend of his, a big fat alien who is the cook in a diner:

EXTERIOR: CORUSCANT, DOWNTOWN, BACK STREET – MORNING

OBI-WAN walks down the street. It is a pretty tough part of town. Old buildings, warehouses, beat up speeders and transporter rigs thundering past. Above, the old elevated monospeed with occasional “shiny freighters” hissing through.

OBI-WAN comes to a kind of alien diner. On the steamed-up windows it says “DEX’S DINER” in alien lettering. He goes inside.

In the movie, Dex’s Diner isn’t in a seedy part of town; it’s all bright and shiny, looking more like one of those retro-diners you’ll find in cities these days than an actual diner. I think this is a bit of a film-making error; they should have done the “diner in a seedy town” bit. As it is, it looks like Obi Wan is going to Johnny Rocket’s.

INTERIOR: CORUSCANT, DEX’S DINER – MORNING

A WAITRESS DROID is carrying plates of half-eaten food. There is a counter with stools and a line of booths along the wall by the window. A number of CUSTOMERS are eating – TOUGH-LOOKING WORKERS, FREIGHTER DRIVERS, ETC. The WAITRESS DROID looks up as OBI-WAN comes in.

WAITRESS DROID: Can I help ya?

OBI-WAN: I’m looking for Dexter.

The WAITRESS DROID approaches OBI-WAN.

WAITRESS DROID: Waddya want him for?

OBI-WAN: He’s not in trouble. It’s personal.

There is a brief pause. Then the DROID goes to the open serving hatch behind the counter.

WIITRESS DROID: Someone to see ya, honey. (lowering her voice) A Jedi, by the looks of him.

Steam billows out from the kitchen hatch behind the counter as a huge head pokes through.

DEXTER JETTSTER: Obi-Wan!

OBI-WAN: Hey, Dex.

DEXTER JETTSTER: Take a seat! Be right with ya!

OBI-WAN sits in a booth.

WAITRESS DROID: You want a cup of ardees?

OBI-WAN: Oh yes, thank you.

The WAITRESS DROID moves off as the door to the counter opens and DEXTER JETTSTER appears. He is big – bald and sweaty, old and alien. Not someone to tangle with. He arrives, beaming hugely.

DEXTER JETTSTER: Hey, ol’ buddy!

OBI-WAN: Hey, Dex.

DEXTER eases himself into the seat opposite OBI-WAN. He can just make it.

DEXTER JETTSTER: So, my friend. What can I do for ya?

OBI-WAN: You can tell me what this is.

OBI-WAN places the dart on the table between them. DEX’S eyes widen. He puts down his mug.

DEXTER JETTSTER: (softly) Well, whaddya know…

DEXTER picks up the dart delicately between his puffy fingers and peers at it.

DEXTER JETTSTER: I ain’t seen one of these since I was prospecting on Subterrel beyond the Outer Rim!

OBI-WAN: Can you tell me where it came from?

DEXTER grins. He puts the dart down between them.

DEXTER JETTSTER: This baby belongs to them cloners. What you got here is a Kamino saberdart.

OBI-WAN: Kamino saberdart? …I wonder why it didn’t show up in our analysis archive.

DEXTER JETTSTER: It’s these funny little cuts on the side give it away… Those analysis droids you’ve got over there only focus on symbols, you know. I should think you Jedi would have more respect for the difference between knowledge and wisdom.

OBI-WAN: Well, Dex, if droids could think, we wouldn’t be here, would we? (laughing) Kamino… doesn’t sound familiar. Is it part of the Republic?

DEXTER JETTSTER: No, it’s beyond the Outer Rim. I’d say about twelve parsecs outside the Rishi Maze, toward the south. It should be easy to find, even for those droids in your archive. These Kaminoans keep to themselves. They’re cloners. Damned good ones, too.

OBI-WAN picks up the dart, holding it midway between them.

OBI-WAN: Cloners? Are they friendly?

DEXTER JETTSTER: It depends.

OBI-WAN: On what, Dex?

Dexter grins.

DEXTER JETTSTER: On how good your manners are… and how big your pocketbook is…

I’ve always liked this scene. The bit at the beginning here, where Obi Wan asks for Dex and has to assure the waitress that he’s not there to arrest Dex or anything, isn’t in the film, and I’d put it back in. I would also have liked a couple of reaction shots from the denizens of the diner as a Jedi walks in; maybe somebody casually sliding their briefcase under the table or something like that. But I love the visual of a 1950s diner in the middle of Coruscant, and the ultimate waitress-on-roller skates.

