Tag: Star Wars

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Aaaaand again, it’s been ridiculously long for an installment of this series, for which, again, my apologies. But this time the reason is different, aside from the fact that time, as always,, continues to occasionally get away from me. No, this time I’ve genuinely been vexed with how to fix the part of Revenge of the Sith we’re now entering.

This part of the film – the political part – is the most problematic. After a slam-bang first forty minutes or so, the film has to spend half an hour or so going set-up for the last hour, which will include, as we well know going into this one, all manner of grim stuff happening. As a well-established lover of all things Star Wars, I don’t dislike this part of the movie, but I do have to admit that structurally, this is the weakest part of Sith. It’s mostly a lot of talking, and I’ve really had trouble figuring out what to do here.

So part of what I did was reconnect myself with the entirety of the Star Wars saga by rewatching, over the course of six consecutive Sundays, all six movies (in their proper order: ANH, TESB, RotJ, TPM, AotC, Sith). And while I’m on that subject, I highly recommend doing precisely this! When watched in fairly close quarters like that, the emotional beats of the entire story become a lot more clear. And as fas as this blog series goes, the rewatch more than served its purpose, because it crystallized for me a few things about this movie:

1. There are times when George Lucas chooses to linger when he should move.

2. Conversely, there are times when Lucas moves when he should linger a bit!

3. The film doesn’t contain quite enough politics.

4. The film doesn’t quite connect the dots strongly enough with regard to Anakin’s temptation.

Again, these observations are meant more mildly than they might sound. I think that Sith is a fantastic experience, but it could have been even better had the Problem Portion worked just a bit better. The problem here, I think lies in the talky nature of the material and the fact that a lot of the talk is, well, rather stilted and expository in nature. So, what to do?

Well, there are two possible ways we can go. We can add more action in order to give the impression of plot movement by having things explode. I didn’t want to do that because you have to justify action, and I don’t see how to do that and retain what we need of the political material without resulting in a hugely bloated movie, so I’m prepared to stick with the action in the film that exists. That leaves the other option, which is to make all that talking more interesting in itself.

And how do we do that? Well…and given some of my recent postings, I can’t believe I’m saying this…but we need to take a lesson here from Aaron Sorkin.

I may have spent lots of time ripping the guy recently, and for what I feel are entirely justifiable reasons, but if there’s one thing we can learn from the fairly consistent success of Aaron Sorkin’s scripted films and shows, it’s that lots of talking need not be boring. At his best, Sorkin was able to make the corridors of politics a deeply fascinating place. That’s what needs to happen with Sith…maybe not in Sorkin’s style, obviously. I don’t want characters answering every yes/no question affirmatively with “Yeah”; I don’t want people referring to “the thing” or “this thing” or saying “I’ve gotta go do a thing”; I don’t want Anakin complaining to Obi Wan that the Jedi Council has just “screwed me with my pants on”. But more dynamic conversation, more quickly applied, is certainly called for.

So! When we left off, Anakin had started having nightmares about Padme’s death in childbirth, and in an act of total responsibility that I find pretty impressive (especially as no one seems to notice it), Anakin took his problem to Yoda, who then helpfully told him basically, “Death happens. Let it and don’t be sad when it does.” Yoda’s advice is, shall we say, not all that useful.

So now we start getting into some politics. What is the aim here? Well, we have to show Anakin’s increasing ties to the Chancellor eroding his confidence in the Jedi. We also need to establish that the Chancellor is slowly but surely acquiring enormous amounts of power, to the alarm of the Jedi. This story isn’t just the fall of Anakin Skywalker, it’s about the seizure of power by the Sith and the fall of the Jedi order. Now, in the original script and in some deleted scenes, the seeds of what will eventually be the Rebel Alliance are sown, but none of this made it into the finished film, on the basis that those scenes slow things down too much (and this is not a point without merit). Finally, it seems to me that at least a bit of light needs to be shone upon the exact relationship of the Jedi to the Chancellor and Senate, and on the public in the Galaxy’s view of the Jedi. How to do all this? Read on!

Just after Anakin’s scene with Yoda, he runs to get to a war briefing by Obi Wan, and he gets there late. I would add a little bit, in blue, and what didn’t make the film in red:

INT. CORUSCANT-JEDI TEMPLE-BRIEFING ROOM-DAY

ANAKIN rushes into the Briefing Room. By the time he reaches the Chamber, the last of the Jedi are leaving. Only OBI-WAN remains at the front of the lecture hall. He is shutting off some holograms and electronic charts and maps.

OBI-WAN: You missed the report on the Outer Rim sieges.

ANAKIN: I’m sorry, I was held up. I have no excuse.

OBI-WAN: In short, they are going very well. Saleucami has fallen, and Master Vos has moved his troops to Boz Pity.

ANAKIN: What’s wrong then?

OBI-WAN: The Senate is expected to vote more executive powers to the Chancellor today.

ANAKIN: What powers?

OBI-WAN: The Chancellor wishes the authority to commission more clones from Kamino, and to appoint regional governors to directly control Republic affairs in their territories.

ANAKIN: Well, that can only mean less deliberating and more action. Is that bad? It will make it easier for us to end this war.

OBI-WAN: Anakin, be careful of your friend Palpatine.

ANAKIN: Be careful of what?

OBI-WAN: He has requested your presence.

ANAKIN: What for?

OBI-WAN: He would not say.

ANAKIN: He didn’t inform the Jedi Council? That’s unusual, isn’t it?

OBI-WAN: All of this is unusual, and it’s making me feel uneasy. You’re probably aware that relations between the Council and the Chancellor are stressed.

ANAKIN: I know the Council has grown wary of the Chancellor’s power, mine also for that matter. Aren’t we all working together to save the Republic? Why all this distrust?

OBI-WAN: The Force grows dark, Anakin, and we are all affected by it. Be wary of your feelings. The Council isn’t concerned about your power, Anakin. But they are concerned about how close you are to Palpatine.

