Angel Heart

SPOILER ALERT! The plot will be discussed!

Angel Heart (1987) depicts a world bereft of goodness and morality, where evil reigns. The movie is most notable for Allan Parker’s directing that creates visceral responses through surrealistic and religious imagery and symbolism.

The initial setting is an inhospitable wintery New York in 1955. The opening shows a dirty, dark alley with smoke rising from vents which, in the context of this film, suggests the fires of hell. A dog and cat prowl the spot, making animal sounds possibly pointing to the bestial nature that exists even in a metropolitan city. There is a dead body with a blood-smeared face in the alleyway. No one is singing “New York, New York” here.

Harry Angel (Mickey Rourke), which turns out to be an ironic name (the title of the novel on which the movie is based is called Fallen Angel), is a lowly private eye with a messy office. He receives a phone call from attorney Herman Winesap (Dann Florek) to meet Louis Cyphre (Robert De Niro). The last name sounds like “cipher,” which means something cryptic that needs decoding. Well, if you put the first and last names together you get what sounds like “Lucifer.” So, meeting this guy can’t be good.

Angel must go to a church in Harlem which turns out to have a funeral procession outside, an ominous scene. The place is not what one usually associates with a place of worship. Pastor John (Gerald Orange) is overtly greedy as he tells his flock to open their “wallets” and “purses” because he should not be riding in a Cadillac, because if his parishioners “love” him he should have a “Rolls Royce.” Angel meets Winesap who has a partner named Mackintosh. As IMDb points out they have names of apples, and in the Bible the apple represents temptation which brings sin into the world. (Not the only time lawyers are associated with evil. There is The Devil’s Advocate with Al Pacino as Satan. The senior partners in the TV show Angel, another deceptive title, are demons). Angel sees a woman wearing a black hood (spooky) cleaning blood off a wall. Winesap says a man committed suicide by shooting himself. What a church. Do they sing “Oh, Happy Day” here?

Angel meets Cyphre who sits on a small platform almost like he is on a throne. He wears black clothes (nothing subtle about that). He fiddles with a cane (a scepter?) His fingernails are long, a possible reference to his being a demon, and he has a pentagram ring on his finger. Be afraid, be very afraid. Winesap greets Cyphre by holding his hand, like in The Godfather or, in a different context, the way one kisses the Pope’s ring. The image is one of paying tribute to a powerful leader. There are electric fans in the room which become a motif in the movie. Cyphre wants Angel to find out if a “client,” a singer named Johnny Favorite, who was injured in the war and supposedly suffered from amnesia, was alive or dead. He received treatment at an institution. Winesap, using legal language, says that there was a contract between Cyphre and Johnny, and there was to be payment for what Cyphre supplied. If he is the devil, then one would suspect that Johnny sold his soul to achieve some fame. Cyphre suggests that he and Angel met before, which is also ominous.

Angel drives to the place that treated Johnny. He has a bunch of fake ID cards, which shows his use of deception in his work, and pulls one out for the “National institute of Health.” IMDb also mentions that Angel has several keys that would be “skeleton” keys (a deadly name). In the novel they are pass keys that can, supposedly, magically open all doors, which adds to the supernatural element in the story and fits how a private detective tries to discover secrets. He discovers that a Dr. Albert Fowler (Michael Higgins) transferred Johnny Favorite (whose real name is Liebling) out of the institution. (“Fowler” is pronounced like “Foul-er,” suggestive of one who commits foul deeds. But, as we find, chickens disturb Angel, so “fowl” works here, too).

Angel tracks the doctor down through the phone directory and breaks into the dilapidated residence. Next to a bible in a drawer is a revolver, offering up opposite images of destruction and salvation. Angel finds morphine in the refrigerator, an illegal substance to privately possess. So, when the sweaty Fowler, looking for a drug fix, comes home, Angel threatens to snitch on the doctor if he calls the cops. Angel found out that the deceptive Fowler faked a transfer to a VA hospital and took a bribe of $25,000 to release Johnny to a man named Edward Kelly and a girl while maintaining that Johnny was still hospitalized. Angel locks Fowler in his room so he can’t get at his morphine to make him desperate enough that he may remember who took Johnny. In the room is another slow-moving fan that alternately shifts its blade direction. These fans seem to announce the presence of evil or of corrupted souls.

