CT Does C3PO Break The Fourth Wall In ESB?

Does C3PO break the fourth well when he looks in the direction of the camera exclaims "How typical" as the door to the hanger slams in in face on Hoth? Someone pointed this out to me as a fourth wall breaking moment, but I never saw it as such. I would have posted a YouTube clip of it for reference but I found none, and I assume most of you are familiar with this moment anyway.

I always assumed he threw his head back in exasperation as he said that, but I never thought he was speaking to the audience. While we are on the topic, are there any other moments in the OT that you consider fourth wall breaking? Some have pointed to Boba Fett in the ANH Special Edition pausing and looking directly into the camera as fourth wall breaking, but don't believe it was shot with that intention.

 

I doubt it

3PO can't really move his eyes. What with them being photoreceptors and all with no pupils or anything. So it's likely it was just him turning to another direction in annoyance, and if it was the other way, we'd just see his back, thus making it awkward

 

Given how much he exclaims and talks to himself, that he is turned in the direction of the camera probably doesn't mean all that much; as Seagoat said, it'd be awkward if he was to turn away from the audience.

 

3PO is always prattling on to himself and in this case he just happened to be facing the camera when he was doing it I'd say. Interesting point though.

 

When you think about it. The very fact that 99% of the time the actors are facing the screen is a fourth wall break in itself

My mind. First it was like |0|

Now it's
//////8\\\\\

 

No.

TFA though, loads of examples.

 

Definitely not, although a great deal of Threepio's dialogue would easily work as such direct-to-camera lines - in completely different films.

As Seagoat pointed out, C-3PO's eyes don't move - they're fixed in a single position to his head - any lines that appear to be delivered straight to the audience are pure coincidence, even when the intention is to convey his inner thinking, but short of corny, brief lines delivered via voiceover (a technique which doesn't occur in SW), thoughts spoken aloud are bog-standard in most movies.
If the filmmakers don't want to use voiceover or lines delivered directly to the audience (i.e. breaking the fourth wall), characters just have to mutter their thoughts aloud to themselves. In ESB, Luke speaks a great deal of his thoughts to Artoo when he first lands on Dagobah - it's a clever trick to make such exposition seem a bit less nutty or laboured. In other films, a character might do the same to a horse or a dog.

C-3PO is such a gasbag that I'd imagine he'd do it anyway. I've encountered such loudmouths in RL who will literally voice their thoughts to empty rooms. I was once in an office next to a producer who would deafen the entire office by stalking up and down the hallway bellowing into his phone - and I mean bellowing - then one morning, I heard him sit down at his computer and roar, "OK, SO WHAT HAVE WE GOT TODAY? HMM, WHAT'S THIS EMAIL? AHHH! YES, WELL..." and so on. Needless to say, there was no one else in his office. I simply plugged my MP3 player into my ears and counted down the days until my contract was up.
Some people literally love the sound of their own voices - they think they're narrating the epic sagas that are their own lives. That's our Threepio right there.

 

Really, no? I can't recall any direct wall breaks, no more so than Obi-Wan's "Why do I get the feeling you're going to be the death of me?" or Anakin's "His fate will be the same as ours."

And that's some of the charm of SW droids vs. standard science fiction robots. Droids are for all intents and purposes perfect AI that don't have any restrictions on not saying something, even if it's pointless like talking to oneself

It reminds me of Shakespeare, which, if anyone's ever read his plays or seen movie adaptations (or even live, if you're lucky enough) you'll know that there are at least 3 or 4 scenes per play in which a character will speak to an empty room, pretty much letting the audience know their thoughts. One could say that's sort of a break

But as you point out, Nub.... people do tend to talk aloud. I confess I sometimes mumble to myself. Is there a purpose to it? No. Maybe life is secretly a stage play and there's a magical force field preventing us from seeing the audience

 

The theatrical term for that - when it's a full-blown speech (Hamlet's "To be or not to be..." being the classic example) - is a soliloquy, and it's accepted in theatre as standard, as there aren't so many techniques available to express such inner thinking as in cinema or literature.
In cinema, however, it's a bit trickier to present, as it can come across as a bit, well, theatrical, particularly depending on the genre. A voiceover can drag on, unless it's accompanied with, perhaps, a visual montage of the character's thinking, and straight out talking to oneself is too theatrical. For the most part, such thoughts tend to be restricted to a couple of muttered lines, or, as I pointed out, by having something like a pet or droid present for the lone character to talk at (even Shakespeare gave Hamlet the skull of Yorick for one such speech). Either that, or the scene gets rewritten entirely so that it works a bit better.