That line of Obi Wan’s, about droids not being able to think, shows a certain attitude toward droids that tends to show up sporadically throughout the entire SW Saga; most notable is in ANH, when Luke enters the cantina and the barkeep tells him that R2 and C-3PO have to wait outside. Droids just aren’t seen as anything more than useful tools, which could explain some of the lackadaisical attitude toward them throughout the series – such as nobody particularly worrying about R2’s memories after the events of RotS.

Anyway, Dex takes one look at the dart and identifies it as being from Kamino. Here we have more implied facts about the SW universe: that the Republic doesn’t control everything, namely. I’d like to have heard a bit more about the fact that the Kaminoans are cloners. Obi Wan seems genuinely surprised to hear that there are still cloners about somewhere, and I’d amend this line a bit:

OBI WAN: Cloners. No wonder they keep to themselves, then.

DEX: Your Republic has never much liked cloners.

OBI WAN: With good reason. We don’t want systems able to grow their own armies, do we?

DEX: And yet the Trade Federation and its allies build themselves droid armies. One wonders what the difference might be.

OBI WAN: Cloning is a dangerous business to be in. Kamino – are they friendly?

Something like that. If cloning on a mass scale is possible in the SW universe, why isn’t the galaxy overrun with clones? Who knows? (Maybe this point has been addressed in some Extended Universe book or comic, but I don’t deal with that at all, just the stuff in the movies.)

Anyhow, Obi Wan now has his first solid lead, and now he’s off to follow it up, by going back to the Jedi Temple to see if he can figure out where Kamino is located. He consults with the Galaxy’s least helpful librarian, but before he does, he has a conversation with her that was cut from the movie:

EXTERIOR: JEDI TEMPLE – DAY

The main entrance at the base of the huge Temple is bustling with activity. All sorts of JEDI are coming and going.

INTERIOR: JEDI TEMPLE, ARCHIVE LIBRARY – DAY

A bronze bust of Count Dooku stands among a line of other busts of Jedi in the Archive Room. OBI-WAN stands in front of it, studying the striking features of the chiseled face. On the walls, lighted computer panels seem to stretch into infinity. Farther along the room in the background, FIVE JEDI are seated at tables, studying archive material. After OBI-WAN studies the bust for a few moments before
MADAME JOCASTA NU, the Jedi Archivist, is standing next to him. She is an elderly, frail-looking human Jedi. Tough as old boots and smart as a whip.

JOCASTA NU: Did you call for assistance?

OBI-WAN: (distracted in thought) Yes… yes, I did…

JOCASTA NU: He has a powerful face, doesn’t he? He was one of the most brilliant Jedi I have had the privilege of knowing.

OBI-WAN: I never understood why he quit. Only twenty Jedi have ever left the Order.

JOCASTA NU: (sighs) The Lost Twenty… Count Dooku was the most recent and the most painful. No one likes to talk about it. His leaving was a great loss to the Order.

OBI-WAN: What happened?

JOCASTA NU: Well, Count Dooku was always a bit out of step with the decisions of the Council…much like your old Master, Qui-Gon Jinn.

She gestures to another nearby statue, this one of none other than QUI GON.

[OK, I put that bit in myself, the statue of Qui Gon. There’s a reason for this that will eventually become clear.]

OBI-WAN: (surprised) Really?

JOCASTA NU: Oh, yes. They were alike in many ways. Very individual thinkers… idealists…

JOCASTA NU gazes at the bust.

JOCASTA NU: He was always striving to become a more powerful Jedi. He wanted to be the best. With a lightsaber, in the old style of fencing, he had no match. His knowledge of the Force was… unique. In the end, I think he left because he lost faith in the Republic. He believed that politics were corrupt, and he felt the Jedi betrayed themselves by serving the politicians. He always had very high expectations of government. He disappeared for nine or ten years, then just showed up recently as the head of the separatist movement.

OBI-WAN: It’s very interesting. I’m not sure I completely understand.

JOCASTA NU: Well, I’m sure you didn’t call me over here for a history lesson. Are you having a problem, Master Kenobi?