The surreal quality of the film increases as Angel hears his name whispered as he walks down a street and he sees two nuns through a swinging church door silently praying, while what looks like blood drips into a basin near them. There is an old-fashioned elevator door opening and closing inside, too. Could these images suggest the opposites of going to heaven or hell, gaining salvation or being damned?

The camera focuses on Angel holding the key to Fowler’s bedroom, another reference to trying to discover what is happening by finding out what is hidden. When he unlocks the bedroom, it appears that the doctor killed himself with his gun, the one that Angel found in the drawer outside the bedroom. How did Fowler get it if the door was locked? Angel lights a cigarette by striking a match on the dead man’s shoe, an emotionally cold thing to do. As it turns out the bible Angel discovered was hollowed out and contained bullets. Talk about danger hidden below a benevolent surface! Angel wipes down everything to erase his fingerprints (more deception).

Angel meets Cyphre in a nice restaurant which is strangely empty. Angel tells Cyphre what he has learned about Johnny, informing him that Johnny left with his face bandaged because of an injury. Cyphre is undeterred, equating Johnny with a slug who always leaves a trail of “slime” when they leave. It is a damning metaphor, and Cyphre says it as he loudly cracks the shell of a hard-boiled egg. He convinces Angel to continue his investigation by upping his fee despite Angel worrying that he could now be a suspect in Fowler’s death. Cyphre says that in some religions “the egg is the symbol of the soul.” He asks if Angel wants an egg, but Angel declines and throws salt over his shoulder. IMDb says that superstition says that one is throwing salt into the eyes of the devil, blinding the demon. Cyphre then devours the egg staring menacingly at Angel. If this guy acts like he is eating souls then he is either the devil or thinks he is.

Apparently, the church where Angel met Cyphre harbors an evil cult because when Angel returns there he finds a dead monkey that was killed as a sacrifice and other items, such as an inverted cross. Men (probably members of Pastor John’s cult) attack Angel as he is about to confront a hooded person (the person who cleaned up the blood earlier?). He escapes to a bar and meets a woman named Connie (Elizabeth Whitcraft) who works for the New York Times. She provides Angel with information as they undress (not very romantic as there is no room for love in this world). He now has a picture of Johnny Favorite who had a fiancé named Margaret Kruzemark (Charlotte Rampling). She, along with Johnny, and other companions, practiced magic. Angel then has a series of images: soldiers celebrating in Times Square; a trellis elevator, which is what he saw at the church; a person going up a staircase; a woman’s feet; and a fan in a window (lots of fans here).

Angel tracks down Johnny’s associates and starts with Spider Simpson (Charles Gordone) who is a patient in a hospital. He tells Angel that there was a musician named Toots Sweet (Brownie McGhee) who went to New Orleans. Angel suspects that Johnny and Margaret also went there. Johnny also was intimately involved with an African American woman named Evangeline Proudfoot. She had a “spooky store” in Harlem. There was also a palm reader named Madame Zora who had a booth at Coney Island. Angel goes there and it looks desolate which fits the time of year and the tone of the film. There is a geek named Izzy (George Buck) there who says he bites the heads off rats. We are definitely in the realm of the bizarre here. He wears a nose guard but there is hardly any sun. He gives one to Angel, who puts it on. He looks scary, like he is wearing a mask, possibly showing his true nature. There is a possible reference to Chinatown where Jack Nicholson’s private detective wears a bandage over his nose after getting cut, which suggests he is following the wrong scent. Angel learns from Izzy’s wife (Judith Drake) that Zora was actually Margaret who eventually went home to Louisiana.

