Exploring the master craftsmanship of environmental visual communication in THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK from Hoth to Degobah to Cloud City and beyond.
Written, edited and narrated by Rob Ager of Collative Learning.
For more in depth analysis visit my website http://www.collativelearning.com
Patreon support will gain you access to more content too https://www.patreon.com/RobAger
Collative Learning Merchandise at https://www.redbubble.com/people/Collative/shop
Follow me on FB and Twitter for latest updates
FACEBOOK: https://en-gb.facebook.com/RobAgerpublic/
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/RobAger?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
I also have a FB membership page – Film, game and media analysis. Join up for discussions. https://www.facebook.com/groups/4637000646361309
And check out my other Youtube channels
https://www.youtube.com/@robag555
https://www.youtube.com/@agerbytes2492
source
Thanks for all the great feedback and additional thoughts folks. For those of you asking where my similar study on the first Star Wars film is, it's available to my Patreon supporters and on my website as a digital download. Links in video description. Rob đŸ™‚
Hoth looks like it was shot in Iceland.
1:01:29 George Lucas was raised methodist christian (my vein of Christianity) but he said in interviews he was pulling from Christian methodism, buddhism, other world religions to bring out a sense of spiritual reality. The concept Yoda was attempting to get across to Luke was the idea of faith and believing as very powerful, like Jesus said, if you believe, you can say to this mountain, be moved, and it will certainly happen. By faith, activation in the force, he rescues the X-wing from the murky depths
1:12:38 I would point out as well that though Han is engulfed in the warmth of the light, and the warm light is cast on Lando's face, behind him it's a cold light. Perhaps a subtle hint that he's hiding something from Han at this moment?
I was 8 when this came out. Man did this put the zap on me.
1:09:54 The bald man with the electronic functions could symbolize Vader's presence, but perhaps also indicate the ambiguity of Vader's current state, that there is still good in him, so you have Vader setting the trap, but also a part of Vader that wants Luke to escape, that wants Luke and his friends to be free, and is subtly helping Luke and Leia escape.
1:14:23 The raised hands of Obi-Wan give the sense of him almost praying over Luke, or giving an official sort of prophesy of the future, the raised hands are quite interesting
1:17:05 this scene was highly traumatic for me as a child, not sure why exactly
1:22:07 The blue light fixtures are interesting in this scene, they almost make you feel as if Hoth is looking in from the outside and peaking into the current moment
1:35:38 The threatening protrusions coming from the ceiling could symbolize the walls caving in, the house coming down, sort of the fun house collapsing in on itself to crush them, unless they can escape.
1:36:03 It does give a Dali vibe, perhaps indicating Luke's time is running out, like Dali's the disintegration of the persistence of memory, the melting clocks, time is fading…
1:37:09 So the idea of Vader behind the circle window, wild idea here, but you recall the star beneath bespin as Luke approached, Lucifer in Christianity was known as "the morning star" which is why you sometimes see Satan symbolized by the pentagram, the symbol within a turned star. Perhaps Vader was symbolized by the morning star, an evil presence, then appearing by the bright window, symbolizing the presence of the morning star, the evil demonic presence in the city. Might be a bit of stretch.
1:38:35 the giant techno eye is quite perfect to symbolize evil, and being within the realm of evil, you're passing through doorways of the red eye, you're actually in a giant red eye, evil really has Luke at this moment. It's similar to how evil is described in the Lord of the Rings, Sauron, the lidless eye that sees all. Satan is often also referred to as this single eye within the pyramid shape, very interesting. The bright hallway could also symbolize the fact that though this is Luke's darkest moment, it's also the moment that leads to his rescue. Symbolic of the paradox within Christianity, and other faith traditions of surrender being the first step to victory, like in AA, twelve step groups, the first step is of total surrender, admitting I can't do it, taking the leap of faith is also symbolized in Luke's fall, he takes a leap of faith, finds hope and new life on the other side of it. But it requires totally giving oneself over to God, and forsaking self. It often happens though at the moment of darkest evil interestingly enough, because only going through that horror can we at last realize our need for God, for Christ. Did Lucas know all this instinctively? Or did God work through Lucas to create this effect so that it would be there for us to notice? I notice that in my own writing, I didn't even intend that sort of depth, but somehow it's there. Like how you can find hidden codes in the Bible, through equa-distant letters in the original text.
1:39:26 When people talk about hitting a "rock bottom" in their lives, where they completely want to give up, it feels like theres no hope left, well, I've never seen it so perfectly put to film as this scene right here.
Interesting though, notice that the metal device he perches on is in the shape of a cross. Like the cross of Jesus Christ. Reminds me of after 9/11 happened, one of the firefighters saw a bit of the remains of the building standing, in the shape of a cross, with a bit of white on it, like the white garment on crosses on Easter, to show Jesus is risen from the dead. He's alive. It implies hope in a desperate situation. That when you hit rock bottom, when everything goes wrong, still the cross stands firm, even for Luke in this moment. It's all he has left.
1:40:34 the art installation thing here may be the link between Vader and the morning star, or the hope of the redemption of vader, the red eye contrasted with a white eye, pure, cleansed of evil.
Then again in 1:42:33 the art installation thing almost gives the vibe of being a representation of the galaxy image here, a ball of white light with the rings across it.
1:42:39 The eye of the galaxy could symbolize God's presence. Luke has been the through the ringer, tried to fight on his own terms, lost that fight, come to rock bottom, given his life over to God, and now he finds himself transposed from a nightmare reality on cloud city, to new white garments, safe in the distant outer space, overlooking God's presence, safe for the time being, but the battle will continue against evil in the final film. For now he rests. But now he has what he needs, to defeat Vader next time. Without the horrors of cloud city he would've never come to the end of himself, given his life over, and now he will be ready for his final battle with evil in the final film.
amazing analysis ……
Yes, this was and is still the best one.
Please make this kind of video for the other two in the OT!
That’s not a galaxy at the end. That’s a planetary nebula.
For the Bacta Tank scene, in Ralph Mcquarrie's concept art, it was red. I believe it was always meant to be red, but chose to go with a take where they forgot to change the color of the light, and it's a continuity error as you say.