Style of Prequel Trilogy - Familiar

While watching a movie called, "House of the Flying Daggers", I was struck by how much it not only reminded me of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", but of the STAR WARS Prequel Trilogy, as well. Especially "ATTACK OF THE CLONES" and "REVENGE OF THE SITH".

In other words, the Prequel Trilogy reminded me of the Chinese form of storytelling called Wuxia:


The WUXIA genre is confined and peculiar to Chinese culture, because it is a unique blend of the martial arts philosophy of "xia" ("chivalry", "a chivalrous man or woman") developed down the centuries, as well as the country's long history in wushu. Samurai bushido traditions share some aspects with Chinese martial xia philosophy, but there is nothing exactly equivalent to the Chinese concept of xia within even East Asian cultures like Japan and Korea. Although the xia or "chivalry" concept is often translated as "knights", "chivalrous warriors" or "knights-errant", most xia aspects are so rooted in socio- and cultural milieu of ancient China that it is impossible to find an exact translation in the Western world.

I doubt that it was Lucas' intent to create his own version of a Wuxia saga, but his last three . . . or should I say last two movies surely reminded me of them.

 

Interesting, and also ironic, as Lucas himself claims to have based Star Wars on the work of Akira Kurasawa, particularly Hidden Fortress and Kurasawa liked to base his Japanese Samauri movies on Western literature and culture, particularly the work of William Shakespeare. Funny how circular these theories become!