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wallisjewellie · 2 years

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I just would like to take a moment to comment on the below test footage in which - as part of the pre-visualization of the force choke/let her go scene in RotS - choreography is being fine tuned with Hayden and two stunt doubles.

(The video was originally uploaded to the Saberproject YouTube channel, and they had gotten hold of it in 2016, directly from Nick Gillard, the stunt coordinator and creator of lightsaber duels seen in the prequels movies. According to Saberproject, the video was shot to give Lucas an idea of how the final battle might play out.)

The actual scene in the movie does play out differently. In the finished film Padmé stays on the ground, Anakin is staring only at her the whole time, then when he releases her from the chokehold, Padmé simply collapses. What we see in the BTS footage is different.

Here, when Obi-Wan calls on Anakin to let her go, Anakin turns around, fixes his gaze at Obi-Wan, and with a cruel, twisted, cold and determined expression on his face (while still looking at Obi-Wan), he lifts Padmé up in the air, then releasing her, lets her fall back onto the ground from a rather unsettling height. Then without a split moment to spare on her, Anakin turns his whole body towards Obi-Wan, ready for the confrontation. When the camera cuts to the Obi-Wan stunt double, we can see him with his lightsaber already drawn, switching his attention from Padmé on the ground to Anakin, who started to walk towards him in the meantime.

Since it is an aided rehearsal, we can observe only Hayden’s acting. There is a lot in Anakin’s eyes, but my impression is the following. At this point he is already beyond reason, blinded by rage and the sense of betrayal. It seems that in this version, he is not punishing Padmé for siding with Obi-Wan, but rather, trying to punish/provocate Obi-Wan by deliberately hurting Padmé. There is an element of defiance, some pettiness, and a cold-hearted, calculated attempt to make both of them suffer. The chocking probably starts as retaliation against Padmé, then in a glimpse of time, she gets reduced to a tool against Obi-Wan, and it shows how far Vader drifted from Annie.

RotS gives us the impression that Anakin - almost by default, instinctively - obeys Obi-Wan by letting her go, and almost immediately (for a moment) there is confused regret on his face. In the rehearsal bit, it is the opposite. In fact, he obeys, but in the meantime, he also does the most damage he can, and the entire action is performative and cruel. And on his face, there is anything but confusion or regret. This is Vader through and through. A Vader, who very likely believes that the other two’s betrayal stretches beyond conspiring to kill him.

Mind that RotS was created and shot with the idea that Anakin suspects/fears, then as a result of Palpatine’s cunning manipulation, believes that his ex master and his wife have been having an affair. (See some of my previous posts for more details.) Chocking the woman who loves him and is pregnant with his child and dropping her from about 10 ft is unthinkable and too brutal, you say? Well, I am almost certain that in that scene Anakin believes that the child is not even his, that Padmé is indeed lying to him about her love, and that she has indeed brought Obi-Wan with her to kill him. In his rampant rage he is unable and unwilling to think rationally, and he does not give a damn about the baby - potentially Obi-Wan’s child. (I still think that with the deletion of the Obi-Wan/Padmé/Rebel Alliance background storyline, there are (not so) subtle plot holes, and the ‘why would Anakin try to physically (and possibly fatally) assault his pregnant wife’, is one of them. Especially, because his main driver throughout the movie has been to save her from death.)

But back to the BTS footage. What we see in it is hardly experimental, because pre-visualization (as shown in one AotC webisode) is a multiple-step process with a well thought-out sequence of motions and choreography, so that the visual effects team could build the world around them as precisely as possible. It already has a rather strict choreography, and serves the purpose of seeing what the scene will look like on screen, in order to make some final tweaks before shooting it.

As far as I know, this particular one was not among the reshot scenes, so the above seen choreography was either changed before the cameras started rolling, or multiple versions were filmed, and the milder one was kept. (Then Lucas cushioned it further with cutting out entire lines from the dialogues Anakin has here with Padmé on Obi-Wan, then with Obi-Wan on Padmé, causing strange glitches if one looks a bit closer, but I might make another post about it later.)

Since RotS already has some brutal elements if you think about it (massacre of children; burning the skin and flesh off of Vader; painful childbirth scene ending in death; master cutting off the limbs of one-time apprentice and leaving him to die amid unthinkable suffering), it could be that Lucas eventually shied away from other heavy themes (adultery and ambiguous paternity; performative physical abuse of an expectant mother; wife attempting to knife her husband). The irony is that all the above mentioned themes would have come to a crescendo in this ‘let her go’, and the subsequent confrontation scene.

But there is more to this scene. When I wrote in the previous paragraph that ‘wife attempting to knife her husband’, I was not (only) referring to backstabbing. Padmé was supposed to arrive on Mustafar with Obi-Wan hidden on her ship, and a knife hidden in her sleeve. They originally were there to kill Vader. When Padmé failed (unable to bring herself to kill the father of her child.), Obi-Wan stepped in. The evidence behind this is there. The “Star Wars Storyboards: The Prequel Trilogy” book, a collection of official concept artworks, edited by J.W. Rinzler and Iain McCaig, and published in 2013, is one of them. See two examples below.

