With the release of ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ this week,
this year also marks the 40th anniversary of the very first ‘Star
Wars’ (1977) film. Through all my articles I have mentioned about ‘Star Wars’
in many occasions, and it should not be surprising because it is such a
landmark film that has changed the way we look at films ever since, and its
influence on subsequent films and pop culture is very evident. This time, it
will be great for me to experience the Force with you. I feel that the greatest
way to do this is to see the many connections this great film has with the
other great works in cinema, and where ‘Star Wars’ stands in the cinematic
universe.
Star Wars could be seen as a sublimation of the many great
work that has influenced George Lucas when he was young. When he said he was
inspired by the Flash Gordon series and other pop culture, he was also
particularly influenced by Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai, Yojimbo and The
Hidden Fortress. For the latter film, the 2 underdogs that helped Princess Yuki
and the general was certainly the inspirations for C3PO and R2D2, and Princess
Leia was influenced by the Japanese princess. In terms of the theme and visual
aspect, the film was also influenced by John Ford's The Searchers, David Lean'
s Lawrence of Arabia, Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather, Stanley Kubrick's
2001 A Space Odyssey, and other films. Of course, the most important aspect was
from the imaginative mind of George Lucas, his dream of constructing an epic
space opera, and to deliver a sense of universal humanism to the audience
through his many interesting characters.
The theme of Star Wars address a Kurosawan theme that has
become very iconic the master apprentice relationships, and the passing on if
knowledge and wisdom. The idea of Jedi Knight was very much inspired by Samurai
culture, and the Jedi's code of morality was analogous to Bushido itself. The
Force of the Jedi is the order, the Tao of the warriors from space. Generations
of Jedi pass on their knowledge and skills to the younger apprentice (the
Padawans), yet at the same time, they passed their wisdom and a moral outlook
to them. Of course, the conflict of the story itself came at a point when this
idealistic outlook went wrong . The idea of samurai clan itself, as I have said
before in Harakiri, was that a loyalty to the clan was to be expected, and a
sense of community was also the norm. The Jedi Knights followed this modus
operandi, if they were willing to commit to this moral existence and stuck to
the code of ethics demanded by the Jedi council. Yet, a sense of individualism
could often raise issues, especially when it led to the direction of the Dark
Force. Thus, for the Jedi Knights, they are likely experiencing a ‘giri versus
ninjo’ conflict – the contradiction between instinct and duty. When Obi-Wan
knew that Anakin Skywalker has turned to the dark force, did he have the duty
to eliminate Anakin, or were there still any compassion to this young man? When
Luke Skywalker finally confirmed that Darth Vader (Anakin Skywalker) was really
his dad (yes that is a pretty hard fact to swallow), as a Jedi, did Luke have
the responsibility to wipe this ultimate evil out for good, or, if Luke saw it
a chance to reconcile with his long lost father, he might be lured to the dark
side. We, like the characters in the ‘Star Wars’, have to face these many dark
aspects throughout our lives. I feel that Lucas was trying to say that everyone
would have a dark side and so possessed their dark secrets, yet the big
question was to balance out and control this inherent contradiction, and
directed oneself to the constructive and righteous directions in one’s life.
Even more, the idea of Jedi reminds me of an older trilogy –
Hiroshi Inagaki’s ‘Musashi Miyamoto’. The young Musashi Miyamoto, portrayed by
Toshiro Mifune, was quite similar to the immature Jedis. Musashi had courage,
he had the basic sword-fighting skills and some battle experience, yet he was a
rowdy and mean man, who was urged on success and winning fights. He was driven
by an animalistic sense of instinct, and was seen as something of a wild beast.
Only when he understood the Tao of swordsmanship, and grasped the philosophy
behind these ideas, he became in control of himself, and he became a refined
and respectable swordsman. The code of rectitude would guide his direction in
life, and this was very similar to all the Star War films. One can argue that the
three series of trilogy were all about such a process, though there was a twist
in Episode 1 to 3: this was the opposite direction, about how a young man with
potential has become the icon of evil itself.
