Across the Stars and Swan Lake

I was just watching the movie Billy Elliot and there's a part where his teacher explains the story behind "Swan Lake" which I thought was very similar in scope to Padme and Anakin's story. If you listen to "Across the Stars" and "Swan Lake" and know each story, they are very similar. Both have that haunting, tragic feel to them, and the cords are nearly the same.

I wonder if JW took inspiration from Swan Lake?

 

That's kind of an odd/ironic/coincidental comparison, because two of my friends who aren't into Star Wars nearly as much as me (but think they're fun movies), they both say that the beginning of the ATS suite "sounds like Swan Lake or something". And it's not like they're into film music scores at ALL, it's just like a general comparison they made.


Weird, eh?

 

Man, that is weird. It may be more than a coincidence.

 

I have thought the same thing as well. In addition, I have always thought that JW was extremely inspired by Tchaikovsky's overall work when he scored ESB. Probably why Empire is my favorite score of the episodes.

 

What is the story behind Swan Lake?

 

If I heard right, its about a young princess who is enslaved by an evil magician. Every night for a couple of hours she is set free but has to return. A young prince comes to her rescue and promises to marry her. She falls in love with him, but the tragedy is that he never marries her and she eventually dies alone.

I'm sure you all can connect the dots with Padme and Anakin's relationship in this story.

Also, if you watch the 1931 version of Dracula with Bela Lugosi the movie starts off with Swan Lake. Dracula in essence is a tragic love story too.

 

Nice comparison. I've never thought of the connection before, but now that it's mentioned, the two do start off with very similar emotions.

I love the two scenes where Swan Lake is used in Billy Elliot.