AotC depressed me

First off let me start by saying I loved the whole fo the PT. From the lighthearted innocence of TPM to the progressively darker AotC to the firey passion of RotS I was entraced throughout it all.

The funny thing is though that if you were to ask me which film I walked away sadder from: AotC or RotS I'd say AotC.

RotS had the death of the all the Jedi, the fall of the Republic, the death of Padme and Anakin, the rise of Darth Vader and the dissolution of the Skywalker family. It was beyond tragic. It was so very sad.

But the end had that shimmer of hope. We saw Luke go to live with his uncle knowing he would bring justice back to the galaxy and redeem his father. We saw Leia taken in ny the Organa's knowing she would be a leader of the Rebellion and carry on the torch of the Republic.

The end of RotS gave us the birth of heroes. Champions! As sad as the preceeding two hours were the end was hopeful.

AotC showed the Republic striking back against the Confederacy. It showed Anakin marrying his lady love. They stood at a lake happier than they ever would be again looking at the sunset and thinking of the future.

That in many ways seems like a happier ending than RotS but it isn't. Even in 2002 before we knew the particulars of RotS we knew in general what would come. The fall of the Republic and Anakin. The kids being divided. The purge of the Jedi. We knew that despite AotC's ending taht all would not be happy.

I saw those two beautiful kids dreaming of a golden age that would never come for them. That it would NEVER be happier for them than it was a that moment and my heart broke.

When the horrors of RotS unfolded and they lost all they dreamed for I hurt for them and I was sad. But Luke and Leia were a new hope for a bright future and having grown up on their adventures I felt happy knowing they would make it all right.

But I never stopped mourning what Anakin and Padme could have had. The end of AoC was a crossroads. The beginning of the end. And that's why even though I think RotS is a far better movie it ends on a far happier note than the outwardly happy AotC. What do you guys think?

 

I don't think that ROTS was a far better movie. I think that both AOTC and ROTS are equal in my eyes. Watching AOTC is like watching the beginning of the end . . . for everyone, aside from Palpatine. Very fascinating.

 

Attack of the Clones' ending is tragic, whereas Revenge of the Sith, despite being a tragedy, ends in a way I'd descibe as melancholic (its overwhelming sadness is alleviated with rays of hope). Both endings point a way forward, but based on our own foreknowledge, we know that Attack of the Clones is pointing towards tragedy - while Revenge of the Sith's is pointing towards triumph. I love the endings to both, and incidentally, both movies as a whole.

I'd like to discuss a single observation at this point:

Something that just struck me as I was going over my response to this: No single moment between Anakin and Padme is EVER truly happy. Everything they do or say is tinged with something darker. When Anakin levitates the fruit and sends it to Padme, he remarks that Obi Wan would be upset if he knew. When they're cavorting in a field, Anakin mentions dictatorship. When Padme finally declares her love for Anakin, she does it on what looks to be the eve of their execution. When Padme tells Anakin she's pregnant in Revenge of the Sith, she is fraught with worry and even Anakin hesitates an instant before responding. The only exclusively happy scene is the two of them fawning over each other on the balcony - but even this is immediately followed by Anakin's dream. Why should their marriage be any different? Before coming together in marriage, both of them knew it would potentially be their undoing: "It would destroy us" Anakin presciently remarks. When they finally commit themselves to each other, it's a moment of doom. We're aware of it and so are the characters! In fact, since this closing shot mirrors that of The Empire Strikes Back, it seems they MUST be despairing - as Luke and Leia stare across a vista and are evidently less than joyous. It's visual poetry. And, basing my response on the simple rules of rhyme and rhythm, the rules dictate that Anakin and Padme are no happier in their closing scene than their son and daughter are in theirs.

 

Well that's cool. I have my problems with AotC mostly stemming from the editing and the truncated love story but I still like it a lot. It's my least favorite of the saga but since I think they're all damn good that doesn't mean much.

That's a damn good point but.. The old romantic in me wants to believe otherwise. In all probablity you're right but let an old man enjoy his delusions.