I add the little bit enumerating the specific powers being voted upon because I generally think it’s best to be more specific when you can.

Now, in the movie, we cut right to Palpatine’s office, and Anakin and Palpatine are slowly walking around the enormous room, having a discussion. Only about half of it shows up in the film, though:

INT. CORUSCANT-CHANCELLOR’S OFFICE-DAY

ANAKIN stands with PALPATINE at his window overlooking the vastness of Coruscant. Several buildings have been destroyed. A brown haze hangs over the landscape.

PALPATINE: Anakin, this afternoon the Senate is going to call on me to take direct control of the Jedi Council.

ANAKIN: The Jedi will no longer report to the Senate?

PALPATINE: They will report to me . . . personally. The Senate is too unfocused to conduct a war. This will bring a quick end to things.

ANAKIN: I agree, but the Jedi Council may not see it that way.

PALPATINE: There are times when we must all endure adjustments to the constitution in the name of security.

ANAKIN: With all due respect, sir, the Council is in no mood for more constitutional amendments.

PALPATINE: Thank you, my friend, but in this case I have no choice . . . this war must be won.

ANAKIN: Everyone will agree on that.

PALPATINE: Anakin, I’ve known you since you were a small boy. I have advised you over the years when I could … I am very proud of your accomplishments. You have won many battles the Jedi Council thought were lost . . . and you saved my life. I hope you trust me, Anakin.

ANAKIN: Of course.

PALPATINE: I need your help, son.

ANAKIN: What do you mean?

PALPATINE: I fear the Jedi. The Council keeps pushing for more control. They’re shrouded in secrecy and obsessed with maintaining their autonomy . . . ideals. I find simply incomprehensible in a democracy.

ANAKIN: I can assure you that the Jedi are dedicated to the values of the Republic, sir.

PALPATINE: Nevertheless, their actions will speak more loudly than their words. I’m depending on you.

ANAKIN: For what? I don’t understand.

PALPATINE: To be the eyes, ears, and voice of the Republic . . .

ANAKIN thinks about this.

PALPATINE: (continuing) Anakin . . . I’m appointing you to be my personal representative on the Jedi Council.

ANAKIN: Me? A Master? I am overwhelmed, sir, but the Council elects its own members. They will never accept this.

PALPATINE: I think they will . . . they need you more than you know.

As I watched all six movies, I noticed that George Lucas – even in TESB and RotJ, the ones he didn’t direct – likes to join scenes with conversations already in progress (good example: in ANH, after Ben rescues Luke from the Sandpeople, we cut to Ben’s home and Luke is saying, “No, my father didn’t fight in the wars, he was a navigator on a spice freighter.”). A lot of the time it works, but there are a couple of times – most notably the fireplace scene in AotC — where it doesn’t. This is another such example. I suspect that the scene was cut as is to keep it short and simple, but sometimes short and sweet isn’t so great. Interestingly, this scene as written openly addresses something I wondered about while rewatching the PT: the relation between the Jedi and the Republic. This scene strongly indicates that the Jedi are virtually an independent body, and very rigid in guarding their independence. And that, frankly, seems a tad important to me.

I’d like to establish all this, but I wouldn’t do it this way, with a simple Anakin-and-Palpatine in the office thing. Instead I would replace this whole scene with a longer sequence:

EXTERIOR: Coruscant – Senate building – dusk.

The sun is setting behind the great Senate building.

INTERIOR: Senate chamber.

The Galactic Senate is in session, with PALPATINE presiding from his center rostrum. A SENATOR FROM MALASTARE has the floor.

MALASTARE SENATOR: We have heard the reports from the Jedi that their offensive is pushing back the Separatist armies, but if that were true, how could General Grievous have launched such a devastating attack against the very heart of the Republic? How can we trust the Jedi reports of success when they just barely avoided utter failure in our own skies? Malastare moves that an immediate investigation into this affair be undertaken!

PADME: This is outrageous!

The Senate pod from Naboo floats out into the debate space, bearing PADME and JAR JAR BINKS.

PALPATINE: The Senator from Naboo.

PADME: The Jedi have served the Republic with honor for a thousand generations! If we question them now–

MALASTARE SENATOR: This failure was theirs. The Force did not warn them of the attack, did it? This war grinds on and on, and now, look about you! A third of this body is vacant, and a third of these Pods stand empty because their systems have joined the Separatists! The Jedi are failing us. Chancellor, I serve official notice that Malastare is introducing an amendment to place the Jedi Council under the direct authority of the Chancellor and the Senate!

PADME: No! You can’t–

She is drowned out by the shouts from every Senator in the building as the entire place erupts with fierce debate.

MAS AMEDDA: Order! Order in the Senate! Order!

Through all this, PALPATINE shows almost no reaction, even when he meets PADME’s gaze.

INTERIOR: Senate building – Shuttle bay.

PALPATINE is walking toward his personal shuttle, with MAS AMEDDA and his councilors behind him.

MAS AMEDDA: Will you schedule a vote on the Malastare amendment?

PALPATINE: I shall hold that off as long as I can, but eventually the Senate will force the issue…ah, Anakin!

ANAKIN rises from his seat outside the shuttle.

ANAKIN: Chancellor. I was told you wished to see me.

PALPATINE: I do. Come.

He takes ANAKIN aboard the shuttle.

INTERIOR: Chancellor’s shuttle – continuous.

PALPATINE and ANAKIN sit down inside the shuttle as it departs for the Chancellor’s office building.

PALPATINE: These Senate sessions become harder and harder to control. Odd, with fewer and fewer Senators.

ANAKIN: I watched it on the screen. The Jedi Council will not easily submit to being placed under Senate control, no matter what law they pass.

