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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

AOTC Chapter 32: Tusken Camp DISCUSSION

Discussion in 'Prequel Trilogy' started by Moleman1138, Jan 21, 2005.

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  1. DarthBoba

    DarthBoba Manager Emeritus star 9 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jun 29, 2000
    Good scene.

    I love Anakin's transformation for sad to seriously vengeful. It's so subtle; one minute he's looking down at his mom's body, the next, his eyes are filled with rage.

    Then he goes outside. Chop, chop. There's nothing graceful about those first two kills. He just goes outside and decapitates the guards.
     
  2. Smuggler-of-Mos-Espa

    Smuggler-of-Mos-Espa Jedi Youngling star 6

    Registered:
    Jan 23, 2002
    A very nice scene. The whole backdrop on the cliffs was indeed beautiful and very effective.
     
  3. Qui-Dawn

    Qui-Dawn Jedi Knight star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 8, 2000
    Something else of note....even as you may be flinching, even cringing back in shock and dread to see that expression of utter, blind rage and hatred in Anakin's eyes, as he glares up....his brow drawn, hooded, ferociously intense in an instant....as much as you see the anger and the burgeoning darkness, and flinch back from it in sheer dread....watch carefully, at this moment, because Anakin's chin is actually quivering, trembling like a child's - when that lost, scared, lonely little boy is about to burst into piteous tears....it's a very wrenchingly, heartbreakingly pitiful moment, a purely, rawly emotional reaction that just makes one cry for him even more....his very obvious and constant grief and torment....but then, to compare and contrast that aching vulnerability and grief with the look in his eyes....I suppose it only makes this singular moment all the more agonizing and poignantly wrenching.
    How he's already grieving so terribly....how it seems that he could so easily fall apart in tears and heartbreak, then and there - with the wet glimmer of tears in his eyes, you see that....with the boyish, lost, forlorn trembling of his chin, quivering of his lips as though he's about to start sobbing, you see that....and yet, still, his overwhelming anger and terrible hurt, and his desire to end that hurt and see someone, *anyone* else pay for it....just to end it, offering any release from it even in the shedding of blood....he is, I think, a true study of emotional extremes at that moment. Anger, blame, hatred, helpless blind fury and frustration....hopelessness, loss, loneliness, confusion and heartbreak....it all blends together until he can't take it anymore, until he can't bear feeling this kind of torture, and in his own grief and utter, yawning, awful despair - he has no choice.
    When the bright spot that had been his mother, in the universe, was cruelly ripped away from him in an instant....when her spark of life, love and warmth was forever lost to him - escaping in her last breath, gasped out as she died in his arms - how it must have seemed to him that only darkness and despair, hopelessness and the agony of a broken heart was left. And in that darkness and heart-twisting pain....he could only blindly react. *sniffles* Poor, *poor* distraught, stricken, overwhelmed Ani....no wonder that Yoda felt his pain, such terrible pain, across the bounds of endless space, blazing like a supernova, devastating, consuming, through the Force itself.
    Dawn.
     
  4. leelee

    leelee Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    Jan 4, 2003
    I couldn't have said it better myself
     
  5. Qui-Dawn

    Qui-Dawn Jedi Knight star 5

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    Jul 8, 2000
    Oh, pish now. :) You flatter me....you flatterer. See how I'm blushing? :D Seriously, though, 'twixt you, me and the proverbial fence-post, I think I'm just rather surprised that I didn't stop by these Chapter by Chapter threads sooner....oh well, at least I'm here *now*, right? ;)


    Dawn.
     
  6. Tatooine_Fireman

    Tatooine_Fireman Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    May 16, 2003
    Good scene. After seeing Tuskens in Star Wars films for so many times, we finally get to see how they live. The two fighting creatures, which were supposed to be on Geonosis, was a nice touch.

    I think Hayden acts very well in this scene, but I don't particularly like Shmi just rambling on and on before she dies.
    Anakin attacking the Tuskens was perfect, we don't need to see anymore, because the music, and the look on Anakin's face says it all.
    I love how the music fades out into a more quiet piece, with Vader's breathing in the background, and how that finally fades into the Imperial Theme.
    I was surprised to hear Qui-Gon again. I had no idea he would be in this movie. I never had a problem with his voice.
     
  7. leelee

    leelee Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    Jan 4, 2003
    [face_blush] now I'm blushing!
     
