Why the French Loved Star Wars

It’s official: the new Star Wars is very good. Heck, even the French loved it.

The last Star Wars movie to complete the six-part saga, Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, triumphed at Cannes late Sunday when it was shown at a red-carpet screening.

 

George Lucas and the leading actors, Hayden Christensen, Natalie Portman and Samuel L. Jackson, received two standing ovations from the black-tie crowd, one at the beginning and the other at the end of the film.

 

“It’s great. It’s like an opera,” US actor Billy Zane told AFP after the movie, which was shown out of the official Cannes competition.

 

“It’s a great film. A great commercial film,” a director from Mali, Souleymane Cisse, said.

Others spotted in the audience included Sharon Stone and a number of French celebrities including actor-direcor Alain Chabat.

Of course, there is a chance they loved it for one reason in particular.

Many appeared to be cheering its references suggesting a comparison between Darth Vader’s evil Empire and US President George W Bush’s administration.

 

Much of the dialogue revolves around the transformation of a democracy into a dictatorship, and a politician’s use of a fabricated war to increase his hold on power.

Sounds more like the exact opposite of what happened in Iraq. But I digress.

At one point in the film, Anakin Skywalker, the Jedi who becomes Darth Vader, even warns, “You’re either with me, or you’re my enemy.”

The phrase echoed Bush’s ultimatum made in 2001 in which he said “Either you’re with us or you’re against us in the fight on terror.”

 

Lucas told reporters that when he wrote the original Star Wars at the end of the Vietnam war he wanted to explore the issue of how a democracy turns into a dictatorship.

 

“When I wrote it, Iraq (the US-led war) didn’t exist … (but) the parallels of what we did in Vietnam and Iraq are unbelievable.”

 

He acknowledged an uncomfortable feeling that the United States was in danger of losing its democratic ideals, as in the movie.

 

“I didn’t think it was going to get this close. I hope this doesn’t come true in our country.”

 

Although he didn’t mention Bush by name, Lucas took what sounded like another dig while explaining the transformation of the once-good Anakin Skywalker to the very bad Darth Vader.

 

“Most bad people think they’re good people,” he said.

Whatever. If you want a true real-life parallel, here’s one for you:

Applause broke out at the moment the iconic black mask of Vader was presented and clicked on the head of the character previously known as Anakin Skywalker – father of Luke, the hero of the original series made a generation ago.

The same old story: people cheering on the bad guys.

2 thoughts on “Why the French Loved Star Wars”

  1. *Micol* writes:

    Although it is a rather known fact that the dark side is supposed to resemble the nazi era…
  2. Anonymous writes:

    I am sure there must be SOME explanation for the appluase when he gets his mask, maybe it was a very good scene cinematographically

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