George Lucas once noted the “weak point” of ‘Star Wars’
In 1977, George Lucas established himself as a leading figure in the New Hollywood wave with the first movie of his era-defining franchise, Star Wars. Entitled A New Hope, the movie was an instant global success, ushering in a golden age for sci-fi cinema. The saga’s first and most revered trilogy was concluded in 1983 with Return of the Jedi.
Although the first run of movies starring Harrison Ford as Han Solo arrived first, Lucas always planned to enrich the narrative with a prequel trilogy. Production on episodes I to III began in the 1990s and arrived between 1999 and 2005. Amid the high drama of pod racing and epic lightsaber battles, the movies follow the story of Anakin Skywalker, documenting his path to the dark side.
While the prequel trilogy explained how an innocent child could become the Death Star-wielding tyrant, Darth Vader, Lucas was displeased with the presentation of Anakin Skywalker’s relationship with Padmé.
In episode two, Attack of the Clones, Anakin and Padmé’s relationship is followed closely. A 19-year-old Anakin remains in love with a 25-year-old Padmé, and although initially unrequited, feelings soon become mutual. Fear of loss and the eventual death of Padmé was instrumental in Anakin’s entry to the dark side; hence, this relationship was a crucial element of Lucas’ script.
“Showing how much Anakin and Padmé care for each other is one of my weak points. Expressing that is hard to do,” Lucas admitted in JW Rinzler’s The Making of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith.
Lucas continued to note that Padmé’s love was the only thing Anakin felt was worth living for. He said it was a case of, “I’m so in love with you that I would do anything to save you; I’d give up everything – friends, my whole life – for you.”
“It’s really hard, in the end, to express the idea… and make that real – make that stick – and say it in two minutes, which is all the time this film has for it,” Lucas said, revealing a degree of regret surrounding the leap between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith.
Although Anakin’s embrace of the dark side is inevitable from the beginning of The Phantom Menace, Lucas maintains that the prequel story lacks sufficient gravity and conviction.
In Rinzler’s book, the Star Wars concept artist Iain McCaig stresses the tragic consequence of Padmé’s death. “You have a person who began so naive and idealistic. And here she is at the end of her life, still idealistic,” he said. “She believes her love can redeem Anakin – even at the end, she believes it.”
Watch the scene depicting Padmé’s death and Darth Vader’s birth in Revenge of the Sith below.
