Brian Kesler (bckesler)

If I were forced to pick a favorite film, it would be 'The Empire Strikes Back'. What other film supplies you with deeply rich lighting and camera work, along with an engaging story, flawless special effects, beautiful sets, and long lasting, almost God-like characters. I say God-like because they've become completely embedded into the psychological structure of pop culture. Several years from now, I predict that the story of Luke Skywalker's battle against the ruthless Empire will turn into deep mythology, the same way Robin Hood, or King Arthur have. The film is the most perfect mixture of visuals, sound effects, and music that has ever been captured. George Lucas' first chapter in the series(or fourth, depending on how you look at it) was a modern reimagining of the serial adventure films from the 1930s. Specifically regarding 'Buck Rogers'. The story had been taken directly from Kurosawa's 'The Hidden Fortress', making the film a mixture of high stakes adventure, western, space opera, and a Samurai movie. This second chapter in the saga(or fifth, if you will), deeps into more mythological routes, almost abandoning the high stakes adventure, and diverting more into Space Opera. Things are far more serious and brooding. They are also more developed and better characterized. The film was directed by Irvin Kerschner who focused more on character study. This is obviously the best of the series. The character are more compound and rich, and the dialogue, though still dry and withered, has more life. For instance, can you imagine if Han Solo had said, "I love you too." in response to Princess Leia? It took Kerschner to say, "Say something else, Harrison." Of course, what Harrison ended up saying was, "I know." It is the most perfect exchange of lines that has ever been filmed. Kerschner understands something that Lucas doesn't, and that is subtext. This is the one and only 'Star Wars' film that has any subtext, and the characters are more life-like and more profound because of it. There are moments in the film of pure genius. Darth Vader's revelation sequence is the first to come to mind. Let it be known that the intricate choreography of the saber fights in Episodes I-III can not ever replace the tense, emotional saber battle from 'The Empire Strikes Back'. It is, possibly, the greatest sword fight of all time. Something interesting is that the rule for the first two films(four and five) was that there would be no music during the saber fighting. This is what set the lightsaber battles out and made them unique. However, in 'Return of the Jedi' they used music in the sword fight(very wisely) but it broke the tradition, and the soundtracks for the newer films are so cluttered. I'm breathless every time I see the battle between Luke and Vader, because the sound effects of the Sabers(Ben Burtt is a genius!) IS the music for the scene, and is accompanies the action far better than any actual scoring could. That is not to undermine the music of the film. Quite the opposite: They knew where to place the music, and where to keep it silent. Something that nobody in the business knows how to do in today's world. John Williams timeless score is the perfect embodiment of the action. When most composers would fill the moments of action with a thunderously ominous underscore, Williams uses a deeply romantic one, counter-acting the action. Yoda is so life like. You'd never know he was a puppet. Frank Oz(the voice of Yoda and . . . Miss Piggy) was a God given gift to Lucas and Kerschner. The film is elevated to the skies because of his portrayl. When the movie had been released, Lucas tried his heart out to campaign for Oz to be nominated for Best Actor at the Academy Awards, and the brainless Academy replied, "Puppetry is not acting." This shows the utter knowledge-less-ness of the Academy. Puppetry is so acting, and Frank Oz not only deserved the award, but as far as I'm concerned, it's one of the greatest acting performances in history. People often times ask me what separates this film from mindless action/adventure flicks. The answer is this: Through out the whole film, Darth Vader is killing people left and right for making stupid mistakes. At the end, the one time some one makes the greatest mistake out of all, Darth Vader stands alone, looking out the window. He looks down, back out the window, and then saunters right past the person whose fault it was, not looking at him, and doesn't do a thing. He doesn't kill him. This is the greatest moment in the film, and it answers the question that Luke has to ask himself: "Is Darth Vader my father?" Obviously so. If I may add one more thought: When Luke jumps into the bottomless pit, he curiously falls into a hole in the hall that guides him through a tunnel which reveals a trap door at which Luke falls through, finding himself hanging underneath Cloud City. Several people have had many arguments regarding this scene. To me, the answer is simple: Darth Vader. He saved Luke using the force. It's never explained to us though, as nothing else is. And that's why 'The Empire Strikes Back' is a work of genuine art.

Nothing compares with the final scenes of this dark drama, where Norma Desmond, famed star of yesteryear, finally gets her long awaited close up. The irony of this film is that Gloria Swanson was a washed movie star at the time of filming. It is the greatest film of her career because it is real. I find that the level of "realness" no matter what type of movie it is, greater determines the success of that movie.