Palpatine's left hand twitch when Anakin ignites his lightsaber

I haven't posted here in a long time, so forgive me if this topic has been covered. I searched and couldn't find it.

After Anakin says, "So you're the Sith Lord" and lights his lightsaber, Palpatine's left hand twitches. Was he readying himself to draw his own saber on Anakin? Or do you think he's certain Anakin would never try and strike him?

I'm curious because we know Palpatine is probably right-handed, as he twice draws his own saber later in the movie...with his right hand (ala the Travis Bickle pop and lock). The twitch is a deliberate move done by McDiarmid, but Lucas doesn't elicit any commentary of it in the Ep. III DVD commentary.

 

Maybe he was getting ready to fry the boy instead.
Or it was nothing, since nobody made mention about it.

 

There was a whole thread about it.

It was a long while ago though.

I think that it was the Actor's choice, as Ian (theatrical actor) seemed to be given license to do what he wanted within reason.


darth-sinister may be able to tell you what is up with this, as I think that he is a fan of McDiarmid.

I myself am not sure - I think that it is an out of Universe thing.

 

This seems to me to be Palpy's "nervous tic."

Watch him in TPM in the "I will be Chancellor" scene. He does it there.

He does it again during the opera scene. Watch his left hand.

Palpy has to keep his behavior and reactions under pretty tight control in these situations. I imagine that this is his particular "tell" when he is feeling stressed or worried, as the emotion has to leak out somewhere.

Furthermore, I'd bet real money that if you could be a fly on the wall and watch Ian McDiarmid in a stressful situation, he does the very same thing!

 

Yes, it's a "oh crap I hope he is buying this" nervous twitch. A nice move by Ian to show that even Palps isn't 100% confident the plan will work.

 

I doubt it's his saber, since that comes from his right hand. Most likely he was prepared to blast him if it came to it.

 

Hmmmm...yeah, I guess force lightning sounds more likely, if anything.

 

He was probally getting ready to use force lightning at Annakin if he tried to strike him.

 

There was quite a bit of analysis on this Here

The general consensus we came to is that its a nervous gesture. Palpatine is laying everything on the line here and although it seems he is in complete control of events, he has no real way of knowing how all this is going to turn out. He think's he has Anakin where he wants him, but he can't be sure.

 

Those are my feelings as well. Palpatine has manipulated a slew of events, including the war, to bring him to this point and he is rightly nervous. He is gambling with his plan and his life when has this conversation with Anakin. He certainly thinks that Anakin is in the position that he wants but he cannot be sure.

 

I also tend to agree that it was a nervous twitch. If some half-crazed Jedi Knight ignited a lightsaber right infront of my face, I might have a little hand twitch too.

 

Every gambler somehow shows his or her uneasiness as their risk increases to its greatest point as the stakes go through the roof. This makes victory all that much sweeter, some might say 'orgasmic' when the high risk gamble eentually pays off.

Sidious is the galaxy's supreme gambler. Every angle is covered, every outcome planned for and suitable options ready to deploy. I tend to agree with others above that Sidious is 'covering his bets' by preparing to put Anakin in his place with some Sith lightning should things not quite go entirely as planned. Anakin did, after all, risk his life to save Obi-Wan on the hand when Palpatine told Skywalker to "leave him." There is some level of uncertainty evident as to how this gamble will pay off for the solitary Sith.

For Sidious knows the prophecy too. He knows Anakin has killed his apprentice. If he gets lucky and strikes out in a way not considered, Anakin fulfills the prophecy. Sidious is playing with fire here, and his left hand shows the thrill of the game, the real emotion buried behind the galactic gambler's game face. It is a scene second only to the previous Opera scene -- the best of the entire saga outside of the climax to TESB.

Ian rules. Hayden rocks!

 

Also, when Governer Sio Bibble says "We're a democracy. The people have decided" in TPM, he does the exact same hand twitch thing that Palpatine does in ROTS. It must be a common trait among old men from Naboo.