The Phantom Menace and the Future of Star Wars' Past
Commentary by Luke Jordan
Having grown up with Star Wars for 21 years of my life, I have been very dubious about the prequels and their potential to undermine and downgrade a saga which is still very important to me.
The release of the one-sheet and trailer this week have reassured me enormously. Not only does TPM appear to keep entirely to the spirit of New Hope and Empire, with its combination of spectacle and tragedy, I now realize what this prequel in particular adds to the SW mythos.
The very concept of Episode One is unprecedented in science fiction cinema; perhaps in cinema itself. It is an incredibly courageous move by Lucas, informed by faith in an individual vision of some 25 years ago rather than box office marketability (although of course it's set to break records in that department as well).
I know of no other movie which builds on an existing story by going back not just a few years, but three DECADES before the events we've already seen. The more I contemplate the implications of this, the more groundbreaking they seem.
"Star Wars" is going to take on an entirely new meaning in many ways. On one level, though, the saga's overarching title is going to make much more sense. The middle trilogy is about one war. Apparently the prequel trilogy is going to depict not just the conflict of Episode One, but the Clone war and possibly others, such as Mandalorians vs. Wookiees/Sith/battle droids...all rumor, but at any rate "Star Wars" is suddenly more apt. This isn't just about Imperials vs. Rebel Alliance, over four years (ANH to Jedi). It's about a series of galactic wars.
And the continuity is provided, as far as we know, by one family. These are the adventures of the Skywalker dynasty over a period of vast conflict and political shift. Star Wars has become a family saga, like those series of novels - primarily for women - which follow one clan through the Civil War and WW1 and 2, from mother to daughter. It's becoming something very different from just a space adventure trilogy.
The saga has suddenly, with this one trailer, acquired an incredible historical scope - from four years to thirty-four. This one move implies a massive change in perspective and possibility. On a more surface level this means we get the pleasure of seeing Threepio in a different form, Yoda looking marginally younger, and perhaps guest appearances from Bib Fortuna and Boba Fett. More fundamentally, it allows us to witness subtle changes of character - how does Ben Kenobi become the man we see in ANH? - and cultural shifts, from the Jedi Council to the Empire.
But most of all - and this is the aspect which has been haunting me since seeing that superb one-sheet - The Phantom Menace is built on dramatic irony. It is steeped in dramatic irony. All the way through this movie we are going to be rooting for Anakin Skywalker. I'm no fan of brat kid actors but I'm already warming to that sight of him in the fighter, dodging TIE prototypes. And all the time we know what he becomes we know he's going to torture his own daughter without knowing her identity, order the destruction of planets, labor in a painful mask with every breath an agony - according to Shadows of the Empire - and finally die in his son's arms. This little boy who asks his mother if he'll ever see her again this boy is going to become the villain we booed in 1977, the Dark Lord, the tyrant.
Now that's tragedy. That's a breathtaking dramatic irony. That's unprecedented in a family science fiction movie. Beneath all the comedy aliens and pod races, all the swashbuckling and cutesy touches, The Phantom Menace is, from its title on down, a very, very dark concept.
I have new faith. This could be better than
Empire.
(Yes, Luke really IS Luke Jordan's name. He stumbled into Echo Station while researching a book on science
fiction, learned that Star Wars fanatics aren't all pre-teen boys and decided to stick
around. You can debate the Prequels with him at luke_jordan@hotmail.com)