Why do people hate that Fireplace scene so much?

"Really how is it going to work? How is Anakin going to explain this to the Council?"

Good question. And I think it depends on how much time elapses between AOTC and Episode III. If it's more than a year, I think its pretty safe to assume that the Council will have learned about it by the time the movie starts. Then again, maybe not. Maybe trying to keep this secret for so long really is part of what brings about Anakin's destruction.

 

The fireplace scene was great. Like the waterfall scene, it delicately balanced the tensions of formality and friendship, and progressed so that the formality is removed and replaced by either levity or core emotions.

The characters speak more formally since it was a more dignified age, and this has a lot to do with why people find the acting so "flat." If it was a Merchant-Ivory film, everyone would be up for an academy award for their excellent portrayal of starchy Victorian-era period acting. But people seem not able to comprehend that Star Wars isn't just an fantasy-action-adventure B-movie, despite it being sooooo obvious that Lucas is going for something more.

 

The only problem I had with it was that out of nowhere they're sitting facing each other on a couch in a dark firelit room with her dressed like that.

There didn't seem to be any purpose to them being there. Anakin was trying to keep his feelings in up to that point and Padme was uncomfortable by him. So I just didn't like that they were...there in that situation.

The only line I didn't like was 'I wish I could wish these feelings away.' or whatever.
Just because the vocab is redundant.



As for the dialouge...these are two people that have never been in love and are not experianced. It's honest. Anakin just puts it all out there in the open and is honest. The lines he gives are real. 'I can't breathe' etc.

I think a lot of people that hate those scenes have never really been in love like that.

Han and Leia had an entertaining romance in ESB, but Padme and Anakin's seems more true to life. It's awkward and as cheesy as young love really is.

 

I don't think that the emotion scenes and themes were given a lot of breathing room throughout AOTC. they got more than in TPM. personally i would have liked more exposition into the wedding scene - it was understandable and natural, yet i felt a bit rushed into it. of course i'm a female unit.

hope we don't have to wait 2.5 years for the DVD with the cut scenes.

 

I never liked the Han and Leia romance. Very cliche and just plain forced. We didn't get to see enough of Anakin and Padme. Leaving in a few scenes with them would have helped, because it did feel very rushed.

 

I guess the reason why the fireplace scene drew so much criticism is that some people do not have enough life experience to really understand where Anakin is coming from.

I do admit that some of Natalie's "acting" seems a bit unnatural and too rehearsed. I have to admit that Anakin's puppy-love dialogues is indeed over the top, but considering his moodiness, intensity, and circumstances, the dialogues has its place in the movie. In my opinion, Hayden did hit all the right buttons with Natalie, especially during the fireplace scene.

So to appreciate it, one must understand who is and where Anakin Skywalker comes from. His so-called corny dialogues comes from his young age, inexperience, and an extremely intense personality. The guy is definitely not very shy about his emotions.

I felt sorry for Anakin to feel so much pain, attachment and longing for a girl he missed for 10 years, and once he confessed his love for her, he just blew up and spilled his guts out in frustration - hence his over the top dialogues. I cringed when I heard them, but I then thought Anakin has every right to say those words. He is so pent-up with his passion for Padme. Furthermore, Anakin is too vulnerable to his own intense moodiness, and that lends some credibility to our belief that he will fail in his quest to become a good Jedi and turns into Darth Vader.

There are men who buys their girlfriends flowers and chocolates every week and leaves romantic notes under her pillow. Then there are men who are too laid-back or reserved about the affairs of love, and they tend to avoid going over the top with their loved ones. Let's look at love poems as an example of this. There are those who go "Wow, that's a beautiful poem" and then feeling like Romeo, rush out to recite it to their girlfriends. Then there are those who sees poems and then thinks "Gee, who actually buys into this silly mushy stuff!" and laughes about it. So it is also a matter of personality.

So considering all this, the only criticism I have about the scene is that Natalie needs to "play along" with Hayden a bit more. In her defense, Padme does exhibit a somewhat cold aura and it works in her favour. Other than that, to me its just another enjoyable Star Wars outing.

 

"hope we don't have to wait 2.5 years for the DVD with the cut scenes."

Nope, only six months.

 

So some of you admit, even if you liked the scene, that the acting and dialogue wass not exactly the greatest thing right?

Then why are you calling the critics "Anti-Christs" just for expressing their personal opinions on the acting and the dialogue, no less. Seems like they pinned it down if you ask me.

George had the idea right (to show how Anakin is inexperienced) and to show that with commitment and obligations comes painful sacrifices sometimes, but in dramatic terms, George could've reeeeeeally benefited from some outside help. Either with the direction or the words, someone to infuse more life to the words, so instead of yawning or laughing, people would appreciate the scene more. Hey, you can't blame people for laughing at this scene, it screams "amatuerish" to some.

And to intentionally make "clumsy dialogue" seems unlikely to me. George and Hales just can't write great romance dialogue. Covering a hole in the wall with pretty wallpaper doesn't hide the fact that there is still a hole in the wall.

I guess many disagree what's important in a movie. Some think average, awkward dialogue works for this scene. That's fine. I tend to disagree though. I think the dialogue should've strived to be better. Mediocre and cliched dialogue has no weight or pathos to it...it's as dry as a sqeezed turnip and empty. It becomes "filler dialogue" rather than an important scene. Why not go for something more moving and memorable, or even outrageous? Something.

If you disagree, fine. But I'd thought I'd put out what a lot of us are thinking and yearning for in a SW film. It may not be your thing, but still, please respect those who maybe wanted something more out of it.