PALPATINE: I agree, which is why I wished to speak with you. I’d heard that Malastare was planning to propose that amendment, but I’d hoped those rumors were false. Perhaps what I have in mind will ease the Senate’s concerns somewhat.

ANAKIN: Sir?

PALPATINE: I need your help, son. I need you to become the eyes and ears of the Republic.

ANAKIN: I don’t follow–

PALPATINE: The Republic has faced times like these before, Anakin. The Jedi Council’s independence was not always taken for granted. I have decided to invoke a very old statute and make a direct appointment to the Jedi Council.

It starts to dawn on ANAKIN….

PALPATINE: I wish you to be my personal representative to the Jedi. They will resist, but I have the right. Of course, by their own by-laws, this will force them to do what they should have done years ago, and make you a full Jedi Master.

ANAKIN: A Master?! Sir…I am…I don’t know what to say….

PALPATINE: You need not say anything. In fact, if the Council’s reaction is what I expect, you may not even wish to thank me. But the Republic needs you, Anakin. More than you know.

EXTERIOR: Sky above Coruscant.

The Shuttle arcs toward the Capital building.

INTERIOR: Senate building – corridor.

PADME is walking with several other SENATORS.

PADME: We have to start working to assemble a coalition that will back the Jedi Council. We can’t have these divisions in the middle of a war–

A young SENATE PAGE approaches, bows, and hands PADME a slip of paper, which she unfolds and reads.

PADME: Thank you.

The PAGE runs off.

SENATOR: We will not vote to obstruct the Jedi.

PADME: Thank you. If you’ll excuse me, I’m late for a meeting….

She nods a farewell and then heads off down another corridor.

INTERIOR: Senate building – Observation room.

The observation room is near the top of the Senate building itself, overlooking the mighty expanse of the Coruscant city. PADME enters and is greeted by SENATOR BAIL ORGANA and several other SENATORS, including a tall and regal-looking WOMAN.

PADME: Senator Organa? Why are we up here instead of one of our offices?

BAIL ORGANA: Greetings, Senator Amidala. I believe you know the others.

PADME: Yes, good to see you all. (to the WOMAN) You’re newly elected?

WOMAN: Just last month. I am Mon Mothma.

PADME: Oh yes. Of Chandrila. A pleasure, and my apologies – I usually get around to welcoming new Senators more quickly. But why are we up here?

BAIL ORGANA: These observation rooms are informal locations.

PADME: And not subject to Senate guidelines for official business. I think I understand.

MON MOTHMA: Those of us here have concerns about some things that are happening in the Republic, and we think that you may share some of those concerns.

PADME glances from face to face in the room. Something about this seems harmless, and yet deeply significant. She knows that a line is about to be crossed….

PADME: Go on.

The point here is to show a number of things: that the Jedi are facing opposition not just from the Chancellor but from the Senate as well, to get the bit in there about Palpatine intruding upon the functions of the Jedi Council while seeming reasonable about doing so, and to show what is probably the moment when the Rebel Alliance is born.

It really struck me how skillfully Palpatine played the Jedi Council and Anakin and everyone else, when I rewatched the films. He just doesn’t seem all that unreasonable in doing some of the things he does, before he unmasks himself. Of course, a part of that is the amazing performance of Ian McDiarmid, whose performances as Palpatine in the Prequels are, to my mind, criminally underrated. He gives Palpatine a kind of fatherly gravitas that is utterly convincing and all the more chilling when it starts to become clear what he’s up to.

And that’s where we’ll stop. The galactic politics continues next time! Excelsior!

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And…we’re back! And in a lot less than ten months, too. Huzzah! In the ‘Credit Where Due’ department, for the purposes of this series I’m referring to the film’s script here.

When we left off last time, our Jedi Heroes had been caught, with Chancellor Palpatine and R2-D2, whilst trying to escape the ship of General Grievous. The space battle is raging on, but our heroes are brought to the bridge of the ship, where they come face to face with Grievous, a fairly bizarre individual who seems to be mostly robot, but with some kind of biological parts, who is hunchbacked, and who is constantly afflicted by a hacking cough. (This cough is actually explained by the final installment of a series of animated shorts called, appropriately enough, The Clone Wars, which aired on one of the cable networks between AotC and RotS, but it’s not really important here…unless one wants to know why a person who is something like ninety percent droid is coughing. I personally, did not.)

As Grievous confronts the Jedi, he refers to Obi Wan as ‘the Negotiator’, a touch that I like because it implies that Kenobi has a kind of reputation that he’s picked up in the course of the Clone Wars, not unlike Erwin Rommel’s ‘nom de war’, ‘the Desert Fox’. When Grievous meets Anakin, he notes that he expected someone of his reputation to be a bit older; Anakin replies: “General Grievous. You’re shorter than I expected.” I’ve always liked this line.

The rest of this plays out pretty much by numbers: R2-D2 creates a diversion, long enough for Obi Wan and Anakin to recover their lightsabers and free themselves from their bonds, at which point they go on yet another Jedi rampage against battle droids. There’s nothing particularly major here that we haven’t seen before in the Prequels, and it flashes by pretty quickly (albeit with an entertaining bit that comes when Obi Wan realizes that a particular model of battle droid can keep right on fighting even after decapitation). Grievous manages to escape yet again, this time by smashing one of the windows open and letting himself get blown out into space; he then uses a grappling hook to get himself to an escape pod while Obi Wan and Anakin have to take the controls of the ship, which is starting a death plunge into the atmosphere.

This whole sequence is really well done:

OBI-WAN and ANAKIN go over to the navigator’s chair.

ANAKIN: All the escape pods have been launched.

OBI-WAN: Grievous. Can you fly a cruiser like this?

ANAKIN: You mean, do I know how to land what’s left of this thing?

ANAKIN sits in the pilot’s chair and sees on a screen the back half of the ship break away. There is a great jolt, and the ship tilts forward.

OBI-WAN: Well?

