I had to check twice to see this wasn't an article from the Onion. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/star-wars-episode-iii-greatest-395637
Good for her. I've always thought ROTS was an incredible piece of art. Nice to see theres someone out there that agrees!
ROTS is an incredible work of art. If you don't have it, I recommend The Art of Revenge of the Sith. Seeing the worlds that Erik Tiemens and Ryan Church came up with shows why it's such an incredible work of art. I couldn't recommend it enough!
He's not saying the whole movie is the great work, just the finale. I sense a hyperbole here. I wouldn't call it the great work but I'm always moved by it. It's very powerful in terms of the entire saga.
Paglia is a longtime admirer of the classical arctypes Star Wars reintroduced. But even this was surprising. But hey, she lays out her case.
Incredible piece of art, yes. Greatest art of our time? Hell no. I'm not even going to talk about special effects which are apparently the best thing about RotS.
"It's because the art world has flat-lined and become an echo chamber of received opinion and toxic over-praise."
Honestly, the film packs quite the emotional impact, but it's only complete when the other films are taken into account; such as the innocence lost from the Phantom Menace and the legacy that amounted in the Trilogy. It's kinda strange that she singled out one movie; I personally believe that Star Wars works best as a Saga. But if I was to pick the most emotional and thought-provoking, I may have to choose ROTS.
She's just trying to be a provocateur. Word has gotten out that there are strong feelings about the PT. She's stirring the pot.
ROTS is a masterpiece, to be sure. Is it the greatest work of our time, though? Sure, when I'm in the mood for it. I would be quicker to put the whole saga on that pedestal, though. The Star Wars series is, to my mind, definitely the greatest work of our time - as far as movies go, not necessarily art in general. "I see you becoming the greatest of all the movies, Star Wars" /LM
In an interview I saw where she defends her stance...sort of...she catches herself about to undermine her own method of evaluation. As others have pointed out, she's really just focusing on the final duel. From what I've heard (have not yet read), she sees this sequence as the thing to praise. So she pulls it out of the rest of the 6 hours and latches onto it, in a sense. But when she tries to undermine those she knows will take issue with her stance, she says, well, I'm sure they'll just pull one element out and criticize it like Jar Jar...but then she cuts herself and goes on, probably realizing this "pulling out" is EXACTLY what she herself has done. I could see someone defending this segment the way she does, perhaps, but not the whole film let alone the entire PT. But perhaps in her book she does?
There was a lot to be gained from that part of the movie, but I agree that it's only fair to take the whole movie into account as a whole. While it does have flaws, it can definately be looked past in that respect. But as an art enthusiast, I'm surprised she hasn't looked in the symbolism throughout the entire film. One thing the prequel trilogy does have to its advantage is that Lucas could look at how things work into the grand scheme of the saga and beyond.
