Even more ROTS impressions behind the cut

[thalia_seawood]

Just got back from watching ROTS for the fourth time.
This is really an amazing film, because even though I know large parts of the movie by heart now, I am so not bored by it. Am already thinking about getting a ticket for viewing # 5.

Some stuff I didn't notice before:



- Yoda loses his lightsaber in his fight with Palpatine and does not regain it. It appears that he'll never hold another lightsaber again.

- In one of the last scenes, Obi-Wan and Yoda talk about hiding the babies from the "Siths". They definitely use the plural here! So do they already know about Vader surviving?
Hint: I really would like to read a story where Obi-Wan learns about this. [:smile;]

- After Anakin pledges himself to Palpatine, Palpatine states that they have to eliminate the Jedi because otherwise they will kill them *and* the senators. Did I mishear? Or does Palps really claim the senators would be attacked by the Jedi? If he does, he tries to give Anakin more incentive, because of course this would mean that he needed to act to save Padme who's also a senator.

- Anakin feels so guilty when he kneels before Palpatine. The way he turns his head away in shame and tries not to cry. One of the most powerful scenes in the movie, IMO.

- One critic had complained that ROTS does not give us any indication how much time passes. That must be one of the most ridiculous accusations around. (If one SW movie has unclear timing, it's ESB. Because: How long is Luke trained on Dagobah? A couple of days? Or weeks? And Han and Leia need the same time to get to Bespin? Oh well.9
Anyway, I counted three sunsets in the ROTS and two sunrises. Of course, they are all symbolically place, but we still get a clear indication that only a couple of days pass.
Sunset 1 is followed by Anakin's nightmare, sunset 2 sees his decision to become Palpatine's apprentice and sunset 3 is during Padme's funeral.
The two sunrises are connected to Leia and Luke being brought to their foster parents, because they are the new hope of the galaxy.

- I love how Anakin is often shown in a hurry. "Always on the move" in the elevator scene, taking two steps when walking up stairs, running in the opera house, running to get to the Mace vs. Palpatine fight (in this scene it's especially nice when he slows down in the end to be more dignified; Hayden shows a wonderfully energetic Vader stride here).

- Finally caught that Obi-Wan has a bad feeling about it all. I think he's also the one to make this statement in TMP whereas it's Anakin in AOTC. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Comments

[reposoir.livejournal.com]

I love reading your posts about this. Always so perceptive about details with each showing you see! :)

[thalia-seawood.livejournal.com]

Thanks! :)
I just love Star Wars. So many details, so many myths that are referred to. I know some people don't care for it and that's fine. But these movies just really got me hooked.

By the way, your icon is gorgeous!

[ladyaeryn.livejournal.com]

Palpatine states that they have to eliminate the Jedi because otherwise they will kill them *and* the senators. Did I mishear? Or does Palps really claim the senators would be attacked by the Jedi? If he does, he tries to give Anakin more incentive, because of course this would mean that he needed to act to save Padme who's also a senator.

Yes, he does say that. And of course you know Anakin picked up on what killing all the Senators would mean. :)

Anakin feels so guilty when he kneels before Palpatine. The way he turns his head away in shame and tries not to cry.

Oh, absolutely. *cries and snatches the woobie away from the evil man* Props to Hayden here.

Anyway, I counted three sunsets in the ROTS and two sunrises. Of course, they are all symbolically place, but we still get a clear indication that only a couple of days pass.

I wouldn't say that so much. Since, as you've observed, the sunsets are used for symbolic effect, I'm not sure they can be used as a concrete measure of time. Still, that's a wonky complaint to make - no SW movie, least of all ESB, has been terribly explicit on how much time passes during it.

[thalia-seawood.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't say that so much. Since, as you've observed, the sunsets are used for symbolic effect, I'm not sure they can be used as a concrete measure of time.

True. I shouldn't mix the symbolic and the factual level.
I think I might also have been influence by the novel. In there, only a couple of days seem to pass as well.

Anyway, SW is a fairy tale. So measuring time is not that important. I mean in a fairy tale the time that passes is mostly symbolic (3 days, 3 nights, ...). But you don't get a detailed time frame of how long it takes people to get from here to there, for example. (Hope that makes sense. :-))

[thalia-seawood.livejournal.com]

One more thought I just had regarding time in SW. Imagine what it would be like if it had a X-files influence:
CORUSCANT, 02.07.5098, 6:32 pm....

:)

[stephantom.livejournal.com]

All good observations. However, I disagree about the time. I assumed much more than a few days went by. Anakin is surprised when she announces she's having a baby, so it doens't seem like she's really visibly pregnant yet. So I actually assumed a few months went by. Who knows.

[thalia-seawood.livejournal.com]

In the novel, only a couple of days seem to pass as well.

Regarding Padme's pregancy: I think she looked more pregnant in the end, because she gave up her camouflage dresses. Not much use of hiding the secret when Obi-Wan knows about her being pregnant anyway, the Jedi have been killed and her world is falling down around her.

But the time frame is certainly vague re. her pregnancy. How many months has Anakin been gone? According to some source "only" 5 months, but she might have been 1 or 2 months pregnant before he left and not been quite certain yet.