If the above paragraphs appear as a guide book of how to be
a great guy or someone admirable, then I guess the following section is about
the other way around – how to be the most despicable horny little devil in any
possible world. Darth Vader, our Mr. Evil in the film, has been compared
numerous times to Michael Corleone, the head of the crime family in The
Godfather, brilliantly delivered by Al Pacino. To be honest, Darth Vader and Michael
have competed for the top place so many times in any lists of All Time Bad
Movie Characters List. One should not be too surprised that these two
characters are most related than one may imagine. Francis Ford Coppola,
director for ‘The Godfather’, has been a mentor for George Lucas, and they have
collaborated on a number of films before and after ‘Star Wars’. Thus, Lucas may
have drawn influence from the saga of the Corleone crime family, and if one
looks into the plot, there are quite a number of parallels between the sci-fi
classic and the crime epic.
The first aspect is, both Darth Vader and Michael Corleone
seemed to follow a very similar life trajectory. For ‘The Godfather’, though
anyone will absolutely bow down to Marlon Brando’s stunning portrayal of Vito
Corleone, can also appreciate that the whole trilogy can be considered as the
life story of Michael Corleone, his rise and fall, and his achievements and
regrets. If we are brave enough to take this further, then the first six
episodes as a whole is the life story of Anakin Skywalker-Darth Vader, as he
can be considered the only major character where a narrative emphasis has been
placed for all the six films.
Both men have very similar personalities, and in a sense it
shaped the fate that they would encounter. Both Anakin and Michael are very
confident and egotistical individuals, and they have shown tremendous
intelligence and potential when at a young age. Their mentors – Obi-Wan Kenobi,
Master Yoda, or Don Vito Corleone – all have the strong beliefs they would
become powerful individuals, that could self-actualize themselves and have a
good control of their destinies. Yet, both Anakin and Michael have been tempted
by evil, and they could not conquer their dark sides. Their obsessions for success
and power have out-matched their good and positive nature. Their
over-confidence urged them to do whatever they wanted, no matter what sort of
cost or destruction it would eventually lead to for their families or universe.
When they were consumed by their evil sides, they were
already going too far, and the consequences started to bite back on them.
Michael was so obsessed with stabilizing his power and eliminating his
opponents and the traitors in the family that he eventually assassinated his younger
brother, Fredo, and it has led to tremendous regret for the rest of his life.
His wife, Kay, chose to distance from him and eventually made him the most
lonesome existence. When Anakin Skywalker has become Darth Vader, no matter how
evil he has transformed into, there are still emotional demands he has to
address to. While I would in no way consider Vader and Michael’s actions as
justified or moral, I start to get more sympathetic about their situations. I
believe that Coppola and Lucas devised these characters not because they merely
wanted to break all-time records of unleashing the ultimate a-holes, but they
wanted us to think about why these characters existed, and how they could reach
such a nasty situation. When Michael has killed Fredo and sat alone in the room
and contemplated, his facial expressions of regret was genuine – he could never
imagine he would do that. At the shocking revelation of ‘The Empire Strikes
Back’ – I understand from the older generations it was a genuine shock for them
back in 1980, some sort of a turning point for them when they looked at the
story – I feel that Darth Vader at that very moment was genuine, not being a
hypocrite like the opportunist known as Palpatine. ‘I am your father’ from ‘The Empire Strikes
Back’ was as desperate as a plea as ‘Let’s go home, Debbie’, said by Ethan
Edwards in ‘The Searchers’. It was a cry from the dark literally, a need for
love and compassion. Darth Vader has been portrayed as rather distant and cold
in Episode 4, which I think was deliberate to illustrate such a turning point, and
behind the black mask was just someone consumed by regret as much as evil. Thus
for both Anakin and Michael, they had a common need to balance out their
responsibilities for whom they cared and addressed to their demands of his
darker side, yet they unfortunately failed to make wise choices.
Both men would eventually ask for redemption. Darth Vader
sacrificed himself for his son, and his unmasking symbolized there were still
some goodness in him no matter how evil he has once become. Michael Corleone
eventually lost his daughter, someone he really cared, as if karma has come to
punish him for what he has done. After all, both their stories had a tragic and
fatalistic element – because while they might have enough freedom to avoid
themselves from falling into the trap, they became the monsters because they
could not appreciate or escape the clutches of their darkest horizons. Things,
after all, are often beyond our control, yet we still have to possess the
wisdom and perseverance to make choices we will not come back to regret. Then,
you will have the Force with you, whichever universe you are in!!
(1/2)
by Ed Law
15/12/2017
Film Analysis
