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Post by Nalkarj on Dec 6, 2018 20:46:45 GMT
Well, the library still doesn’t have Solo in–it’s been overdue for a few days now–but I’ll see it one day.
Anyway. At YouTube, one of the videos that popped up for me was this one below, comparing Kurosawa’s The Hidden Fortress and Star Wars. I’m a Kurosawa fan, and it was fun to see the similarities juxtaposed right there. (It’s also funny, as always, to note how many people like Laurel and Hardy–Tahei and Matashichi, on whom R2D2 and C3PO were based, were even closer to the Boys, Kamatari Fujiwara’s Matashichi even looking a bit like Stan.)
One of the shots was of when Darth Vader kills Obi-Wan, at 2:04 here. And I’m wondering, after seeing it again–does Obi-Wan want to be killed there? I think so, thus the smile and raising the lightsaber up. It’s really a wonderful moment on Guinness’s part (just saying that underrates the always-amazing Alec Guinness): he sells it completely, in a movie he didn’t particularly like doing and didn’t like afterwards.
Someone on YouTube wrote: And the funny thing is, it’s done well-enough that I can see that being true. In a funny way, yeah, he was still teaching him; it’s as if he met up with him for the first time in years for another lesson.
I think that was one element I appreciated so much in these movies, that in spite (or because) of their fun, they actually have character and emotion and intelligence. One more silly question, though: what happens to Obi-Wan’s body after Vader kills him?
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Post by Waxer-n-boil on Dec 8, 2018 3:35:03 GMT
Well, the library still doesn’t have Solo in–it’s been overdue for a few days now–but I’ll see it one day. Anyway. At YouTube, one of the videos that popped up for me was this one below, comparing Kurosawa’s The Hidden Fortress and Star Wars. I’m a Kurosawa fan, and it was fun to see the similarities juxtaposed right there. (It’s also funny, as always, to note how many people like Laurel and Hardy–Tahei and Matashichi, on whom R2D2 and C3PO were based, were even closer to the Boys, Kamatari Fujiwara’s Matashichi even looking a bit like Stan.) One of the shots was of when Darth Vader kills Obi-Wan, at 2:04 here. And I’m wondering, after seeing it again–does Obi-Wan want to be killed there? I think so, thus the smile and raising the lightsaber up. It’s really a wonderful moment on Guinness’s part (just saying that underrates the always-amazing Alec Guinness): Yes, I agree. ObiWan surrendered himself and offered no further defense in combat once he saw that Luke and his companions had a clear shot of escaping on the Millennium Falcon. An interesting side note. Originally this scene wasn't written to happen. ObiWan was to somehow escape with the rest of them and remain in the background on Yavin 4. He was supposed to continue to train Luke in the Force as everyone else was preparing for the attack on the Death Star. But during filming Lucas started to get a strong feeling that all of those scenes would only slow down the plot and pacing. So he changed it to this scene we're currently discussing. Very true. His acting talent shined through even though it was not a project that he was particularly proud of being a part of. An astute observation. Lucas likes to repeat themes. He was quoted as saying "it's like poetry". (Which is different than the copy-and-paste rehash found in TFA IMO, but I digress). The point I'm making is, that theme you hi-lighted here was echoed in SW episode 2 (AOTC). The scene near the end where Yoda confronts his former pupil Count Dooku in battle. When Yoda comments on Dooku turning to the Darkside, Dooku says "I've become more powerful than any Jedi.", to which Yoda responds "Still have much to learn, do you." Agreed. I can't swear that this is the official canon on what happened, but... I strongly feel that ObiWan's body disintegrated or vanished or transferred - so that he became one with the Force, and transformed into a Force ghost in that moment. Even Vader seems puzzled by the complete lack of any physical remains. He steps on ObiWan's cloak several times. And a similar process seems to happen in SW episode 6 (ROTJ) when Yoda dies. His body completely vanishes.
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Post by Nalkarj on Feb 19, 2019 5:06:46 GMT
The original’s on again, and I’m watching again, at least in part—well, it’s just a lot of fun. Something I wanted to bring up is how likeable all the heroes are. I mentioned this early on (though I had qualms about the Droids that first time), but, God, the movie’s just so good-natured, and so are its characters. I brought up the commonly-cited Kurosawa similarities above, and as everyone says that’s true, but it’s Kurosawa in his lighter mood. And the picture is about as nice, made by and for nice people, as the Errol Flynn adventure pictures to which it’s also paying homage. (Compare it to Watchmen, a movie I recently saw, which seems made by and for violent brutes.) Also interesting (this is a point Roger Ebert brings up) are the Wizard of Oz similarities: C3PO as the Tin Man and Chewie as the Cowardly Lion, for example (Ben Kenobi as the Scarecrow, too, to some degree). But the characters are good and nice enough that I actually wanted to write about them, tell more of their stories, soon after seeing the movie (and I did, at least in summary form, for a made-up “Halloween Special” that I enjoyed writing). I can understand now why so many people love this (while, though I enjoy the TV show, I’m still somewhat confused that Star Trek caught on). I’m very happy that I got over my anti-sci-fi prejudice for this. (I only wish Alec Guinness were in it more!) Forgive the random musings. Waxer-n-boil, my apologies for not thanking you before, but—thanks! I agree with nearly everything you wrote, and thanks for filling me in on the background and for the details about Obi-Wan’s body disappearing… In retrospect, now, I’m not disappointed by the lack of explanation—it seems to suggest a larger world of which we’re only seeing a part (which is true, of course), just as Obi-Wan’s decision to let himself be killed suggests a backstory that is touched on here but that the prequels later give us in full.
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Post by Nalkarj on Feb 19, 2019 5:22:16 GMT
I somehow think that despite having seen all of these now, I still don’t understand the politics. So Leia’s being the person who gives them the medals at the end is only because she’s a Rebel leader, not because she’s a princess, right? Because the Republic was, well, a republic? But a republic containing mini-monarchies (which is why Padmé was also a princess)? I know I’ve been harping on this since Day 1, but it’s been confusing me since then.
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