OBI-WAN: Yes, I’m trying to find a planet system called Kamino. It doesn’t seem to show up on any of the archive charts.

JOCASTA NU: Kamino? It’s not a system I’m familiar with…Let me see…

JOCASTA NU leans over OBI-WAN’S shoulder, looking at the screen.

JOCASTA NU: Are you sure you have the right coordinates?

OBI-WAN: (nodding) According to my information, it should be in this quadrant somewhere… just south of the Rishi Maze.

JOCASTA NU taps the keyboard and frowns.

[This next bit doesn’t occur in the film.]

JOCASTA NU: No coordinates? It sounds like the sort of directions you’d get from a street tout… some old miner or Furbog trader.

OBI-WAN: All three, actually.

JOCASTA NU: Are you sure it exists?

OBI-WAN: Absolutely.

JOCASTA NU: Let me do a gravitational scan.

OBI-WAN and JOCASTA NU study the star map hologram.

JOCASTA NU: There are some inconsistencies here. Maybe the planet you’re seeking was destroyed.

OBI-WAN: Wouldn’t that be on record?

JOCASTA NU: It ought to be, unless it was very recent. [Now we’re back to stuff that appears in the film.] (shakes her head) I hate to say it, but it looks like the system you’re searching for doesn’t exist.

OBI-WAN: That’s impossible… perhaps the archives are incomplete.

JOCASTA NU: The archives are comprehensive and totally secure, my young Jedi. One thing you may be absolutely sure of – if an item does not appear in our records, it does not exist!

OBI-WAN stares at her, then looks back to the map. JOCASTA NU notices a young boy approach. She turns from OBI-WAN and leaves with the youngster, turning back only briefly to say:

JOCASTA NU: Oh, and Master Kenobi, if you could ask your Padawan to kindly return that holocron of Downfall of the Hutts, it would be greatly appreciated.

She leaves, and Obi Wan continues to stare at the computer readout.

Well now – if you want to get on a librarian’s bad side, all you have to do is suggest that his or her library is not as comprehensive as it’s supposed to be! Maybe that bit I threw in at the end about Anakin having overdue materials is too cute, but hey, librarians are librarians.

But unpacking this a bit, I wish the material about Dooku had been included, for the same reason that I put an introduction of Dooku very early into the film (see Part One of this series). By the time we meet Dooku, we already know that he’s a bad guy and we know nothing else about him than that. This would flesh him out a bit, and also convey again how the Jedi believe one thing (that Dooku left for idealistic reasons) where the reality is, we will learn, something else (Dooku likely left because he’d been tempted by the Sith). Also, foreshadowing Dooku’s skill with the lightsaber wouldn’t be the worst idea; it would clarify a bit how Obi Wan was able to singlehandedly defeat Darth Maul but doesn’t last long at all against Darth Tyrannus (Dooku).

Onto the discussion of the whereabouts of Kamino, I like the bit where Jocasta Nu comments on the likely source of Obi Wan’s information, and in terms of the finished product, I loved the actress Lucas got to play the staid old Jedi librarian. It’s a good scene in the movie, but the scene as written is even better. Another case, I suspect, of Lucas’s goal for a certain running time to get in the way of some good storytelling.

The movie then cuts from Obi Wan to Anakin and Padme, who are en route for Naboo. Once again, some of the material in the script didn’t end up in the finished movie, so I’ve put that material in red:

EXTERIOR: SPACE, STARSHIP FREIGHTER

The massive, slow-moving Freighter moves through space.

INTERIOR: STARFREIGHTER, STEERAGE HOLD – DAY

The great, gloomy hold is crowded with EMIGRANTS and their belongings. To one side ARTOO is coming to the head of a food line holding two bowls. With one of his little claw arms, he grabs a chunk of something that looks like bread. ARTOO slips a tube into a tub of mush and sucks up a large quantity. A SERVER sees him.

SERVER: Hey! No Droids!

ARTOO takes one last big suck and heads away from the food line. The SERVER shouts after him angrily. The little droid moves past groups of eating or sleeping EMIGRANTS and comes to ANAKIN and PADMÉ’S table where ANAKIN is sound asleep. The young Jedi seems to be having a nightmare. He is very restless.