 

At the end of AOTC there was still hope. Sure, they'd headed down a dark path, but had things gone different in ROTS, the situation could still have been salvaged and the prophecy fulfilled much earlier.

 

Good point Cryogenic I never saw that before oh and dont forget the fact that whenever they were in that cafe type place that when he commented, "Or be with the people that I love." That was admitting it to her and she said, "Are you allowed to love,I thought that was forbdden for a Jedi?" It was like she turned his love downward.

 

But come on. In RotS the thing you are dreading comes to pass. it is truly sad

 

I think you're into the movie just a tad too much.

You were mourning over what they could've had?

Chill out.

But, I totally disagree. The only time in any SW movie I ever felt sad at all [like I had an involuntary frown goin on] was when Obi Wan makes his speech at the end of ROTS. "I HATE YOU!" "You were my brother Anakin! I loved you!!"

What a great scene. I'd say that speech is the best moment in the entire saga, IMO.

 

For me the Prequel Trilogy is "The farest better movie", but don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that it is far better than the Original Trilogy, which has a very special meaning for me, and for almost everyone here...

I'm just saying that there is no better movie inside the Prequel Trilogy, since I see them as a whole picture...

One film connects with the other to form one big movie. The Prequel Trilogy took place in different time context, with other characters as well, not only those we are familiar with, and it addresses pretty well and nicely all those tragedies that gave birth to the darker times, as well as the Empire...

 

O man i agree! I cry(im a sap for that stuff) every time i see that part.

 

I think the music really determined the mood for AOTC's ending. I got the impression, from the music, : "There's romance and happiness for the moment, but there's no possible way this relationship can have a happy ending."

AOTC's music is one of the reason's it's my favourite of the 6.

 

AOTC is not my favorite out of the prequels but I agree that the Across the Stars music is definitely a powerful point in its favor. Notwithstanding some of the obvious problems in the film, I have to say that there is a distinct charm to the movie itself.

I agree that the AOTC has sadder undertones than it is usually credited with. As Cryogenic pointed out, the film presents the galaxy to have reached a time when love and passion are inextricably intertwined with death and sadness. When Padme confesses her love to Anakin before being led into the Geonosis arena, it is not because she has ceased to believe that their love would "destroy them". In fact, she points out that she has been "dying a little each day" since he came back into her life and she learned to love him. The only thing that has changed is her realization of their unstable reality and the encroaching sense of doom that surrounds them.

The last 5 minutes of the film are pure magic with Palpatine surveying his magnificent clone army with the faint echoes of the Imperial March playing and then a cut to the swelling measures of Across the Stars as Anakin and Padme are wed in that lush, gorgeous Naboo landscape. When I first saw the film I was compelled by those last images; there is a real somberness and solemnity to that wedding. As Padme raises her eyes to Anakins, it is as if they are looking clear-eyed into the future and seeing the tragedy that awaits there... but choosing to go forward into it anyway. I felt that that, on some level, they sensed that they would have sadness and essentially no future but also, that it ceased to matter to them.

Some people have argued that it doesn't make sense for Padme to suddenly marry Anakin after so much resistance but I think its perfectly understandable. Something greater than themselves are moving them now --the war, the crumbling Republic, the hand of destiny-- and in some ways, it matters little whether their love will destroy them.. as Padme says, "their lives are about to be destroyed anyway" They should have their short time in the sun.

I have to say, I do tear up at the Geonosis and Wedding scenes..

 

Good point I guess. I just never really liked the prequels exept RotS. They are a bit to happy or just not Star Wars enough. However I do agree that the music is a huge addition to AotC. As it is for any Star Wars film. Imagine if they had used like techno or funk for the music. Or like spooky alien music. I'm sure George would be another wannabe director and have a cheap sci-fi movie that bombed the theators creating a chain reaction that results in us watchin men in rubber costumes as the best special effects. So thank you John Williams!

 

AOTC is not a better movie than ROTS, ROTS was far more emotional than AOTC. AOTC had a good investigative story at the begining and middle of the movie, but it fell apart in the end.