We’ve wrapped up the Prequel Trilogy here at the Spaceport some months ago, discussing Anakin's anointment as Darth Vader in Revenge of the Sith. You can catch up on that particular scene and the rest of the prequels here! We’re moving on to not just the Original Trilogy, but the movie that started it all: Star Wars: A New Hope. Originally released as merely Star Wars, capturing just a small portion of George Lucas’s vision of the sprawling space opera, in 1977. The film is well studied for drawing inspiration from a wide variety of sources including, but not limited to, Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon serials, Akira Kurosawa Samurai films, western classics, and Frank Hebert’s Dune. The film also revolutionized visual effects with the establishment of Industrial Light and Magic, filing scores of new patents for new filmmaking technology that is still used today. Not only did it stake its claim in the history of sci-fi, but also cinema and storytelling holistically.
We’ve all seen a New Hope - and if you haven’t…what are you doing here? There’s not a lot to say that hasn’t been said about it. It is a masterful adaptation of Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey in an amalgamation of sci-fi and fantasy. Nonetheless we venture forth as we discuss what is the most relatable scene in Star Wars: A New Hope.
The Galactic Empire is hot on the heels of the Tantive V, as we would see decades later in 2016’s Rogue One, right after the battle of Scarif. With the Death Star plans on board stormtroopers clear the corridors for Lord Vader to interrogate Republic delegates. “We’re on a diplomatic mission,” Captain Antilles would beg. “We are on a diplomatic mission to Alderaan,” to which Vader would counter, “you are part of the Rebel Alliance and a traitor!” Leia is taken captive but not before she stores the plans in R2-D2’s memory bank, who would then be accompanied by the chipper C3-PO on an escape pod to the desert planet below: Tatooine.
We then follow the hero of the OT, Luke Skywalker - a young wide-eyed moisture farmer who yearns for adventure. Canonically he is about 19 years old - not quite a child but not yet a man. When his uncle buys R2 and Threepio off the Jawas, Luke thinks this is his chance to get off the farm, off Tatooine, and join his friends at the academy. However, his uncle has other plans: he’s to stay on one more season to help with the harvest - a seemingly repeated demand to keep him home. But to Uncle Owen’s fear, Luke is too much like his father.
Luke abruptly leaves the dinner table to tend to the droids but not before wandering to the sunset soaked dunes above. He gazes upon the binary sunset, one sun just below the other as John Williams's Force Theme plays solemnly, building to a hopeful climax but slowing out to a solemn close. You’ve seen it countless times, but check it out just once more below.
The scene is iconic for its imagery and beautiful score, but here I posit also for its relatability. Luke is being held back. He has ambitious dreams of leaving his desert planet and attending the Rebel flight academy. While he doesn’t know it yet, he is indeed intended for greatness. But his uncle is cautious out of protection for Luke, unbeknownst to him. This part is particularly poignant because of the phase of Luke’s life - he’s on the cusp of adulthood, at least as we recognize it here on Earth. However there is an immense sense of destiny in this scene, as if something beyond time and space is at work. Luke feels like he’s meant for something greater and is longing for something more. This author would challenge anyone who says they haven't felt this way.
What do you think about this scene? Do you feel as called to action and inspired as Luke does when gazing at the sunset? I know I do! As always please feel free to like, share, comment, and let me know what else you’d like to see from the Spaceport. Until next time, may the Force be with you … always!