ANAKIN: Under the circumstances, I’d say the ability to pilot this thing is irrelevant. Strap yourselves in.

OBI-WAN and PALPATINE strap themselves into chairs. ANAKIN struggles with the controls of the ship. The ship starts to glow, and pieces break off. ARTOO moves in on Palpatine ‘s controls and assists in flying the cruiser.

OBI-WAN: Steady . . . Attitude . . . eighteen degrees.

ARTOO beeps.

ANAKIN: Pressure rising. We’ve got to slow this wreck down. Open all hatches, extend all flaps, and drag fins.

OBI-WAN: Temp steady. Hatches open, flaps extended, drag fins . . .

A large part of the ship breaks away.

ANAKIN: We lost something.

OBI-WAN: Not to worry, we’re still flying half the ship.

I love that last line of Obi Wan’s. This whole sequence is fun, tense, and the effects are amazing. This brief shot is one of my favorite sights in all the Star Wars movies:

And all the other visual details are terrific here: the flames of reentry outside the bridge windows, the fireships that come alongside to smother the burning ship in fire retardant, the way the ship flies through a thick cluster of clouds to suddenly emerge above the capital city of the Republic. The ship’s bridge is dominated by yellow and green lighting, which is a color scheme we haven’t seen before. I also like how well-conceived this sequence is, in terms of details. Yeah, they may actually be scientifically implausible, but within the rules of his universe, George Lucas has thought out some stuff. The cruiser has ‘drag fins’, big metal flaps that extend out and provide increased air resistance to slow the ship down when it’s in the atmosphere (and remember, we’ve already established that cruisers of this size can land planetside), and the afore-mentioned firefighting ships.

Of course, Anakin brings the ship in for an impressive crash landing (taking out a control tower in the process…I always wonder if that tower was full of space traffic controllers, maybe one declaring this to be the wrong week to be giving up Death Sticks). The dust is settling, everyone is breathing a sigh of relief, and Obi Wan sums it all up: “Another happy landing!”

At this point, we’re finally done with an action sequence that has taken over twenty minutes of the film’s opening. It’s almost a short film in itself, complete with three acts, and it was an exhilarating way for George Lucas to start the film. Now comes quite a bit of talking and politics. Not that a lot of this bothers me, but the pace slows down quite a bit now.

A shuttle brings the Chancellor, along with his Jedi rescuers, back to the Capital, where Obi Wan and Anakin have another bit of repartee:

ANAKIN: (to Obi-Wan) Are you coming, Master?

OBI-WAN: Oh no. I’m not brave enough for politics. I have to report to the Council. Besides, someone needs to be the poster boy.

ANAKIN: Hold on, this whole operation was your idea. You planned it. You led the rescue operation. You have to be the one to take the bows this time.

OBI-WAN: Sorry, old friend. Let us not forget that you rescued me from the Buzz Droids. And you killed Count Dooku. And you rescued the Chancellor, carrying me unconscious on your back, and you managed to land that bucket of bolts safely . . .

ANAKIN: All because of your training, Master.

OBI-WAN: Anakin, let’s be fair. Today, you are the hero and you deserve your glorious day with the politicians.

ANAKIN: All right. But you owe me . . . and not for saving your skin for the tenth time . . .

OBI-WAN: Ninth time . . . that business on Cato Nemoidia doesn’t count. I’ll see you at the briefing.

I like the bit about keeping score – it’s reminscent of the Original Trilogy, and the friendly rivalry between Luke Skywalker and Han Solo. Next there’s a brief bit as Palpatine assures Mace Windu that the Senate will insist on continuing the war as long as General Grievous is at large; with Count Dooku dead, Grievous is now the leader of the droid armies. Not much is made of the fact that Dooku wasn’t just a military leader, but a political leader as well – who will rise to lead the Separatist movement?

Of note here is that Palpatine has managed to create an environment of perpetual war in the Republic, a war that has the support of the Senate and is being led by the Jedi. And yet we know there is tension between the Chancellor and the Jedi, so the question arises – never really addressed by the films – as to just what the relationship is between the Jedi and the Chancellor and the Senate. The Jedi seem to be a somewhat independent body, governing themselves, but taking input from the Senate. But they’re starting to not like what they are being required to do; as Mace Windu basically stated in AotC, they are basically policemen, not soldiers or military leaders. And yet that is their new role. Interesting, then, that a key facet of all of Palpatine’s machinations is to manipulate the Jedi into serving a role that they are not well-suited to serve.

Anyway, back to the movie. The Chancellor and the Jedi and the rest of a group of Senators walk off. (In this bunch is one Jar Jar Binks, who is almost unnoticed except that he has his one line of dialogue in the movie, “Excuse me”. What was funny about this is that when I saw the film in the theater back in 2005, as soon as people noticed Jar Jar, there was no booing or hissing – just several people in the theater exclaiming, “Hey, it’s Jar Jar!” and some murmurs of recognition, not all of which sounded angry. Make of that what you will…but sometimes I wonder if Jar Jar isn’t quite as hated as most people think he’s hated. Or maybe I’m just delusional….) Anakin exchanges words with Senator Bail Organa (Jimmy Smits, who had quite the political acting life in the mid-2000s, appearing as a Star Wars Senator and as the successor to President Josiah Bartlet in The West Wing), and then he notices someone in the shadows of one of the great pillars. It’s Padme.

Now, why isn’t Padme in the group of dignitaries meeting the Chancellor upon his return? She is one of the most influential political figures in the Senate. Clearly it’s because she needs to meet Anakin in somewhat private. They embrace, and this exchange takes place (material not actually in the final film in red):

ANAKIN: I missed you, Padme.

PADME: There were whispers . . . that you’d been killed.

ANAKIN: I’m all right. It feels like we’ve been apart for a lifetime. And it might have been … If the Chancellor hadn’t been kidnapped. I don’t think they would have ever brought us back from the Outer Rim sieges.

