Does anyone else actually *like* the hairbrush scene?

Heh - I can believe the love because Portman is lovely.

But, seriously - I think this scene is supposed to be awkward and uncomfortable too.
As much as it is showing that the couple are in love, it is highlighting that there is an unsettling undercurrent to Ani's affections.
Just as in AOTC, an uneasy moment is shrugged off and made light of.
The harsh truth of Anakin's words is glossed over, just as his political beliefs are played down as a joke on Naboo:

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!"

They laugh.

Neither of them wan't to accept how true this is - love has blinded Anakin, and the consequences are dire.
If there is an unsettling edge to this scene, if the chemistry is not quite right, IMO it is intentional.

Anakin's love is blinding him - it is leading him to a dark place.
Padmé's love is blinding her - she refuses to see where Anakin is heading.

 

Striaght answer No! I dont like the hairbrush sceen. Best way to improve it is to cut it after Anikin says "You are so beutifal" Then it works fine.

 

But, seriously - I think this scene is supposed to be awkward and uncomfortable too.
i have to disagree with you there, simply because that i don't feel that it is awkward or uncomfortable

in aotc i tend to agree, even though i don't feel that it worked so well...

 

I loved that scene. Mainly because I am a big fan of the A/P relationship. I didn't have any problems with it.

 

I did not like some anakin/padme scenes in AOTC.

I absolutely loved them in ROTS.

The hairbrush scene was, to me, genius. It took balls after the AOTC scorn to have that kind of exchange. It is short, simple, it doesn't linger or lolligag. And there is subtext all over it.

Consider the last time we were on this balcony. Anakin was basically telling obi-wan that he wished more than anything in the world he could have Padme. He even said he would much rather dream about her, than the bad dreams about his mother. Of course, he is now about to have the same dream about Padme.

Now here he is, in the same spot he was three years ago, and he has her. She loves him the way he wished. She looks as gorgeous as she ever has. She is carrying his child. His dream has come true, and you can really feel it.

I think Hayden's way of looking upon her is not only fantastically understated acting, but it will linger in my mind when I picture Anakin under the vader suit in the OT. This scene says everything about Anakin to me. He has that boyishness, that earnestness, that sweetness, but he is never quite content because just when he gets what he wants, he fears losing it. Here he has the woman he pined after, the woman that it seemed he had no chance with all those years, and she is just as great if not moreso than he imagined.

And yet, this only makes him that much more fearful of ever losing her. He can't enjoy the moment fully, and stands back to regard her with the eyes of an adoring but scared boy.

The dialogue is pretty ballsy, I mean saying "No no, it's because I am so in love with you!" is quite cheesy, and yet all of you guys have said worse, especially in those first serious relationships where everything is so dramatic. We all make little baby voices and do all kinds of wimpy stuff around women, because there is a comfort in being vulnerable and honest and having someone appreciate it rather than deride it.

Showing Anakin like that, showing that he is trying to express himself, and showing that Padme knows it is clumsy but heartfelt, is just perfectly handled to me.

This is exactly where I think the dialogue coach they added for ROTS really helped. What guys like that do is take whatever dialogue is there and try to contextualize it for the actors, try to look for subtext, for ways to relate the scene to real life, etc. I think it resulted in some of the most layered acting in the saga. Unlike really ANY of the other movies, I think Hayden and Ewan and Natalie are all doing things which are connected to a deep subtext and a common thread, rather than ebing thrown in front of green screens and winging it. There is a lot more classical acting interplay in this movie that feels quite natural and manages to say more than even George could have intended. That's really what acting is SUPPOSED to bring to a movie, and after five movies with very little of that, I was pretty surprised to see it incorporated into ROTS so deftly.

 

I did not like some anakin/padme scenes in AOTC.

I absolutely loved them in ROTS.
couldn't agree more with you on this.

 

The dialogue is pretty ballsy, I mean saying "No no, it's because I am so in love with you!" is quite cheesy, and yet all of you guys have said worse, especially in those first serious relationships where everything is so dramatic. We all make little baby voices and do all kinds of wimpy stuff around women, even though we want to pretend we just order them to clean up and fetch a beer. Showing Anakin like that, showing that he is trying to express himself, and showing that Padme knows it is clumsy but heartfelt, is just perfectly handled to me.


