(no subject)

[so_out_of_ideas]

aruna7's newest Star Wars vid, entitled May The Force Redeem US sparked a rather lengthy review from me in a comment to her post. The comment was so long, in fact, that LJ wouldn't accept it. The funny part of this is that it was also the short version. So, I am posting a review here, mainly for Aruna, but anyone is welcome to read it.


I am not overly a fan of "tragic" work in fanvids, especially when it comes to Star Wars. It seems to me that many vidders see nothing but angst and hopelessness. Making a vid becomes an exercize in finding the most morbid lyrics, with the loudest, most harsh and discordant music, and then seeing exactly how much pain can be splashed across the screen. The whole process seems very immature to me, rather like the horrible "pain" poetry which many adolescent writers produce, or the endless supply deathfic, suicide and the like that one finds on internet fanfic archives. This is not to say that pain and suffering are "bad" subjects. They are legitimate, and if done well, they have their place. I don't live in a happy, sunshiney world. I have had more than my share of painful experiences, and I understand what it is to feel alone, angry, hopeless, or all of the above. Those things are part of life, and any good movie or television show explores them at least from time to time. The problem is many artists (regardless of the medium) seem to think that in order to express those emotions, it is necessary to drown the audience in them, but I always watch your vids because you understand how much is enough and where the limit lies.

As much of a torment as this vid is for BOTH of us, I continue to watch it again. I really think this is a true masterpiece for you, Aruna. The choice of music is honestly perfect, both in terms of lyrics and music. The transitions between the duels are a magnificent piece of editing, though I'm no vidder, it's obvious that this took time and thought. The clips flow perfectly both with each other and the song, even in the motion of the light sabersthemselves.

Seeing the clips of everyone as friends in between the duels and Palpy scenes kills me, as I mentioned because it tears the wounds open a bit more each time there is a shift. I think for someone who has never read One Path, the vid remains entirely canon, but having seen experienced both One Path and the canon movies, for me it has double the significance, because in One Path those friendships were torn apart and reassembled even more than in canon.

I know how much you worked to make the vid reflect both universes, and I truly appreciate it both as the author of One Path and a long time fan of Star Wars.

I experience a thrill each time I see the clips of Anakin facing off Palpy in his office and when he has Dooku on The Invisible Hand because I know that those scenes are totally there in canon as well, but to me that's "my" Anakin. Despite his FPB nature, those were the times in One Path that I most sincerely loved him and understood how it was possible to believe that good remained in him even at his worst.

Even the Vader (armor) clips you chose manage to reflect a glimpse of the man that remains inside the monster, and I don't think that this is true only because I have spent time developing this theme in One Path. Those clips have not been twisted to present something that didn't exist in canon. They are as Lucas intended them to be and Vader's humanity is present simply because it exists.

Each time I see the Mustafar clips, I feel in a strange way as if I am little Ani watching the two great heroes at last come to the point of destroying each other. It is a heartbreaking but beautiful portrayal of how very much pain both men feel at that moment in time.

Including Mace and Yoda is important as well, because it makes what could have been a love-triangle vid into something much more reflective of the truth of what was happening at the end of the Clone Wars. A civilization was being destroyed. Darkness had overshadowed the galaxy and consumed the Republic. Although Anakin and Obi-Wan are central to the story, they are not all that matters. Everyone suffered, everyone made mistakes, everyone struggled in their own way to save those things which mattered most to all of them: love, friendship, peace, justice, democracy. The clips of Mace's death are horrifying to watch, but I think necessary, and I believe that they honor his heroism and sacrifice. Also, the clip of Anakin and Mace walking in the hangar tears at me even more after having written them in One Path, because even though I didn't have much time to work on it, I know that since Mace finished Anakin's training, they respected one another very much by the end, which makes it all the harder to see Anakin's betrayal.

I am also glad that you showed the deaths of Ki-Adi-Mundi and Aayla Secura (among others) as Order 66 was carried out. The other Jedi are often overlooked with such focus on main characters like Obi-Wan, Anakin or even Mace and Yoda, though not as often. But more was destroyed by Palpatine's treachery than the lives of those characters, and as terrible as it is to watch those scenes, they need to be there too.

The Shmi clip is totally unexpected the first time because it's so late in the vid and I think as a viewer I would have expected to see her in the beginning, but I admire your choice to put her there. Especially directly after Obi-Wan witnesses his former Padawan kneeling to Sideous, on the one hand it's a short breath of relief relief to see her because she was always a representation of goodness in my mind. Then it hit "GOD, how would she feel seeing this?" I think that she always remained a part of her son's life and seeing her at this time brings home the fact that she is still present.

There are two clips I absolutely love, the first which you probably expect: Bail and Obi-Wan together on Polis Massa. It's just a tiny glimpse, but for me the implication of friendship is perfect and even more meaningful in terms of One Path. The second is the AotC clip where Anakin looks back at Obi-Wan. So much of that time period is full of tension between the two of them, whether in canon or One Path, but that simple moment is enough to give the indication of friendship that still remains. I also love seeing the Padme/Bail/Mon clip. Again, just a tiny glimpse but it's important because it shows that it wasn't only the Jedi fighting to save the Republic.

Showing the TPM clip of Anakin and Qui-Gon right before Padme and Obi-Wan with the twins is really ingenius, too. It's quite simple, but gives me the feel of both tradgedy and hope, and that we have indeed come full-circle in the galaxy. Then of course the end. From Vader to the twins to the twin suns of Tatooine, and we end with the hope that all is not lost. I think that is what makes the vid something that bears watching again. The vid ends with a note of hope which especially since it's Star Wars is important to me because one of the facts that I always came away from the movies with was "there is still hope left."

This is a great piece, Aruna, and I'm honored that you chose to share it with me as made it, and that you felt it was worth the work of making it reflect One Path as well as canon.