 

I'd known her for about ten years.

But, it was Friday the 13th, in October, on a full moon, and she was engaged at the time, so the cards weren't exactly stacked in my favor.

 

I thought it was funny that she was supposedly trying to play hard to get and yet during that seen she seemed half naked.

 

Not a great scene, true. Anakin comes across as a stalker about to ravish Padme, while she looks like a harlet with her boobs pushed up and talks like a nun.
But worst scene in the saga? You people need to rewatch the other films more

 

Blah blah blah...

 

I think the scene works fine. The dialogue is a little too much, but the scene does what it needs to do. Anakin finally addresses it and she shuts him down. More importantly we finally see what Padme is thinking - she does feel something, but she wont give into it.

I think the reason people are having a problem with the love story is that the dialogue is so unconventional that they are taken out of the scene. The love story actually works - if you watch it carefully, watching Padme's looks at Anakin her reactions to him, you believe that she is feeling something. After the fire scene Anakin does back down, and I think what happens is that she is impressed by it. She seems almost touched by his need to find Shmi in the next scene.

Finally Padme gives in. The 'I've been dying a little bit each day line' is just too much though. If she just said, "I'm not afraid to die." then there was a pause and she looked into his eyes for as long a pause as right before their first kiss then she said 'I love you' it would be much better. That line just makes it way too overdramatic. Other than that I think the love story works, the actors make themselves a pair by the end of it. You believe it, if you watch it rather than sitting there thinking to yourself 'That line is too corny! Its not Star Wars'. When you watch a movie you should "Feel, dont think, use your instincts."

By the way - I like the dialogue that many hate. You know why? It's timeless. By timeless I don't mean that they are words that will be remembered for ever and ever by every person who has seen the movie. But what Im saying is that the dialogue isnt 'modern'. Too often movies that dont take place in this period of time feature events and dialogue that in ten years will be dated. I like that this dialogue is not dated. It may be corny now, it may have been fine forty years ago, it may be more corny twenty years from now, and it may be fine in another forty years - but when you watch those scenes you dont see a big '2002' stamped all over them.

 

Why do people hate that Fireplace scene so much?

The acting was so horrible that some of the people in the theater (where I first watched the film) started laughing.

The scene was an embarassment to the Star Wars franchise.

 

Why do people hate that Fireplace scene so much?

The acting was so horrible that some of the people in the theater (where I first watched the film) started laughing.

The scene was an embarassment to the Star Wars franchise.

 

I heard you the first time... LOL!!! J/k

 

What was so horrible about it?

That it made you uncomfortable? It was supposed to make you feel uncomfortable because both Anakin and Padme felt uncomfortable. That it was awkward? It was supposed to be awkward as neither Padme nor Anakin have enough experience to be anything but awkward. That it showed that Padme has breasts? Poor George. He sticks her in outfits that don't show her body and he gets lambasted. He sticks her in more feminine ones and he gets lambasted again.

Of course, I've never known a woman to dress more provocatively when she's around a man she's interested in, even if she's not willing to acknowledge the interest. [/sarcasm]

 

It was painful to watch (though I thought the frolicking in the grass scene was worse). Natalie is a great actress in other movies (The Professional) but I've personally found all her work in TPM and AOTC rather underwhelming.

There was all the potential in the world for the Anakin-Padme romance, and the dialogue just killed it. Absolutely killed it. Whereas in ESB, the snappy dialogue is what truly gave life to the Han-Leia romance.

 

Who's lambasting the outfit? Oh yeah...me

My bad...

I just kept waiting for her boobs to pop out but it never happened.

P.S. Oh, BTW, I was being sarcastic!

 

1) I had the exact same conversation with a girl 6 years ago. I was a complete loser, and she wasn't that experienced with love herself.

2) I'm convinced that even by the end Padme doesn't love Anakin. It's classic Florence Nightingale syndrome. She's never felt what "love" is before, and mistakes her deep sympathy to help a troubled young man as true love.

It's not a romance story.

 

Nope. Seventh time today, and the scene still does not work for me and I stand by my earlier observations in the thread.

 

I think some people went into the theatre looking for things to hate.

 

the acting was good and the dialogue was fine. Others may not agree, and that's good. We all have different opinions. It would be a boring world if we all had the same opinions.

the scene is full of pain because the characters are in pain.
I think Padme has more worldly experience than Anakin. He also has a different emotional life than other Jedi, because he lived a "normal slave boy's life" until he was 10. He had friends, etc. Then he was taught a very different way of how to relate to others.

of course Padme is still committed to stopping the Military Act - wish we could see if she really was still interested - does she check on what is going on in the Senate?

Anakin definitely not coming across as a stalker - in my opinion. A stalker is one who is afraid of an honest conversation - and won't take no, and doesn't listen. But we see that Anakin is at least listening, by the end he says "You're right, it would destroy us."

i agree about that line with them just before they go into the arena. that felt more forced than the fireplace scene. Something simpler might have worked better, but oh well. it's just a movie, folks.

Anyways it worked for me. I really felt for Anakin. And I felt for Padme too in her not wanting to cause pain for Anakin but wanting to be realistic. Most women are not out to be cruel when they turn down a guy if he's being sincere. it's hard and painful.

I just didn't like her dress because it seemed weird. That black thing around her neck - like she might accidentally hang herself or something... oh right.

 

that scene is cool.

 

Had a scene like this been in any other film you guys would trash it, like it should be trashed. Some are defending it just because it's Star Wars, but a bad scene is a bad scene, in my opinion of course.

Taun We is a better actress than Natalie. Natalie sounds so dull.