This is what I've been saying about the love story for quite sometime. People ARE cheesy, especially in their first relationship. Neither Padme nor Anakin had really had a serious relationship, then they are thrust together by a series of dire events, and they stick together as a result. That first love is really a killer though, it makes people do strange things and say even worse things. The fact that Anakin comes off as kinda creepy in AOTC is very consistent with how some High School age boys deal with girls. I think it all makes sense.

 

Yeah, I mean most of my early relationships ended with restraining orders. Wait. No. Never mind. Really need to get this 'Delete' key fixed.

 

Ok, this is what doesn't jive for me about the love scenes in
ROTS; in AOTC we see a more haunted by love/passionate Ani.
I assumed that he'd be delivering more passionate, emotional
lines to Padme in ROTS b/c let's face it, he's an emotionally
over-the-top character in so many other ways.
He seems like he'd be beyond the cheesy high school boy stuff
b/c he doesn't sound like that in AOTC.
He should have walked up to her, took her in his arms and said
something very loving and deep or even if he just kissed
her passtionately..anything but the cheese. ew.

 

He's not beyond this stuff though. He's still in his first "ewww" relationship. And from what we can tell, they have a distance relationship, which that have to keep secret, which only adds to the hyperbolic nature of their statements of love and affection.

 

IMO he should be beyond it.
He was not like that in AOTC.
They are married and obviously consumated that union so
you'd think the lil boy cheesey stuff would seem out of place [which
to me it does].

 

Let's be honest. When people are "courting" they can sound silly and cheezy. But when they're married, they can easily sound equally as so. Love makes some people loopy, and clearly Anakin fits that description.

 

I'm married and if my husband said that I'd laugh myself silly
b/c it would sound so funny. That would make you swoon if you
were in high school, maybe.
Ani is loopy tho, in more ways than one, but that line just
seemed awkward like it had more place in the beginning of their
relationship than after they've been married and together awhile.

 

Notice the word SHOULD. I agree with you, but Anakin never grows up.

 

Who says that they've been talking cheese for three years? As someone mentioned earlier, they haven't seen eachother for a long time. Also, they're expecting a baby.

I just can't see the problem with this scene(and please don't respond to just that sentence, because you'll be taking it out of context). I mean, what does it matter that there's a cheesy love scene in the middle of a dark action movie? It needs to be there in order for us to understand the extent of their love for eachother.
If you cringe while watching it, well, then I guess this movie isn't for you. You wanted a movie full of Anakin turning to the dark side, but that's not what you're going to get, because you need to understand what's happening to him. Love is the foundation for it. Did you honestly believe that you were going to get away from this?
The cheese needs to be there!



Cheese - it's necessary
/LM

 

Would folks like the scene more if Anakin were the one in a lightblue nightgown brushing his hair while Padme leaned against the wall eyeing him up?

 

Thank you so much for that visual Sapes. I come to check out this forum after such a long time and this is what I get.

 

They can keep the same dialogue. The only thing that would change is position of the characters, action, and costume. Very slight changes, wouldn't you agree?

 

Anakin needs to be in his nightclothes. He's been gone a while.

 

Actually, it makes sense that he's still dressed. If someone comes knocking on her door, rather than hide, he can pretend to be visiting his friend. Especially since they're, you know, hiding their marriage!

 

I'm sorry, but I have an entirely different take on this scene. It really sounds like they're being intentional cheesy. Like they're teasing each other. You can see the smirks on their faces as they go back and forth here.

"I love you more" "No I love you more" "How could you possibly love me more when I so clearly love you more"

It's silly, and it's funny on two levels. On the one hand it's shows a couple who are very comfortable together and on the other, it's Lucas thumbing his nose at the AotC critics by purposefully getting even more cheesy than we ever thought possible.

I love it.

 

So you think they had relations, then he went and put all of his gear back on? Just in case someone knocked on the door? Wouldn't it be kind of obvious at that point anyway, considering she's in her nightgown?

My point is, he was ready to go at it by the column, he'd been away five months. We see that, then when they get home...they go stand on the balcony. If he were in night clothes it would just look more relaxed and natural.

 

And I'm sure your desire to see Anakin in his skivvies is all about serving the story.

 

ha ha, maybe he couldn't be bothered since she was pregnant...he kind of is wearing night clothes.

 

He's wearing Robes for crying out loud! You've seen how easily the Jedi can slip out of those throughout the PT.