ANAKIN starts to give her another kiss. She steps back.

PADME: Wait, not here . . .

He grabs her again.

ANAKIN: Yes, here! I’m tired of all this deception. I don’t care if they know we’re married.

PADME: Anakin, don’t say things like that. You’re important to the Republic … to ending this war. I love you more than anything, but I won’t let you give up your life as a Jedi for me . . .

ANAKIN: I’ve given my life to the Jedi order, but I’d only give up my life, for you.

PADME: (playfully) I wouldn’t like that. I wouldn’t like that one bit. Patience, my handsome Jedi . . . Come to me later.

ANAKIN embraces her, then looks at her.

ANAKIN: Are you all right? You’re trembling. What’s going on?

PADME: I’m just excited to see you.

ANAKIN: That’s not it. I sense more . . . what is it?

PADME: Nothing . . . nothing . . .

ANAKIN: You’re frightened. (a little angry) Tell me what’s going on!

PADME begins to cry.

PADME: You’ve been gone five months . . . it’s been very hard for me. I’ve never felt so alone. There’s . . .

ANAKIN: . . . Is there someone else?

PADME: (peeved, angry) No! Why do you think that? Your jealousy upsets me so much, Anakin. I do nothing to betray you, yet you still don’t trust me. Nothing has changed.

ANAKIN: (sheepish) I’m afraid of losing you, Padme . . . that’s all.

PADME: I will never stop loving you, Anakin. My only fear is losing you.

ANAKIN: It’s just that I’ve never seen you like this . . .

PADME: Something wonderful has happened.

They look at each other for a long moment.

PADME: (continuing) I’m . . . Annie, I’m pregnant.

ANAKIN is stunned. He thinks through all of the ramifications of this. He takes her in his arms.

ANAKIN: That’s . . . that’s wonderful.

PADME: What are we going to do?

ANAKIN: We’re not going to worry about anything right now, all right? This is a happy moment. The happiest moment of my life.

So: Padme’s pregnant, and judging by her clothes, she’s somewhat far along. That’s probably why she’s staying the shadows, then; this is not a condition she wants to become common knowledge, for obvious reasons. Someone will ask who the father is, and someone else will figure it out, to the doom of Anakin’s career as a Jedi, even though he says that he wants to just come out with it and let the chips fall where they may. I like Anakin’s reaction to the news of her pregnancy: he’s shocked at first, a bit overwhelmed, and then he manages to return to happiness. So, is he really happy that he’s about to be a father? Or is this something he neither expected nor wanted? I think that the evidence in the film supports both possibilities, and I like the ambiguity of his response to being told and the way he covers it up almost immediately. At the point of the revelation, John Williams’s music does not become lovely or plaintive; instead it churns in the basses, underscoring nicely Anakin’s conflicted emotions about becoming a father.

I do think that Lucas made a wise choice in eliminating the bit about Anakin suspecting Padme of having another suitor. While his loss of trust in Padme will be the final straw in his march toward the Dark Side, it’s much too early to plant that seed. Nevertheless, here is where I would make my first actual change in the film: as they embrace on final time, I’d have someone from the Jedi council see them embracing. The obvious choice here is Mace Windu. Why? Because I think a few seeds need to be planted here for later in the film, and because I think that the film needed to get a reminder in earlier on that Mace Windu has never really been in Anakin’s fan club. He wouldn’t say anything to Anakin and Padme; not now, anyway. But he’d look back and see their embrace and start to recognize it for what it is: a Jedi indulging forbidden love.

Now we cut to General Grievous and his arrival on the planet Utapau. For longtime Star Wars fans, the name of the planet Utapau is exciting (although we don’t hear it for a while yet), as it is one of the very earliest planet names George Lucas tossed around way back in the early 1970s when he was originally cobbling together his notions for a big space adventure epic movie. After Grievous lands, he makes contact with Darth Sidious, who is behind everything; Sidious orders him to move the Separatist leaders to Mustafar and then answers Grievous’s concern about Count Dooku’s death with the revelation that he’s already got his eye on a new apprentice, “one who is far more powerful”. Uh oh….

And then we are whisked back to Coruscant, for a nice quiet scene between Anakin and Padme at night on the balcony of their 800th-floor apartment. Or what’s supposed to be a nice quiet scene, because…well, this is what happens.

PADME: Annie, I want to have our baby back home on Naboo. We could go to the lake country where no one would know . . . where we would be safe. I could go early-and fix up the baby’s room. I know the perfect spot, right by the gardens.

ANAKIN: You are so beautiful!

PADME: It’s only because I’m so in love . . .

ANAKIN: No, it’s because I’m so in love with you.

PADME: So love has blinded you?

ANAKIN: Well, that’s not exactly what I meant . . .

PADME: But it’s probably true!

Yeah…I know. There’s just no way for me to sugarcoat this one, folks: this scene is a stinker. In a movie that so far has been hitting all the right notes, this scene comes along and reminds everyone of their biggest complaints about the last two movies, what with lines about how Padme’s not like sand and how Anakin is tortured by his love for her and so on. I tend to roll my eyes whenever I hear someone trot out the “George Lucas needs someone to tell him when his ideas suck” meme (otherwise known as the “Gary Kurtz Conjecture”, under the notion that it was Gary Kurtz’s steady hand that kept Lucas from doing stupid things that ruined the only two Star Wars movies that anybody likes, or so the story goes), but this scene unfortunately provides some ammunition for that camp. It’s not quite as bad as the Single Worst Scene In Star Wars History, but…well, it’s right up there. I hate hate hate the way this scene ended up.

So, let’s fix it. Here’s what should have happened here:

PADME: Annie, I want to have our baby back home on Naboo. We could go to the lake country where no one would know . . . where we would be safe. I could go early-and fix up the baby’s room. I know the perfect spot, right by the gardens.

ANAKIN: You are so beautiful….