Oh, I do all the time. Everyone does. Some, like our dear protocol droid, however, take it a bit far - just look at his muttering in the desert in SW/ANH after he and Artoo have parted ways. You get the impression that he's been talking to himself nonstop the whole time - which is why his frequent asides come across so naturally, without 'breaking the fourth wall'.

If life is a secret stage play, though, I'm dreading my reviews. The box office takings have certainly been garbage.

 

I think 3PO is lonely to a certain extent. I mean, Demona would talk to herself aloud, too, but she had some mental problems. 3PO was just more childlike.

 

Really, you can't recall any? At all? The reference to the trash compactor? Showing the Death Star and Starkiller Base side by side in an god-awful attempt to be "self-aware" that they're just rehashing the spherical superweapon plot device again?

anakinfan edit: That's not necessary.

 

And are they directly addressing the audience?

 

At worst they were leaning on the fourth wall, but I don't see why they wouldn't reference things they experienced years ago. Seeing yet another superweapon that looks like the Death Star and acting like they can't see the connection would make us think Han and Leia were in the throes of dementia.

 

It doesn't break the fourth wall just because they happen to be looking at where the audience would be - only if they directly acknowledge/address the audience, which C3PO never actually does. He's just got an acute case of logorrhoea, and also occasionally looks at where the Audience would be. There's never a direct correlation.

 

Threepio is no deadpool that's for sure

 

There is no instance in any of these films of someone breaking the fourth wall. Not on purpose, anyway.
That moment with Boba in ANH is just him glancing sideways while the helmet happens to face the camera. We can't see his eyes, but I've always gotten the sense that they're looking to the right (screen right).

 

As much as I want to veer towards the conclusion that no one in SW would do a 4th wall break, I can't help but think way down in the deep recesses of my mind that Irvin Kershner wouldn't have had a problem with it, perhaps even noticing that the moment could be taken that way- but leaving it alone for the audience to take it however they want. As a funny throwaway line, it's an effective shot, no matter if Threepio is talking to the viewer or himself.

Stylistically, it wouldn't be one. But Kershner was more focused on substance- which is why I think ESB is a far superior movie than the others. So- given that- maybe? A very distant maybe, bearing on the whims of Kershner at the time.

 

It amounts to the same thing in many cases. Anything that directly or indirectly makes reference to itself as a piece of fiction, amounts to fourth wall breaking.

 

If C3PO was "breaking" the 4th wall for humor in the movie, who cares really. Alot of movies do that too

Friday the 13th Part VI
Freddy's Dead
New Nightmare
Childs Play
Men at Work. a comedy starring Charlie Sheen and Emilio and Keith David
and many more movies

 

I don't recall that ever happening in SW.

 

Obviously not in the OT but since we are discussing 4th wall breaks this moment in the speeder chase in AOTC might be considered one.

 

A lot of people tend to mumble things to themselves in reality. I don't personally consider it a 4th wall break

Well. At least I do....

 

That depends on your tolerance levels, I think all the 'bigger Death Star' (and Han's line regarding it) stuff is borderline.

 

It'

It is, indeed, borderline. All we needed to know that the Starkiller Base was large and intimidating. The hologram comparison would have been sufficient, even with Poe's simple dialogue.

I do believe that the tension in A New Hope as the pilots went in to destroy the Death Star was more dramatic. I know it was difficult for Poe and the pilots to do what they did, but much more of the focus is on the ground than above. It's not a bad thing, but it goes to show that ANH's story from the perspective of the Rebels was more intriguing. Besides, I know people have complained about the trench run instead of the pilots opting to fly right toward the reactor, but I believe their motivation was to avoid the enemy fighters as their fellows distracted the TIEs. I can see why people compare the original Death Star to a video game boss, but does it matter? I think it's a good illustration of Luke's power. He barely has any formal Force-related training, and he guided those torpedoes into the reactor. That's not too different from how Rey was able to do some of what she did in TFA. People can complain about it, but I really don't mind. I think there are actual problems to debate elsewhere. But that's another kettle of fish. I remember when Cushing's Admirer and other members said that Tarkin gets all the blame for killing millions of lives on a planet, whereas Luke gets zero blame for all the lives on the Death Star he took out. There are arguments to be made either way, and it shows desperation in war, to be sure. Anyone know how many Imperial soldiers and officers were stationed on the Death Star? Iron Lord?

I do appreciate how these threads point out flaws in the CT films. It's always easy to bash the prequels, which gets a little crazy sometimes, since it seems to be more about what the complainers are saying than the films themselves. But I suppose the fact that we love Star Wars means that we can adore the films without thinking they are perfect. Ya know? If we thought everything was perfect, that would not be healthy, either. That would be setting us up for failure in relationships and with the fiction and history books we appreciate.