Vaderisms

Next one of my friends that says Hayden is a bad actor is getting smacked...and directed to this thread!

 

you can only be as good as the material you are given to work with. with this in mind i think hayden, above everyone else, did very well.

 

During the confession scene notice Anikin's eyes. They are so dark and shadowy...very similar to how Anikin's eyes looked at the end of ROTJ. Almost like the dark side was wearing on him.

 

I can't find the "Connections" thread, so this one will have to do.

I just realised this little Anakin-Vader-Luke connection:

Anakin starts down the road to becoming Darth Vader by decapitating someone.

Luke begins to understand the truth about Darth Vader after decapitating him (or a vision of him) in the cave on Dagobah.

-Otis

 

Now that's what I'm talkin' about Do I foresee a possible Oscar nomination for Hayden for his performance in Ep 3?

Not a chance in Tartarus, no matter how good a performance he gives. Just no shot whatsoever. If Olivier had done Star Wars, the Academy would complain that he was wooden and unemotional.

Anyway, all of these are great.

The "TELL US NOW" is my fave little moment.

The big moment is the confession scene. It's not merely the fact that he confesses what he did, but that Hayden manages to convey his duality perfectly. He's using Vader-ish thought processes... but, just like Vader, you can hear that he knows he was wrong, that he knows he's done something horrible. The emotional drive to justify what happened in what strikes me as essentially a psychotic break seems to me to be the essence of Vader. He can't accept blame, so he has to justify, but even he doesn't believe his justifications. He's just lost his mother, but the thing that is weighing most heavily on him is what he did afterward. It's the strange emotional world of Vader -- intense and puzzling, and very, very human.

The scene with Watto (other than the slight bullying) was very Jake-ish. Just reach out, take the thing, fix it, give it back... and he wasn't bitter toward Watto. He was impatient with the lack of information, but he seemed to be almost fond of the blue dude.

"TELL US NOW" was a great line, because the first "Tell us" was very much in the Jake Lloyd mode, while the second was James Earl Jones.

The "Vader-voice" seems to be his "I've practiced this" voice. The whole fire scene strikes me as something he'd been trying to figure out how to say the whole time they were eating, and had scripted out in his head before he opened his mouth (a fairly rare occurance for Anakin...)

Like a-p pointed out, the fully narrated duels are Anakin's trademark approach, and much of the dialogue comes in the form of warnings. "You should not have come back," etc.

The patented Skywalker whine was excellent. (My friends and I spent most of last weekend trying to find places in which we could use "It's not fair!" along with its great "But I was going to Tosche Station to pick up some power converters!" tone.)

Anyway, I think they've done an excellent job with this character, and I find Hayden's performance to be "most impressive."

 

All: Specific to whether it is Vader's shadow on the hut...

Do you think Lucas just thought it was a cool shot to have Padme and Anakin hug without really showing them? NO!

Think about the Episode 1 very first teaser poster - young Anakin's shadow cast into Vader's against the hut. Lucas is so clever it kills me.

It is absolutely Vader's shadow, and I thought it was fantastic (once I recognized it!!).

 

The stance Anakin takes after he has his nightmares about his mother. And the way he breathes in and out and says simply in a clipped manner, "your Presence is soothing." (i can't believe all the critics who complained about the "wooden acting" by hayden , hello.. hes the future vader he has to act like he could become vader *slaps the critics around a lil)

 

Hayden and Sebastian both have very bushy eyebrows...


Oh well!

Good thread though!

I caught on to the whole body language, and the black capes thing Hayden pulls off very well. He is NOT wooden!

 

My .02 on Anakin's shadow on Tattoine: His shadow looked SIMILAR to vader's helmet but not EXACTLY like it. The possible symbolism for this is that Anakin is not yet vader, but transitioning into him, thus the not quite vader shadow.

 

maybe the most obvious case of luke and leia both following in their father's footsteps:

"I've got a bad feeling about this."

Anakin says it in the coliseum when the monsters are introduced, and of course, luke and leia both say it in the OT. The other huge Luke-anakin similarity:

"I feel cold"

Anakin in TPM, luke in ESB on dagobah.

 

He fits this line very well:
But then this brought him to mind of the way he used to look-striking, and grand, with a wry tilt to his brow that hinted of invincibility and took in all of life with a wink. Yes, that was how he'd looked once.