  8. Qui-Dawn

    Qui-Dawn Jedi Knight star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 8, 2000
    Aaaahhhhhh, what happened here? :) Please don't tell me I broke the topic! *hurriedly rummaging around for cardiac paddles* Clear!


    Dawn.
     
  9. WLDB

    WLDB Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Jan 11, 2004
    The slaughter is my personal favourite scene in AOTC. That is Darth Vaders debut in the saga.
     
  10. MatthewZ

    MatthewZ Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Sep 21, 2003
    Did anybody mention Anakin and Shmi and the Pieta?


    [image=http://www.christusrex.org/www1/citta/Bs-Pieta.jpg]


     
  11. Tyranus_the_Hutt

    Tyranus_the_Hutt Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 14, 2004
    Brilliant, MatthewZ! I didn't notice that. It is as if the image of the Pieta is inverted in the film - and it isn't too much of a stretch either, particularly considering the somewhat heavy-handed religious implications of the saga. Obviously, there is a Christ-figure motif concerning Anakin (the Chosen One, Immaculate Conception), with Shmi likely being representative of Mary, and Qui-Gon, the Jedi who discovered Anakin, as John the Baptist. In addition, it might be important to note that the manner in which Shmi is tied up in the Tusken Camp is certainly suggestive of the crucifixiion. Good stuff.
     
  12. MatthewZ

    MatthewZ Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Sep 21, 2003
    ^^^

    I saw somebody make the visual connection a ways back. I'd give them credit if I could remember who or where I saw it.
     
  13. Chaotic_Serenity

    Chaotic_Serenity Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Oct 10, 2004
    Hmmm...perhaps less relation to the Pieta itself, and more to the vulnerable, emotionally powerful expression such a dramatic pose reflects to an audience. It's the pinnacle of familial dependence. A mother, to a small child, is the mortal expression of God, the encompassing warmth and protection of the home personified. They are the ones that provide care and emotional support. It has long been held thought that such love and attention should be reciprocated when the child becomes an adult and the parental figure regresses to a more feeble, almost child-like state in aging. For Anakin, although his mother was able to fulfill her duty as a beloved caretaker, he has proved unavailing in his obligation to protect and cherish her as a son-turned-man. His passage to manhood, in this instance, this letting go of the past and final remnants of his childhood innocence, is marked not by the success of maturation and growth, but rather a failure to fulfill the basic social premise of filial amenability.

    This being said...Anakin finding his mother is probably one of my favorite and emotional scenes in the movie. It's very successful executed in terms of the expressiveness of the actors and progression of the scene. I think as much as Hayden gives life to Anakin's pain at this point, Pernilla August also deserves a moment's recognition for creating such an empathetic and loving character to begin with, one that the audience cared enough for that they can share in Anakin's consuming grief.
     
  14. Qui-Dawn

    Qui-Dawn Jedi Knight star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 8, 2000
    And she didn't have to work at it, to create such a character that we love and appreciate as much as Anakin did, and strongly empathize with....it simply happened, it was a very natural thing, because her innate goodness, pure loving heart and decency shone through....she was more than "just" a mother, she was a *mom* - looking at her, listening to her, there's just something familiar and homey about it that one responds to at once. And absolutely that's why, when she does breathe her last and just simply, finally, irrevocably expire like that in the arms of her *son*, who loves and needs her so....it's an even more profound tragedy that's very personal for all of us, I think....because we can well empathize and understand.

    Worse than if Anakin had finally found her, only to discover her dead....for him to be kneeling there, desperately holding on to her, terrified of losing her - brokenhearted, needful, frantic - pleading with her to stay with him because he can't imagine his life without her....only to *feel* the life escape her in one final, dreadful, wheezing gasp....feeling her spirit just - escape like that, in the blink of an eye, feeling her go so terribly limp in his arms....imagine what that does to a person - how much more devastating a blow it was, even more tragic, because of that.


    Dawn.
     
  15. Juke Skywalker

    Juke Skywalker Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Mar 27, 2004
    Although I think ILM didn't give us their best work
    in this scene (Especially since Anakin's Speeder bike
    ride looked so great), I still think the scene is
    quite powerful. The intereaction between Anakin
    and Shmi is a little clunky, but HC's quiet grief
    is really effective. Then, when Shmi dies and John
    Williams gives us the 'Psycho' strings, the scene
    really kicks in. HC's expression is pretty frightening.

