To put it simply, Clones starts in a high place (city in the clouds) and ends in a low place (caverns) and Empire starts low and ends high. Instead, it should be read in terms of high and low. That is, the change in direction between the films should not be read in terms of going backwards and forwards. However, it’s important to point out that Clones is not telling the story of Empire in reverse. Not only that, but Clones ends where Empire begins: in the underground caverns of a barren wasteland. In other words, Clones begins where Empire ends. So, whereas Empire ends with three small ships chasing a large ship that’s escaping a city in the clouds, Clones begins with three small ships escorting a large ship that’s landing among mile-high skyscrapers shrouded in dense fog-a veritable city in the clouds. Now compare this with a sequence near the conclusion of Empire: Luke, dangling from a weather vane under Cloud City, is rescued by Leia and Lando, and together they speed away in the Millennium Falcon-hotly pursued by three Tie Fighters. But to fully understand what he’s doing, we need to do a little comparison.įirst, let’s take a closer look at the opening moments of Clones: A large Naboo Cruiser and three small escort ships (two in front, one behind) slowly descend into the galactic capital of Coruscant. So, here we see Lucas introducing an important new aspect to the ring structure. ![]() In other words, Clones inverts the structure of its corresponding film in the ring composition-and creates a kind of mirror-image symmetry between the films in the process. ![]() Only this time, some of the events in Acts I and III have switched positions so that parts of the plot unfold in the opposite direction. Like the previous pair of films, the similarities are quite apparent. In other words, Empire is fully reimagined within the context of its corresponding episode in the ring.Įxcept for one very important thing: Clones turns things on their head.Īgain, to better understand what’s going on, here’s a general breakdown of just some of the events in both films: Now, if we look at Clones in terms of the larger ring pattern, the film corresponds to Empire in the same way that Menace corresponds to Jedi, reinterpreting plot points, visuals, and other elements from beginning to end. There are a lot of reverberations, scenes that are reprised, between Empire and. I’ve done that before in the other movie, so stylistically, I’m staying reasonably consistent-not with The Phantom Menace, but more with The Empire Strikes Back. It starts out as a mystery-who’s trying to kill the Senator, and why? But that’s then juxtaposed against the love story, so I’ve got two stories being told simultaneously right from the beginning. Lucas noted the parallels just prior to the film’s release: In both films, there’s a chase through an asteroid field, a bounty hunter named Fett, a dismembered C3PO, and a Skywalker who gets a limb amputated, just to name a few. ![]() To begin with, it’s no secret that Clones corresponds closely to Empire (much like how Menace corresponds to A New Hope). So, why the change in direction? What, if anything, is Lucas up to? Literally. Immediately after the opening crawl in Attack of the Clones, for the first time in a Star Wars film, the camera pans up. Okay, well almost every Star Wars film starts the same way. The episode number, name, and three paragraphs of text scroll up and away and fade into infinity. Parallel Sections: Attack of the Clones & The Empire Strikes BackĮvery Star Wars film starts the same way: A title card reads “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.” The main title zooms out over a field of stars. Octoby Mike Klimo | Star Wars RING THEORY: The Hidden Artistry of the Star Wars ![]() Star wars ring theory You must unlearn what you have learned about a galaxy far, far away.
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