Also, at a speaking event at the Academy of Art University in late 2016, concept artist Iain McCaig confirmed that Padmé was well aware of Anakin slowly becoming a monster, and was secretly building the rebellion behind his back to overthrow her deranged husband. And so she showed up on Mustafar with a knife, fully intent on killing him, but she could not bring herself to do it. Then, at that point, Obi-Wan was meant to appear, causing Anakin to violently turn on Padmé. Much more violently than what we see in RotS.

Whatever reasons were invoked when deciding against certain choreography choices, I still think that it is interesting to see that the idea at one point was to get Anakin trying to hurt Obi-Wan by hurting Padmé.

And although Lucas changed quite a number of things along the way, even when breaking down the final Vader v. Obi-Wan duel we see in the movie, Nick Gillard reasoned in 2019 (here at 01:06 - 01:11) that the choreography had been put together with the following in mind:

‘Anakin thinks Obi is maybe having an affair with Padmé at that point.’

#revenge of the sith #obianidala #obidala #rots bts #let her go #obi wan kenobi #padme amidala #anakin skywalker

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wallisjewellie · 2 years

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On that torrid Anakin/Padmé/Obi-Wan love triangle which was promised in 1983, then again in 1999

My impression is that Lucas had indeed been trying to insert the Anakin/Padmé/Obi-Wan love triangle into the Prequel Trilogy - repeatedly and in different forms/with different solutions. Only, he scrapped elements of this plot line in the last minute every single time. I have written about it in previous, related posts, but here I would like to make some further addition to this line of thought, which is actually way more than speculation.

Let’s begin.

I pointed out previously that Skywalking: The Life and Films of George Lucas (‎Da Capo Press; Updated ed. edition; May 31, 1999), which is a book by Lucas’ biographer, Dale Pollock, and which was first published in 1983, states that

“There will also be a torrid love triangle among the grown-up Queen (who will give birth to the twins, Luke and Leia), Annakin Skywalker, and Ben Kenobi. The consequences of this love triangle are one of the great betrayals layered throughout the three prequels that have enormous impact on all of the major characters in the story.”

Now I would like to draw attention to the sentence right before the above quote:

“A spectacular wedding for Annakin Skywalker is expected for Episode II, in which he is betrothed to the Queen (portrayed as a teenager by Portman).”

The 1999 edition was “updated with a substantial new chapter that discusses the revamped Star Wars Trilogy Special Edition, the Star Wars prequels”. Based on the deal in place between Pollock and Lucas, the latter was able to cut anything he felt was factually inaccurate - yet he didn’t touch the part about the love triangle and the betrayal.

Pay attention to the sequencing of the sentences: Pollock first writes about the wedding of Anakin and Padmé (taking place in Episode II), only then does he mention the love triangle. This makes me think that the Padmé/Obi-Wan plotline was about to be strengthened in Episode III. But as per Pollock, it should also have been layered through the PT. It is not, though. Or is was it…?

Confused? Don’t be. Read along.

We know for a fact that in a 1996 revised draft of Episode I, then titled simply “The Beginning”, it is heavily implied that the teenage Queen had a crush on Jedi Knight Obi-Wan, and he picked up on it. I have wrote about it here (x). (In this 1996 draft Obi-Wan was not a Padawan learner. Also, Padmé and him had a great number of interactions, because Qui-Gon appeared much later on screen.) Padmé’s attraction to Obi-Wan in this draft was overt, and it appeared to be evident to him.There were multiple indications that the Queen was crushing on Obi-Wan, and at least one where he noticed it, and when he did, the reaction it generated in him was of emotional nature. (Her eyes on him made him nervous.)

But all these were not in TPM, and cannot be found among the deleted scenes, right? Right. But-

In June 1999, a mere month after had TPM premiered, LucasArts released a CDROM companion called The Star Wars Episode I. Insider’s Guide which included among other things numerous notes detailing what was in previous drafts of the film, mostly in the revised rough draft that was completed on June 13th, 1996, and which contained clear reference to Padmé’s crush on Obi-Wan. These notes were ripped from the Insider’s Guide, and published on Medium.com (x) in May 2020. The file also included so-called “callouts” that cite the specific page number(s) in the draft where the events take place.

Why is it important? Because there is a note about Padmé and Obi-Wan, literally titled “A Crush?”, and its content refers to what is happening on pages 33, 43 and 44 of the 1996 rev draft. Take a look:

“A Crush?

On several occasions in the revised rough draft, there is mention of Padmé’s growing affection for Obi-Wan. When the Jedi argues with Amidala regarding Jar Jar’s fate, the script indicates that Padmé is “impressed that Obi-Wan is able to stand up to the Queen.” As they prepare to enter Mos Espa, she “gives Obi-Wan a long, adoring look.” Once in Mos Espa, Padmé watches Obi-Wan “with interest and respect,” and it is noted that her “eyes make the powerful Jedi nervous.” (RRD, pp. 33, 43, 44)”

Lucas was clearly meant to be laying down the groundwork for that love triangle, by making Padmé fall for Obi-Wan first. Well before she fell for Anakin. And it was confirmed in an officially released insider’s guide.