PADME: It’s only because I’m so in love . . .

ANAKIN: No, it’s because I’m so in love with you.

PADME: So love has blinded you?

ANAKIN: No! I mean…uh….

He sees that she is grinning at him.

ANAKIN: You got me again.

PADME: Only because you make it so easy.

ANAKIN: You know that I’m not good at talking about my feelings.

PADME: You’re not so bad at it, when you stop trying to talk like a poet. There aren’t many famous Jedi poets, are there?

ANAKIN: (laughs) No. I tried reading some Jedi poetry, once…hundreds of lines about the Force. An entire book that sounded like Master Yoda…I didn’t understand any of it.

He comes to her side.

PADME: What are we going to do? When the war is over and the baby is born? You can’t be a Jedi and a father.

ANAKIN: I know. So I’ll be a father.

PADME looks at him.

PADME: You’ll give up being a Jedi?

ANAKIN: (smiling) For what I’d be getting in return? Yes.

They embrace.

Something like that…something which would show that Anakin is thinking ahead a bit, and that he has a happy ending right there for the taking, if he just doesn’t screw it up…which we know he’s going to. It would heighten the tragedy of his fall, and like I did in fixing AotC, I’d fix some bad dialogue by actually calling attention to it.

This scene is followed by a brief dream sequence, in which Anakin sees Padme giving birth, but it’s a horrible, painful experience in which she is shrieking in agony. That’s about all we see, before Anakin snaps awake and walks out to the living room. We don’t really see it in his dream, but he interprets it as meaning that Padme is doing to die in childbirth, and the script bears this out by indicating that in the dream, Padme actually dies. Cut to the living room, then:

ANAKIN walks down a flight of stairs onto a large veranda. The vast city planet of Coruscant, smoldering from the battle, is spread out before him. He is distraught. PADME descends the stairs and joins ANAKIN on the veranda. She takes his hand. He doesn’t look at her.

PADME: What’s bothering you?

ANAKIN: Nothing . . .

ANAKIN touches the japor snippet around PADME’S neck, that Anakin gave her when he was a small boy.

ANAKIN: (continuing) I remember when I gave this to you.

PADME: How long is it going to take for us to be honest with each other?

ANAKIN: It was a dream.

PADME: Bad?

ANAKIN: Like the ones I used to have about my mother just before she died.

PADME: And?

ANAKIN: It was about you.

They look at each other. A moment of concern passes between them.

PADME: Tell me.

ANAKIN: It was only a dream.

PADME gives him a long, worried look. ANAKIN takes a deep breath.

ANAKIN: (continuing) You die in childbirth . . .

PADME: And the baby?

ANAKIN: I don’t know.

PADME: It was only a dream.

ANAKIN takes PADME in his arms.

ANAKIN: . . . I won’t let this one become real, Padme.

They embrace, then part.

PADME: Anakin, this baby will change our lives. I doubt the Queen will continue to allow me to serve in the Senate, and if the Council discovers you are the father, you will be expelled from the Jedi Order.

ANAKIN: I know ….

PADME: Anakin, do you think Obi-Wan might be able to help us?

ANAKIN: I don’t need his help . . . Our baby is a blessing.

Obviously, I would have eliminated the bit about Padme worrying about Anakin’s future once the baby is born; I’ve relocated that to the earlier scene. It doesn’t seem to fit naturally in the scene where Anakin is dealing with a new dream about his wife’s death.

The shooting script has a bit of dialogue in there in which Anakin angrily asks if Padme has told Obi Wan anything; I’m glad this is left out, as I still think it’s too early for the jealousy angle to show up. I’ve always liked this, though – that Anakin isn’t just afraid of losing Padme, but that he’s having dreams and visions about it, and he’s already had a similar experience with his dreams of the future dolorous fate of someone he loved – his mother – coming true. He desperately wants to prevent this future, but even though he vows that he won’t let it happen, he is already suspecting that he doesn’t have the power he will need to do so.

And since Palpatine knows about Anakin’s actions against the Sandpeople in AotC, it’s reasonable to assume he knows about the dreams then, too. The wedge is already there, waiting to be driven in.

Oh, and that bit with Padme wearing the Japor snippet around her neck, the one Anakin gave her as a boy way back in TPM? That’s fantastic. It’s a great touch by Lucas, one which will pay off with a gorgeously sad visual late in the film.

Anakin doesn’t want to go to Obi Wan for help, but he does go to someone: he goes to Yoda. In the next scene, Anakin is talking to Yoda and gets some helpful advice:

INT. CORUSCANT-JEDI TEMPLE-YODAS QUARTERS-DAY

YODA and ANAKIN sit in Yoda ‘s room, deep in thought.

YODA: Premonitions . . . premonitions . . . Hmmmm . . . these visions you have . . .

ANAKIN: They are of pain, suffering, death . . .

YODA: Yourself you speak of, or someone you know?

ANAKIN: Someone . . .

YODA: . . . close to you?

ANAKIN: Yes.

YODA: Careful you must be when sensing the future, Anakin. The fear of loss is a path to the dark side.

ANAKIN: I won’t let these visions come true, Master Yoda.

YODA: Death is a natural part of life. Rejoice for those around you who transform into the Force. Mourn them, do not. Miss them, do not. Attachment leads to jealousy. The shadow of greed, that is.

ANAKIN: What must I do, Master Yoda?

YODA: Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose.

And by the look on Anakin’s face, we see that boy, is that ever not what he’s looking to hear.

This leads to one of the more interesting things about Jedi philosophy, as we hear it from Yoda throughout the Star Wars saga. Anakin is worried about his loved one, but Yoda tells him that the way to deal with his fears for her fate is to let her fate unfold and, basically, ignore it. This is virtually the same advice Yoda will give Luke Skywalker twenty years later, in TESB, when Luke has visions about Han and Leia suffering greatly:

LUKE: And sacrifice Han and Leia?

