BTS Leia and torture in ANH

Apropos of nothing, here are some thoughts about Leia's torture scenes in ANH that I had earlier today:

In the third-draft script of the film, in the scene where Vader visits Leia with the torture robot, Lucas actually wrote that Leia's screams are audible after the door slams down in the exterior shot of the cell. That detail disappeared in the later revisions; maybe it was too macabre.

The same script later describes her as "bloody and mutilated" when Luke and Han enter her cell, and she's unconscious, suspended upside-down in the air by some sort of invisible electronic restraint. She doesn't seem to be too seriously harmed, though, as she wakes up a couple scenes later and starts taking charge of the rescue as in the final film.

Lucas had a tendency to reuse language from earlier draft scripts even when it no longer made sense. The "bloody and mutilated" descriptor was originally applied in the second draft to Deak Starkiller, Luke's brother, who was so gravely injured that his life was in serious danger, and he remained unconscious for the rest of the film.

Still, Leia being unconscious in her cell makes more sense than an idea that appeared in one outline. Namely, Leia refuses to go along when Luke and Han rescue her, as she suspects Vader is trying to implicate her in a bogus escape attempt. Han doesn't want to take the time to argue with her, so he punches her in the face and knocks her out, after which Chewbacca carries her.

That idea is actually recycled from the very first rough draft, where it's Annikin Starkiller who punches Princess Leia Aquilae. By the end of the script those two are fully in love. So, weirdly, that outline with Han beating Leia up may be the moment where Lucas started to consider them seriously as an item.

Also, given Lucas's love of Kurosawa movies and Westerns, I suspect that if Lucas had gone through with the bloodied-up Leia idea, he would've modeled the makeup on how Toshiro Mifune looks in Yojimbo after the gangsters capture him and beat him up, or Clint Eastwood in the equivalent scene in A Fistful of Dollars.

That is to say, Leia would have hair half pulled out of its buns, a bloody nose and an eye swollen shut. Not a pretty picture, but it would certainly make her all the more badass when she took charge of the rescue party. And given that the rest of the film (apart from the final scene) apparently takes place over just a few hours, she might have stayed that way for the rest of the movie--which may be why the idea was dropped.

 

Yeah, wasn't there something about her also having yellow eyes or something when she was suspended upside down? Ha ha, that sounded waaay too scary for a kids movie.

Oh, my god. That's just so *wrong* that it actually made me laugh out loud. Thank *god* they didn't go that route! Oh. My. God. That's just so terrible on so many levels. Wow, in a parallel universe, where this is the actual movie, I would totally have to change my avatar. And I'd probably still be bitching about how she didn't end up with Luke….

 

I didn't mention the glowing yellow eyes part, but that's definitely in the script, you're right.

Although, maybe it would actually be just her one good eye glowing, if we're going with the Yojimbo-homage theory about the probable makeup.

 

In the novelization - noises are heard, and the guards are creeped out enough to move a short distance away from the door so they can no longer hear them.

 

The radio drama delves much deeper into Leia's torture.



Warning: it's kind of disturbing for a first time listener.

 

i like these a lot. i don't think it would have worked in the film though.

 

This really isn't pleasant.

 

I'm told that the Rise & Fall of Darth Vader version is drawn from the radio drama:

The Rise & Fall of Darth Vader
Looming over the prisoner, Vader said "And now, Your Highness, we will discuss the location of your hidden Rebel Base."
There was an electric hum from behind Vader, then a spherical black interrogator droid hovered slowly into the cell. The droid's midsection was ringed by a repulsorlift system, and its exterior was festooned with devices that included an electroshock assembly, sonic torture device, chemical syringe, and lie determinator.
Leia's eyes went wide at the sight of the droid, and Vader could practically taste her terror. She said "Keep it away from me!"
Vader seized his prisoner, pinning her arms to her sides while the interrogator droid moved in closer. There was a brief hiss from the droid's injector arm, then Leia cried out and fell backward, slumping against the cell wall with a thud. "You can't ... she said. "You c —"
"Your Highness," Vader said in his most soothing tone. "Listen to my voice."
Leia's eyes rolled in their sockets, unable to focus on anything. She stammered, "V-voice ..."
"That's right. Listen ... I am your friend."
"Wha — friend?" Leia said, then winced. "No ..."
"Yes!" Vader insisted, watching her plunge deeper into a hypnotic state. "You trust me, you can confide in me. All your secrets are safe with me."
"Mmmm?" Leia licked her lips. "Safe?"
"That's right, safe. You are safe here. You're among friends. You can trust me. I am a member of the Rebel Alliance, like you."
A look of relief swept over Leia's face as she muttered "Rebel?"
"What did you do with the Death Star plans, Leia? Where are they? The Rebels need to know! Help us, Leia!"
"No," she moaned, closing her eyes. "Can't!"
"It's your duty," Vader urged. "Your duty to our Alliance. Your obligation to Alderaan and to your father. It's your duty to tell us where those tapes are!"
"Father?" Leia said, her eyes still shut.
"Yes," Vader said. "Your father commands you to tell us!"
"Father ... wouldn't."
Growing impatient, Vader used his own psychic powers to make Leia believe she was in excruciating pain, but after several minutes, he ended the interrogation. He sensed that her willpower was formidable but must have been augmented with certain physical and mental disciplines. She would not be broken easily.
Leaving the detention cell, he went to report to Grand Moff Tarkin in the Death Star control room. Vader said. "Her resistance to the mind probe is considerable. It will be some time before we can extract any information from her."

 

Well, that part was true enough.