 

That's a neat line TK414, where's it from? Come on, tell us. TELL US NOW. ;-)

 

AS far as I know from watching the movie twice. When he is confessing to Padme it is the emporers theme that is played, not the imperial march. I thought.

 

I think it is best portrayed when Anakin is in Palpatines office and Palpy and Anakin are walking towards the door.
First Palpy walks just like the Emperor (gee, I wonder why, for a different thread)
And Anakin is walking with his hands behind his back, just like VADER,
great shot

 

The line TK brought up is in the rotj novel, it does fit doesn't it

 

Hayden is truly amazing- think about it, what other actor has ever had to incorporate 3 different acting styles into one character? He pulls in the innocent, honest portrayl of Jake Lloyd, the wonderfully imposing (and complicated I may add) presence of David Prowse, and of course the voice and speech patterns of James Earl Jones. You've certainly never seen this attention to detail from any of the actors in the James Bond or Batman series. This goes to show you how sensitive Hayden is to portraying his character. That he is willing to lose his own self entirely to recreate the perfect character.

Hayden incorporated things from each actor into his portrayl of Anakin flawlessly, yet never ONCE do you feel that he is over acting, or creating a caricature of any of the 3 actors. His moves, and speech patterns are very deliberate, yet relaxed, you truly believe this is how young arrogant Anakin/Vader behaves. First time watching you barely notice all the things mentioned in this thread.

Unfortunately, as this thread illustrates, the SW films cannot be critiqued on a single viewing, you just don't get the whole picture of the film until you've watched them several times. This is mostly why I think it's a crime to even let anyone write a review w/o seeing the SW films twice.

Lucas focuses entirely on the little details because he goes for style- it's why he is the master. I do feel that the new trilogy so far feels more personal than the last because George is at the Directing helm. I just can't see some other director coming up w/ the shadow scene, and camera angles to make Hayden more imposing and menacing looking.

George is a lot like Walt Disney- appreciated for the fun he brings to film- but totally dismissed as an artist (everyone hated "Fantasia: when it came out, Walt was panned for it.) Instead of paint, George uses computers, Hollywood and critics simply don't understand the 2 are very similar, and when used properly and creatively true magic can be achieved.

 

I persoanlly think it's a bit of a stretch to say it's is SUPPOSED to look like Vader's helmet. A lot has been made of this shot, and now it seems that people are seeing Vader shadows everywhere!

Actually, when I watched AOTC with my brother even he said that Anakin's shadow against the homestead looked like Vader

 

Darthson got it right!

Return of the Jedi forever baby!!!!

Ok that's enough silliness!

 

Hayden "I won't fail you" or whatever
Vader in ESB "You've failed me for the last time Admiral!"

 

There is a picture of Anakin and Obiwan standing together with lightsabers right before they are about to fight Dooku. It is in the inside of the cover of the soundtrack. It has a caption of Anakin's line: Your going to pay for all the Jedi you killed today dooku. I cant help but think how much Hayden's face looks like Vader's mask in that picture.

Also, Jake Lloyd has his own little Vaderism in TPM. Someone on this forum a couple of days ago mentioned this. When Lloyd points at QQui Gon at the dinner table, he says "YOU could make him think it was yours and get him to let me pilot it for you. He looks so much like Vader in that, when he points at Admiral Peitt and says "Don't fail me again Admiral."

 

Lots of these are good.

You know, nothing Vader does in the OT frightens me half as badly as the look in his eyes during "the confession". Even my ever-so-macho brother was like "damn, that kid's scaring me".

Another Luke-ish Ani moment in TPM: "It wasn't *my* fault! Reeeeally!" Also rather Han-ish, yeah?

 

You guys underestimate Lucas. Of course that shadow was intentional.

 

Now see, all this thread needs is a little bump...

TVB.

 

Try saying your "Presence is soothing." in Vader's voice, it sounds nice.

It does not matter how good an actor Hayden is, in my opinion he was able to pull the perfect Anakin and mesh together all those styles because he is a fan and understands that Star Wars acting is a lot different than acting in general.

 

"Try saying your "Presence is soothing." in Vader's voice, it sounds nice."

Hey, you are right! And can anyone help me with this Vader shadow thing, I keep looking and I just can't see it, but I believe it is there!