    I remember being bothered that GL pulled back and
    didn't show the entire Tusken slaughter, but now I
    realize that it needed to be left more to the
    imagination. It also makes Anakin's later confession
    to Padme 'I killed them all... the women and the
    children too..' so much more powerful.
     
  16. lovelucas

    lovelucas Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 19, 2004
    juke - yep, agree that the implication of the slaughter was more powerful than seeing it and the confession scene to padme would lose some of it's punch if it merely relayed what we saw.....we find out when she does and it is momentarily shocking - for two reaons: the acts themselves, that anakin really wiped them all out-women and children included and here is the recognition the dark side journey has begun.
     
  17. Moleman1138

    Moleman1138 Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Aug 18, 2004
    Thank you for all your participation in CBC (Chapter by Chapter). AOTC Chapter 33: Out of Range DISCUSSION will be made available 10:00 PM EST. Although the discussion timeframe has passed, you may still discuss this chapter at your convienience. However, we will be moving on to the next chapter.

    -Moleman1138
     
  18. The_Red_Baron

    The_Red_Baron Jedi Youngling

    Registered:
    Jan 16, 2005
    Great homage to the film the Searchers with the Tusken camp. They even have the fighting dogs/Massiffs

    I agree. I love the movie "The Searchers", and I was pleased to see GL give a nod to it here. Especially the part where Anakin drops down the cliff & sneaks into the Tusken camp, which is exactly like the scene from that earlier movie. Also, Anakin's hatred of the Tuskens (They're like animals, so I slaughtered them like animals) is similar to the character Ethan Edwards' hatred of the Comanche. Both Anakin and Ethan Edwards are sort of anti-heroes.
     
  19. cypher9000

    cypher9000 Jedi Youngling star 2

    Registered:
    Nov 8, 2004
    I'm glad GL didn't show the entire Tusken slaughter here, as it would have only been for the benefit of fanboys.

    Not seeing the slaughter itself gives it more power, as now the burden is on you to imagine how terrible it was. Not showing the slaughter also gives the garage fixing things scene a lot more power. It's almost like something Tarantino would do.

    I have always wished that Lucas would do another Tarantino esque thing and in episode III show how the slaughter actually went down. Once Obi-Wan or the council finds out about the Tusken slaughter, then the fans could see it in its entirety for the first time. It would really fit the mood of episode III. But that's wishful thinking perhaps.
     
  20. Qui-Dawn

    Qui-Dawn Jedi Knight star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 8, 2000
    I also wonder if such a thing would be disturbingly too much for the benefit of the fanboys....like just for the venal satisfaction of it, for instance - and this is not the way that things happen in the course of the Saga, they just don't. :) It really is one of those things whose impact we feel even more strongly because we don't see the full horror of it....we get enough of the gist of it, certainly, from Anakin's visceral tangle of emotions....for starters, anyway....and that's a brutal hammer-blow of impact right there. From that alone, we can well ascertain everything we might need to know of the Tusken slaughter....and besides, your imagination can fill in the blanks only too vividly....more than you might ever want it to, I'd wager.... Still - to imagine what the reaction of someone like Obi-Wan would be, to the revelation of those horrors....talk about compounding the tragedy....


    Dawn.
     
  21. qui_gon_jinn_83

    qui_gon_jinn_83 Jedi Master star 1

    Registered:
    Sep 18, 2002
    Great posts in this thread!

    I remember watching this in the theatre, and the atmosphere was just...well... THICK!

    The audience went from cheering through the speederchase/Obi-wan vs Jango fight and all that, to being completely silent in this scene.
    I mean, you could literally feel what everyones feelings was... Just a kind of shock. I don't think anyone expected a scene this "grim" in the film.

    I think the scene builds up beautifully with the death of Shmi, and then Anakin losing it and killing the first three Tuskens.
    But the thing I REALLY like is the cut to Yoda meditating, and as Mace comes in and asks Yoda what's wrong... Yoda opens his eyes, and he just looks really sad.
    Not sad like when Luke left Dagobah in ESB, but just genuinely sad, like he was ready to cry.
    For some reason, that really got to me.

    On another note, I forced my mother to watch AOTC when it came out on DVD, and although she always claimed to "hate Sci-fi/Star Wars", this scene actually made her cry.
     
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