Angel goes to New Orleans which is the opposite of New York because it is sweltering. Angel is traveling south, possibly symbolically to hell. He notices an advertisement for M. Kruzemark, a fortune teller. He makes an appointment with her. He sees a woman who turns out to be Margaret, which is kind of magical in itself, and follows her to her place. She asks his date of birth, which is on Feb. 14, 1918. She says that she knew another born on that date and she admits that he hurt her. It’s Johnny’s birth date and he eventually tells her he is trying to get information about the singer. She abruptly ends the session, saying Johnny is dead. She quickly reads his palm on the way out telling him he wouldn’t like to know what she sees, which is a bit of foreshadowing. He notices she wears a necklace that has pentagram similar to the one Cyphre wore, which indicates her ties to the satanic realm.

Angel discovers that Johnny’s secret love, Evangeline, is dead. He goes to her grave (another Gothic element added to the story) and hides as a young woman approaches the gravesite. She has a baby and changes offerings that are on the plot, which contrasts with the Catholic cemetery setting. The girl says to her child that it is her grandmother there. Angel follows her and finds that Evangeline’s daughter’s name is Epiphany (Lisa Bonet) (an “epiphany” is usually a sudden insight into something and usually has spiritual overtones). Angel accidentally scares the child with his nose shield glasses, which adds an ominous tone to his presence. She denies knowing anything about Johnny or Toots Sweet. Angel compliments her on her beauty and she smiles, showing she might find him attractive, too. (The chickens around the yard upset Johnny and he mentioned his problem with them before. Does it have something to do with Cyphre saying eggs were symbols of the souls of people, and he has lost his?).

Angel goes to a bar where the guitar-playing Toots Sweet performs. Angel asks about Johnny, but Toots is evasive. Angel follows him into the men’s room, and Toots is now upset with Angel. He is shaken when he sees a black cloth tied around a chicken foot on the sink, an obvious witchcraft. voodoo object. A bouncer sticks the foot in Angel’s face, and he again says he has a thing about chickens before the big bouncer tosses him out of the club. Angel follows Toots to a voodoo gathering in the woods where Epiphany, while dancing, performs a blood ritual by cutting the throat of the chicken and spilling it on her. The recurrence of associating blood with ritual adds a dark supernatural feel to the story.

There is another slow-moving fan in a stairwell as Angel climbs steps, which somewhat mirrors the previous image he saw as a kind of premonition. He is following Toots. He attacks Toots who has a razor like the one Epiphany used in the previous scene, which links the two characters together. Toots cuts Angel on the face, which echoes the sacrifice scene. During the fight that follows a religious statute falls from its perch and cracks on the ground, suggestive of the fall in the Bible from religious grace. Angel takes the razor and overpowers Toots. Angel then threatens to reveal Toots presence at the ritual. Toots also has the symbol of the pentagram decorating a tooth, which links him to Epiphany and Cyphre. Toots tells Angel that Epiphany is a priestess in the cult and the chicken foot was a warning for Toots that he talks too much. The association of chickens with occult groups may be another reason why Angel basically says the only good chicken is a dead one. As he leaves Angel drops Toots’s razor and a fan stops turning as he goes. Could it mean that Angel is the source of the evil symbolized by the turning fan blades?

Angel has a nightmare where he enters a dark room. The elevator appears again. His shirt is soaked in blood. He sees a razor and picks it up and blood gushes from his hand. The same person with the dark hood sits there. As he is about to reach for the anonymous person, he wakes up. Could Angel be the one causing the bloodletting, and, thus, guilty of crimes? The scene seems to link him to the blood sacrifices. Cops wake him up because someone killed Toots. His assailant cut off his penis and stuffed it in his mouth, causing him to asphyxiate. Talk about being full of yourself. The police found Angel’s note leaving contact information with Toots. He tells the cops that he was just asking Toots for some information and tells them the lawyer he is working for. Angel touched the implement of death twice now – the gun that killed the doctor and now the razor that a killer used on Toots.