YODA: If you honor what they fight for…yes!

The advice goes about as well then as it does for Anakin, although Luke’s doesn’t end nearly as badly. The question is: why is this?

I think it’s because Luke is able to do something that Anakin tends to find extremely difficult: he is able to trust his friends, where Anakin only looks inward, to himself, to his own powers and his own abilities. And why is this? Well, I suspect it’s partly because Luke doesn’t grow up – even partially, as Anakin does – inside the sequestered and sheltered bubble that the Jedi put themselves in. The Prequel Trilogy depicts the Jedi as an almost ascetic group who are supposed to be denying their emotional lives in favor of devotion to the Force. Luke later demonstrates that fealty to the Force is not at all incompatible with having love and friendship in one’s life. I wonder if this isn’t part of why the Jedi fall – because they’ve turned so far inward that they genuinely believe that attachment is bad, friendship is bad, love is bad…because under certain circumstances, they can lead to the Dark Side.

From Yoda’s perspective, though, it’s Anakin’s love for Padme that leads him straight to the Dark Side, straight to joining the Sith, and straight to playing a role in the final fall of the Jedi. So when Luke comes along and wants to be trained and then has his own visions of horrible things happening to his loved ones and rushes off to save them, Yoda must clearly be seeing that as “And here we go again.” He thinks everything is about to be undone by the passions of the Skywalkers, again. Once again, I end up admiring the way Lucas has events from the Original Trilogy having echoes and parallels in the Prequel Trilogy.

And there we will stop. Next time, Anakin is drawn into the political world, and his desires for power start to get stroked as well as his fears for Padme. Tune in!

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part one

When last we left our intrepid Jedi – months and months ago – they they had just made their way through an immense space battle to land on General Grievous’s ship, through which they must now make their way to find the captive Chancellor Palpatine. This is pretty standard “infiltrate the enemy ship” stuff, but it’s all pretty fun to watch anyway, because Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen actually have pretty good chemistry together. In this whole sequence, I like how Christensen portrays Anakin as more self-assured, more confident, but less obviously-arrogant than he had been in Attack of the Clones. The effect goes a long way to highlight the tragedy of Anakin’s later fall from grace.

(Before I go on, I should note the very long stall in this series of posts, with an apology for those who actually enjoy reading this stuff. My reasons are the usual whiny “Nobody knows I’m doing this, but that Red Letter Media turd gets all kinds of love whenever he speaks!” stuff. So let’s just stipulate all that and move on, shall we? OK!)

R2-D2 is another part of the puzzle here, and he has his own problems. He is trying to lie low when a couple of battle droids enter the landing bay, but his efforts are stymied by the fact that Obi Wan keeps talking to him, very loudly, via the commlink. Thus R2 is distracted at several points where Obi Wan and Anakin would find having a droid plugged into the computer system fairly convenient.

All of this is pretty standard Star Wars derring-do as Obi Wan and Anakin make their way to the observation deck where they suspect Palpatine is being helped. I find it all a lot of fun to watch, and it could have been even longer, what with some deleted scenes from this sequence that are available on the DVD. In one scene, our two Jedi heroes wind up in the ship’s giant fuel pipes; in another, they are surrounded by droids and communicate with one another with baseball-coach type hand signals. These scenes are fun to watch, and I’m glad they’re on the DVD, but I don’t think they would have added much to the proceedings except for some fun action material. This entire sequence of the film takes an impressive bit of time, though, which is probably a good chunk of why it needed trimming.

Here again, by the way, we see R2 using his rockets that AOTC revealed, and yet another new gizmo: R2 has a supply of oil which he’s able to squirt on the battle droids and all over the ground before setting it on fire. As usual, a lot of Star Wars fans complained about this, but also as usual, I’m fine with it. For one thing, I rather like what is now something of a gag, which is that each time there’s a new Star Wars movie, we see something else that R2 can do. And what’s also nice is that really, none of these particular abilities is particularly outlandish given what an R2 unit essentially is: a robotic space mechanic. You know how, within reason and given the right set of attachments, you can do pretty much anything with a Dremel rotary tool or Multi-Max? Well, that’s what R2 is: a big, intelligent, Dremel tool. (Hmmmm…Dremel’s colors are blue and silver, not unlike a certain droid…hmmmm….)

The other thing that stands out in this entire sequence, once we land on the ship, is that there’s no music at all. We have music and all manner of sound effects when Obi Wan and Anakin are flying their ships through the space battle, but once we’re on General Grievous’s cruiser itself, there is no music at all: just ambient sounds of machines and distant explosions and wind in the elevator shafts and so on.

Our two Jedi reach the observation deck and find Palpatine there, restrained to a chair that looks a lot like the throne he will later use in Return of the Jedi. The room is bounded on all sides by giant windows that are overlooking the space battle. Now Dooku enters, and after a bit of preliminary boasting, the lightsaber battle begins:

OBI-WAN: (bows) Chancellor.

ANAKIN: Are you all right?

PALPATINE: (quietly) Count Dooku.

PALPATINE makes a small gesture with his hand. OBI-WAN and ANAKIN turn around. The elevator DOORS CAN BE HEARD OPENING AND CLOSING as COUNT DOOKU strides into the room. He is above the Jedi, standing on a balcony, with two SUPER BATTLE DROIDS. The Jedi turn to see him. He looks down on the Jedi. 

OBI-WAN: (quietly to Anakin) This time we will do it together.

ANAKIN: I was about to say that.

COUNT DOOKU jumps down to the main level. 

PALPATINE: Get help! You’re no match for him. He’s a Sith Lord.

OBI-WAN: Chancellor Palpatine, Sith Lords are our specialty.

OBI-WAN and ANAKIN throw off their cloaks and ignite their lightsabers. 

COUNT DOOKU: Your swords, please, Master Jedi. We don’t want to make a mess of things in front of the Chancellor.

