Revenge of the Sith, Three Years Later

[krpalmer]

For some reason, I've found myself thinking for the last little while that it would be significant that today would mark three years since Revenge of the Sith opened. Three years, after all, is how long separated Star Wars movies "within a trilogy"... although it may perhaps indicate how long I've been thinking about this particular anniversary that the theatrical release to lead off the new Clone Wars series was a particular surprise to me; it just may have shaken up previous thoughts that "by now, the saga is well and truly complete."

With that said, I don't feel "threatened" by that impending arrival or anything; after all, it just might not seem quite as "significant" to me as an actual "Episode" in a sense "had" to be. Looking back on Revenge of the Sith, I still find myself interested by how things about its part of the story "weren't what I had been expecting," and yet now they seem inevitable in a certain way... but I also have to admit that I'm still aware of the allergic reaction of others to particular parts, or one particular part, of the story. It may be that right from the start I worked up my own coping mechanism so that Padme's death "wasn't her own fault"... and yet, her fate being linked to finding Anakin, and perhaps even trying to save him, still impresses me. For all that I perhaps didn't try very hard to envision "how things had to be" beforehand, I might have drawn to some tiny amount on the old Return of the Jedi novelization to have a vague picture of "Mrs. Skywalker" having to run as far and as fast as possible from the new Darth Vader... but since Darth Vader was saved in the end, Padme being denied the very possibility of even attempting what her son succeeded at perhaps feels "wrong" in its own way to me. Now, perhaps I haven't been trying very hard to come up with "alternatives" now because I can't see any good in the attempt, but for Padme to make the attempt with some form of Amidala-like "crust" renewed and for the chance for certain success to be snatched away from her by outside action also feels "wrong" in its own way.

One interesting thing about watching all three new movies in between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi that I perhaps hadn't quite envisioned at first was that I would get to rewatch both Revenge of the Sith and Return of the Jedi close to their "anniversaries." This time around, I didn't have to master any trace of ambiguity within me about the performances... but as if to prove there's always a snag somehwere, I perhaps wondered a little whether there were faint disconnections between particular bits of dialogue perfectly fine in themselves. The feeling faded with time, though, and with this movie I did actually find that new order intriguing me, as I was able to "think back" and "think ahead" at once. I also found myself wondering anew that if it's possible that the "old movies" are "read" by some to be just "the Rebellion versus the Empire," which always seems to lead to muttering and complaints about how "no victory won with the help of Ewoks can be satisfying," the "new movies" might perhaps be "read" in a somewhat similar way to be "the triumph of Palpatine," and yet just might be a bit more satisfying that way. In any case, I've got just one Star Wars movie left to rewatch now.

Comments

[lazypadawan.livejournal.com]

Today marks nine years since TPM was released as well.

[krpalmer.livejournal.com]

Just as May 25 will also mark thirty-one years since Star Wars opened... but it's true that my calendrical thinking isn't delving into every subtle point.