In another bar, Angel prepares to call Margaret as he looks at his reflection. Mirrors in gothic tales usually represent the other, darker side of a person. Angel gets images of himself in that elevator again and soldiers celebrating. The fan makes another appearance. These images seem to connect Angel with something sinister. And something sinister occurs in the next scene. Angel goes to Margaret’s place and finds her dead, The same ornate knife he found interesting on his first visit is the murder weapon. Someone carved out Margaret’s heart and left it on the coffee table. Those associated with Johnny Favorite are turning up dead. Again, Angel handles the implement of death. He is upset and nauseous, but still searches the premises, finding a mummified hand in a box, which resembles the chicken foot that appeared earlier, another connection to dark ritualistic practices. Angel removes his name from Margaret’s appointment list so as not to be a suspect.

The unnerved Angel passes by a church (religion is on the sideline here) and drinks in another bar that has another ominous fan. Incongruously, there is a religious statue in the window, maybe showing the desecration of the spiritual. He drives past a baptism in a nearby lake, but that religious scene contrasts with a suspicious truck following Angel’s car. Angel stops at a dock and the men from the truck unleash their dog that attacks him. One of the men says Margaret’s father, Ethan (Stocker Fontelieu), is a rich man who wants Angel to go away.

Angel meets up with Epiphany and tells her she set up Toots since she was the only one who knew Angel was looking for him; thus, she sent the chicken foot warning that Toots talks too much. Epiphany is adamant that her religious group does not kill people. She now admits that Johnny Favorite is her father, but she does not know where he is.

Angel receives a message from Cyphre who is now in New Orleans and requests that Angel meet him at a church. These two again being in a place of traditional worship adds to the theme of evil undermining Christian ideals. It is funny when of all people, Cyphre chastises Angel for using vulgar language in a church. Angel tells Cyphre about the murders and notes the strange element of religious practices present. Cyphre comments on the twisted nature of the world when he says, “There’s enough religion in the world to make men hate each other, but not enough to make them love.” Angel thinks Johnny is killing those who disliked him, and he was setting up Angel to take the blame. Cyphre says he is only interested in collecting what Johnny owes him. It is ironic that he says he has traditional beliefs, such as “an eye for an eye.” We have the devil quoting the Old Testament Bible, which darkly associates the deity with his adversary.

What follows is a dark surrealistic mixture of sex and violence referring to previous images in the film. Rain is pouring as Angel finds Epiphany near his room, which is leaking from the ceiling. Inside she says her mother thought that Johnny “was as close to true evil as she wanted to come,” but he also was a wonderful lover. Evil, which can destroy also seems to fuel the fulfillment of one’s sexual appetite here. As the two make feverish love the rainwater turns to blood. There are cuts to the hooded figure cleaning the suicide’s gore, the sacrifice of the lawyer Winesap, the elevator, and the fan. Epiphany reaches a screaming climax that sounds more violent than pleasurable. Angel gets out of the bed and punches the mirror, possibly reflecting anger at his darker, other self.

The police visit Angel, and one cop spews racial slurs after seeing Epiphany in the room. They ask questions about Margaret. The police are feeling the pressure from the dead woman’s powerful father. So, they try to squeeze Angel for answers, but he blows them off. The guys in the truck with the dog wait for Angel outside. He goes after them and chases one into a barn. The other man follows and again sets the dog after Angel, who runs off through a yard full of dreaded chickens, the objects of voodoo sacrifices.

Angel attends a sordid gathering of people skinning animals and conducting cock fights, another example of the depraved environment. He meets Margaret’s father, Ethan, who Angel now believes is the Edward Kelly who, with Margaret, took Johnny Favorite out of the medical institution. Ethan takes Johnny to where gumbo is cooking. The bubbling cauldron looks like it is boiling blood, another disturbing image. Ethan says he and his daughter left Johnny, with amnesia and a bandaged face, in Time Square on New Year’s Eve in the crowd in 1943. Ethan says he did it for Margaret’s sake because she and Johnny were delving into dark magic. Ethan says the mummified hand Angel found represents the Hand of Glory that can open all doors. This idea refers back to all the skeleton keys (another deadly reference) that Angel possesses. While Ethan talks, Angel becomes increasingly agitated, chopping at mounds of ice in Ethan’s office (The fires of hell attacking its opposite?) and he knows Ethan is more complicit than he lets on, and threatens the man. Ethan says that he introduced Margaret to Johnny, who conjured up Satan, to whom he sold his soul to become famous. Johnny then tried to cheat the devil by performing a demonic ritual which included taking the soul of his victim, the soldier, and his identity, by eating the man’s heart. Afterwards, Johnny was drafted and came back injured. Margaret hoped he would restore his memory by being in a New Year’s Eve crowd again, but instead Johnny disappeared. Ethan says that Margaret kept the unfortunate soldier’s dog tags in a vase.