ANAKIN: No, no, Mom, no…

He is sweating. PADMÉ leans over resting her hand on his arm. He wakes up with a start, then realizes where he is. PADMÉ simply looks at him. He stares back, somewhat confused.

ANAKIN: What?

PADMÉ: You seemed to be having a nightmare.

ANAKIN looks at PADMÉ a little more closely, trying to see if he has revealed any of his secrets. She hands him a bowl of mush and bread.

PADMÉ: Are you hungry?

ANAKIN: Yeah.

PADMÉ takes the food from ARTOO and sets it on a make-shift table. ANAKIN rises and takes a seat as she places a bowl in front of him.

ANAKIN: Thanks.

PADMÉ: We went to lightspeed a while ago.

ANAKIN looks into PADMÉ’S eyes.

ANAKIN: I look forward to seeing Naboo again. I’ve thought about it every day since I left. It’s by far the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen…

PADMÉ is a little unnerved by his intense stare.

PADMÉ: It may not be as you remember it. Time changes perception.

ANAKIN: Sometimes it does… Sometimes for the better.

PADMÉ: It must be difficult having sworn your life to the Jedi… not being able to visit the places you like… or do the things you like…

ANAKIN: Or be with the people I love.

PADMÉ: Are you allowed to love? I thought it was forbidden for a Jedi.

ANAKIN: Attachment is forbidden. Possession is forbidden. Compassion, which I would define as unconditional love, is central to a Jedi’s life, so you might say we’re encouraged to love.

PADMÉ: You have changed so much.

ANAKIN: You haven’t changed a bit. You’re exactly the way I remember you in my dreams. I doubt if Naboo has changed much either.

PADMÉ: It hasn’t…

There is an awkward moment.

PADMÉ: (continuing; changing the subject) You were dreaming about your mother earlier, weren’t you?

ANAKIN: Yes… I left Tatooine so long ago, my memory of her is fading. I don’t want to lose it. Recently I’ve been seeing her in my dreams… vivid dreams… scary dreams. I worry about her.

PADMÉ gives ANAKIN a sympathetic look.

This little scene, as it happened in the movie, is actually one of my favorite scenes in the movie. It’s short and it’s quiet and it’s acted well; score another one for Lucas. I’ve always liked how Anakin casually steers the conversation toward love, but also manages to make it sound benign. It’s just a well-done little scene, and I like it a good deal.

But reading the original script, I do also like the idea of Padme waking Anakin from one of his bad dreams. That’s a good idea, and I’m surprised Lucas either shot it and cut it out or omitted it entirely. We really need to see that Anakin’s dreams about his mother are intense and disturbing to him, and that’s something that the finished film doesn’t convey terribly well. What I would not do is have Anakin explain the dreams to Padme, just yet. I’d finish the scene off thusly:

PADME: Your dream – it was about your mother, wasn’t it?

Anakin meets her eyes, his look suddenly vulnerable, and looks away quickly.

PADME: I remember how much you hated leaving her, even though it was to go join the Jedi.

Anakin looks like he wants to say something…but then:

ANAKIN: Uh, I want some more of that tea from earlier. Would you like some?

Padme nods, and Anakin quickly excuses himself from the table, and from this line of conversation. Padme glances at Artoo, who gives a sympathetic beep.

What I’m after here is setting up more of the conflict inside Anakin that will eventually lead to his downfall (and, many years later, his redemption). Even though he is desperately in love with Padme, it’s a very immature love at this point, so I don’t think he’d be ready just yet to trust her with his innermost fears about what may be happening to his mother. (And since this scene is more from Padme’s POV than Anakin’s, I would not do what I did earlier and include an actual look into Anakin’s dream.)

The other material here that wasn’t in the movie, the stuff about how beautiful Naboo is? I’m not sure if I’d put that back in or not. It wouldn’t make the scene take a whole lot longer, and it might help make it seem as if Anakin’s not quite as obsessive about Padme as we know he is, but I’m not sure it really adds anything that must be there. I’d flip a coin, maybe.

OK, this has been a fairly long entry, so here is where we’ll stop. Next time we’ll criticize Yoda’s teaching technique, and we’ll look in what happened when Padme brought Anakin to her home to meet her family, in a long string of scenes deleted from the final film. Star Wars Episode Two: Meet the Parents? Star Wars Episode II: Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? Well, it’s not as bad as all that, as we’ll see then. Excelsior, Star Warriors!

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