121 Days of Star Wars

Minute 34:00 of 121:00

This minute deals with the three L’s: Luke, lightsabers, and lies.

Obi Wan’s invited Luke into his hut which looks like a leftover set from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Last we heard from Kenobi (in Minute 33:00), he has an object that Luke’s father wanted to show young Luke when he was old enough. The old man goes over to a nearby chest and pulls out a cylindrical canister, which could be a space battery for all we know (if we’re an audience from May of 1977).

Why did Luke’s dad want to give him a space battery when he was old enough? Maybe because it activates a ship buried in the desert that will take him to some ancient Jedi planet, so he can find an old artifact (like a Kaiburr Crystal) that will destroy the Empire for good and bring about the return of the Jedi. Wait a second, that’s a great idea… why didn’t they do that?

Instead, they did the same old, boring “here’s your father’s sword, now use it to avenge your father’s death” routine.

Obi Wan shows Luke his father’s lightsaber so the kid will join the intergalactic fight against the Empire. It’s a powerful moment, seeing how Obi Wan eases Luke into rebel ideals by recounting Skywalker family history.

When Anakin Skywalker’s backstory is retcon’ed by the reveal that Darth Vader is (OUTDATED SPOILER ALERT) Luke’s father (END OUTDATED SPOILER ALERT) at the end of The Empire Strikes Back, this fateful conversation is made more meaningful. Viewing this scene with that information, Obi Wan is manipulating Luke here, only giving him the bits that he wants the boy to hear. When Luke questions Obi Wan’s methods in Return of the Jedi, the ghost of Old Kenobi claims he told Luke the truth, “from a certain point of view.”

This is a side of Ben Kenobi that isn’t really addressed further, but would have been interesting to explore in the prequels. Obi Wan is a man with a strong idea of what’s good and what’s evil, and he stands for the right. But his headstrong nature leads him to manipulate others in the name of the light side of the Force. His methods probably helped to alienate Anakin, turn off Owen and Beru, and, one would assume, cause friction between himself and Anakin’s wife.

Instead, Obi Wan is played in the prequels as a by-the-book Jedi who was too caught up in ancient ways to keep up with the changing galaxy. While an interesting idea, a more reckless young Obi Wan would have fit with the wiser man we see here. When he fights Darth Vader later in the film, it would have been more effective to see this duel as an old man attempting to make up for his younger mistakes rather than simply settle an old score. Sure, their shared history needs to be put to rest, but the prequels could have been a tool to inject more into the drama rather than muddle it.

As Luke is offered the family heirloom, C-3P0 offers to shut himself down if he’ll not be needed. This is the writer saying, “I don’t have anything for this character to complain about for the next couple of pages.”

As Luke ignites dad’s lightsaber, we hear the faint whirring of the weightless blade for the first time. Here’s sound designer Ben Burtt discussing his creation of the lightsaber sound effect.

It’s appropriate that one of cinema’s greatest audio effects comes partly from the whirring of film projection equipment.

Young Skywalker is pretty invested in the sound and movement of the blade, but once Obi Wan reminisces about the changing times, Luke turns it off. He asks Kenobi how his father died, and Obi Wan mentions a familiar name — Darth Vader.

Before he can tell Luke who Darth Vader is and what he has to do with Luke, we’re done with this minute and need to wait till 35:00 to find out!

Rating: 18 out of 20 years since Anakin’s death. (This gets docked two points for the screenwriter turning off C-3P0. I welcome a break from the gold droid, but couldn’t he have just had Threepio wait outside or recharge his circuits or had him read a space-novel?)

Best Performance by a Human: Sir Alec Guinness.

Best Performance by a Non-human: The lightsaber.

Originally published at mindctrlaltdel.tumblr.com.