Those who cannot comprehend how Padmé got besotted in the first place with Anakin instead of the dashing Jedi Knight, Obi-Wan Kenobi, hero of the day, who she had met during the rescue mission… Well, you have your answer now. Her mind was actually supposed to be on Obi-Wan.

Moving on.

The definition of “torrid” according to Merriam-Webster is “parched with heat especially of the sun: hot; giving off intense heat: scorching; ardent, passionate”. Cambridge Dictionary defines the word as “involving strong emotions, especially those of sexual love”.

Pollock writes in 1999 (the same year the Insider’s Guide was published) that this love triangle is envisioned to be “one of the great betrayals layered through the prequels”. And that it is supposed to have “enormous impact” on the main characters. These are strong words. And since we are looking at the words of the author of Lucas’ biography, we should not discard them as part of an overly eager fanfiction.

There are some betrayals we are witnessing throughout the PT: the most dramatic is Anakin’s tragedy betrayal of the Jedi Order and the prophecy; then there is Palpatine’s grand scheme betrayal of the Republic. And we know from the OT that no one is morally irreproachable; not even Yoda or Obi-Wan.

And thus I am missing the promised betrayal with enormous impact which must be connected to the torrid love triangle between the three protagonists according to Pollock. Where is it? Lucas tacitly confirmed it coming even in 1999, since it is spelled out in the book, and he did not have it cut. This is the one which must be committed by Obi-Wan and Padmé. Betraying Anakin. On a very personal level.

If we put together the concept of an ardent, passionate love triangle, involving strong emotions, especially those of sexual love, as well as the concept of a great betrayal, which leaves Anakin hating Obi-Wan, and seriously questioning the identity of Luke’s father, the conclusion appears to be rather straightforward: Padmé and Obi-Wan weren’t just supposed to take the side against Vader in the new, emerging galactic order. They were supposed to have some sort of affair. They were supposed to commit adultery in Episode III. And there was supposed to be a decent buildup to it.

This is harsh.

It really is. But so is Anakin committing mass murder of children, turning against the Jedi Order, becoming a tyrant etc. So is the Chancellor taking over the Galaxy. The truth is that we all see these shocking revelations coming: Anakin’s personality and weaknesses, Palpatine’s master plan are all in plain sight. They are layered through the prequels. Just as the love triangle was promised to be.

In The Beginning, Padmé did have a crush on Obi-Wan, and he knew it/felt it/was uncomfortable about, but aware of it. The adoration could hardly be mutual (at least I hope so), since she was very much minor, while Obi-Wan was an adult Jedi Knight. But the seed was sown: she fell for him, and he knew it. And the original idea could have been that this (buried) childhood crush was to be resurfaced later. Again, Pollock mentions the torrid love triangle after the spectacular wedding.

Or not. Was it always Anakin and Padmé, who were supposed to hide their love and affection for one another? Must two people having a “spectacular wedding” do that? Was there originally something else (apart from what’s canonic now) behind Obi-Wan’s heavy protest against Anakin acting upon his feelings towards her?

One element of the torrid love triangle, the possessive-obsessive love from Anakin’s side was there, and his paranoid fear of Obi-Wan taking Padmé from him remained in RotS, although downplayed. I have discussed the disgraceful fate of the RotS Padmé/Obi-Wan storyline several times before; not going to do that now. But one thing is clear: their affair should not have been only in Anakin’s head. (It could have been a nice last-minute try though, in order to insert the triangle somehow into the story, given that by that time, not much Padmé/Obi-Wan interaction had survived the cutting floor in TPM and AotC.) But it should have been real. And torrid. And should have been having an enormous impact on all of the major characters of the story.

Probably not just on the story of the prequels, but on that of the original trilogy as well.

I think that the original idea was the ambiguous paternity all along, Lucas just eventually didn’t have the guts to steer things to the direction of uncertainty about the identity of the father. Pollock himself mentions in the same sentence the triangle and that the Queen will give birth to twins. (“There will also be a torrid love triangle among the grown-up Queen (who will give birth to the twins, Luke and Leia), Annakin Skywalker, and Ben Kenobi.”)

To be honest, even though I am an Obidala fan, I do not really support the the theory of Obi-Wan being Luke’s (and Leia’s) father. (And don’t even get me started on the twisted idea of Padmé conceiving two children from two different fathers…) I do love the father-son redemption arc, and Vader’s name is… well, it’s literally Vader. But I support the idea of creating uncertainty about the father’s identity in the viewers’ (and Anakin’s) head, as long as possible. Again, the revelation itself is one of the biggest plot twists in the OT, so it would have made perfect sense if Lucas had left us somewhat suspicious about Luke’s origins before said revelation.

The prequels should have left the possibilities open, leaving it to the OT to have the story unfold. And the prequels should have given us that torrid love triangle.

#obidala #star wars prequels #obianidala #my gif edit #obi wan kenobi #padme amidala #anakin skywalker

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