OBI-WAN and ANAKIN move toward DOOKU.

OBI-WAN: You won’t get away this time, Dooku.

OBI-WAN and ANAKIN charge COUNT DOOKU. A great sword fight ensues.

COUNT DOOKU: I’ve been looking forward to this.

ANAKIN: My powers have doubled since the last time we met, Count.

COUNT DOOKU: Good. Twice the pride, double the fall. 

I really like this scene…all of it. Especially the little reference to their last confrontation with Dooku, at the end of AOTC, when Anakin decided to charge in by himself and got tossed aside for his trouble. They lost that duel because they didn’t work together; this time, Anakin is willing to wait. But he hasn’t grown up too much; he is still willing to boast about the growth of his powers.

What happens next is something of a pitched duel in which it still seems that Dooku is their better; he again manages to toss Anakin aside, and then he again incapacitates Obi Wan. But this time, Anakin is much stronger and holds his own…only merely that, until Dooku says something else:

COUNT DOOKU: (continuing) I sense great fear in you, Skywalker. You have hate, you have anger, but you don’t use them.

This goading of Anakin proves ill-advised for Dooku, as he immediately uses his hate and his anger. A minute later, he cuts off Dooku’s hands and takes his saber, now holding two blades at the neck of the helpless Count. He knows that a Jedi is probably supposed to be merciful in such a situation, but Palpatine, laughing, tells Anakin: “Kill him. Kill him now.”

This is a deeply chilling moment. Palpatine’s warmth – feigned though we know it was in the previous two films – disappears instantly as Palpatine says “Kill him.” And when Anakin hesitates, Palpatine allows his coldest, harshest tone to come forth: “Do it.”

And Anakin does. Right there, with Palpatine looking on and with Dooku’s eyes wide as he realizes he’s just been betrayed, Anakin beheads the helpless Count.

Now this dialogue:

PALPATINE: You did well, Anakin. He was too dangerous to be kept alive.

ANAKIN drops COUNT DOOKU’s lightsaber, moving to PALPATINE. 

ANAKIN: Yes, but he was an unarmed prisoner.

ANAKIN raises his hands toward PALPATINE, who is strapped in the Admiral’s Chair. The Chancellor’s restraints pop loose. 

ANAKIN: (continuing) I shouldn’t have done that, Chancellor. It’s not the Jedi way.

PALPATINE stands up, rubbing his wrists. 

PALPATINE: It is only natural. He cut off your arm, and you wanted revenge. It wasn’t the first time, Anakin. Remember what you told me about your mother and the Sand People. Now, we must leave before more security droids arrive. 

Something interesting happens here, something easy to miss. As noted, this scene takes place in an enormous observation room with giant windows on all sides, so that during the entire lightsaber duel, we can see the space battle raging in the sky beyond; and occasionally, we hear the sounds of ships as they fly by very close to the windows. At the moment that Palpatine refers to Anakin’s mother’s fate at the hands of the Sandpeople, there is a sound that could very well be a ship in space outside*, or it could be the cry of one of the Sandpeople. It’s a little aural reminder of what has gone before…and Palpatine is already starting to lay the groundwork for Anakin’s temptation to the Dark Side of the Force.

But what’s really interesting is that Palpatine allows Dooku to start that particular ball rolling, with his line about Anakin having hate, anger, but not using them. I always wonder…has Palpatine already decided to start working on Anakin’s conversion? Or has he just now realized the potential of what he has in Anakin?

In AOTC, Palpatine manipulated the Jedi Council to assign Obi Wan and Anakin to the protection of Padme following the assassination attempt. Was he doing that with the intent of pushing Anakin’s emotions to the fore, with temptation in mind, or was he simply working to sow seeds of dissent and distrust within the Jedi order? I might lean to the latter, except that we know that Palpatine has made good on his word to young Anakin from the end of TPM (“We will watch your career with great interest.”). It’s significant that Anakin has shared the dark secret of what happened to his mother – and what he did after that – with Palpatine.

As this scene ends, Anakin picks up the incapacitated Obi Wan and slings him over his shoulder, over Palpatine’s objections that they don’t have time to dally over him. “His fate will be our own,” says Anakin, and they start making their way back down to the landing bay.

Of course, this is a Star Wars film, so they don’t get there. They encounter some more trouble with elevators, this time when the cruiser they are on takes heavy fire and starts to aim straight down toward the planet, throwing off the perspective. Anakin and Palpatine enter an elevator shaft and start running down the walls, which are now the floors, since the ship is dropping straight down. But then the bridge crew gets things under control again, causing the ship to level back out again…which means that the walls of the elevator shaft are now walls again. Needless to say, they get out of this predicament, just as Obi Wan wakes back up; then they are back in a deserted corridor and trying to get back to the landing bay when they are imprisoned by something called “ray shields”. After Obi Wan protests “How did this happen? We’re smarter than this!”, Anakin suggests that they just patiently wait for R2D2 to come along and release them. Obi Wan is surprised that Anakin is suggesting patience, but the plan goes awry when R2 does, in fact, arrive…with a whole bunch of warrior droids with him. “Do you have a plan B?” Obi Wan asks…and that’s where I’ll stop for this time.

If it seems like I haven’t done much ‘fixing’ in a series called ‘Fixing the Prequels’, well, it’s generally because I think that the entire opening sequence of RotS is as masterfully done as anything in the entire Star Wars saga. There’s just nothing to fix here, but a lot to admire. Don’t worry, though; we’ll start fixing stuff next time out. In that installment we will deal with General Grievous, reunite two young lovers, and start to get hints of Darth Sidious’s plan to lower the shroud of the Dark Side over everything. Tune in! (And it won’t take the better part of a year to get there, either.)

* I know, I know, “Sound can’t travel in space”. For the purposes of Star Wars…actually, for most filmed SF in general…I just don’t care.

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