After hearing this tale, Angel vomits in the bathroom, most likely because he is learning the truth about himself. He looks in the mirror, reflecting the other side of his being again, and visualizes the recurring images of the hooded person wiping blood off the wall, the fan, and the soldier in a crowd. When he exits the bathroom, Angel finds Ethan dead, his head plunged into the boiling gumbo, as fire wins over ice.

Angel bursts out of the building and runs to Margaret’s apartment. He rummages through the place and finds the dog tags that show his name, Harold Angel, on them. He is the soldier that Johnny Favorite possessed. If Epiphany (who lives up to her name in being part of Angel’s revelation) is Johnny’s daughter, then Angel in a way has committed incest. Also, Angel’s subconscious self (Johnny) killed all those associated with Johnny who helped him along the way to deny the devil his due.

On cue, Cyphre is there. He has used Angel to do his work for him. However, Angel is still in denial, saying the name Louis Cyphre is just a cheap joke reference to Lucifer. He says Cyphre killed all of the people and is using Angel as the fall guy. Angel keeps saying he knows who he is, but the opposite is true. Cyphre says Angel/Johnny was living on borrowed time, and now Angel’s soul belongs to him. As he says those words, his eyes glow. Cyphre puts on a record of “Girl of My Dreams,” the song that has been playing throughout the film and which was associated with Johnny, showing how Johnny was in Angel’s subconscious mind. Angel has flashbacks of his killing the victims.

Angel runs to where he is staying and finds the cops there next to Epiphany’s dead body, which has his dog tags around her neck, courtesy of Cyphre. Angel admits that it is his place and says that Epiphany is his daughter. Epiphany’s child is there and his eyes glow like Cyphre’s, which suggests that the devil is the father. The policeman says Angel will burn for her murder, and Angel says he knows, because his soul will suffer in the fiery pit of hell. We see that elevator going downward, suggesting his soul is descending to Lucifer’s realm.

The next film is Bound for Glory. 

Cape Fear

 SPOILER ALERT! The plot will be discussed.

 

In the 1962 version of Cape Fear, one can see the influence of Alfred Hitchcock on director J. Lee Thompson. The musical score, by Psycho composer Bernard Herrmann, with its heavy instrumental stresses and flutterings that suggest shivers, communicates a feeling of impending sinister events. (Martin Scorsese’s violent, graphic remake has a horrific performance by Robert De Niro and utilizes the same score). The title of the movie is of an actual place in North Carolina, but it also sounds like a location that is cloaked in danger. The story presents the two kinds of America that Truman Capote wanted to expose in his book, In Cold Blood: the respectable, law-abiding, pleasant appearance on the surface, and the ugly underbelly of anger and violence simmering and ready to erupt from beneath that benevolent façade. The movie also asks what recourse do people have when regular law enforcement is not legally able to protect those who are being victimized.

 The film starts with Max Cady (Robert Mitchum), a vicious ex-con, entering a courthouse, his unlawful presence an affront to a place of justice (does his name imply that he is the maximum cad?). He walks up a flight of stairs and startles a woman who drops some books she is carrying. This image is an indication that Max is a threat to women. Max seems oblivious of her. His lack of either helping her or even acknowledging her presence immediately shows him to be a cold individual who is only focused on his own agenda. He is looking for lawyer Sam Bowden (Gregory Peck, who also produced the film). (Does Sam's last name suggest he is a potential weapon who might fire an arrow from a “bow” at an enemy?). Max sits down and observes the courtroom proceedings with a clenched mouth and a glacier glare which show his animosity toward Sam. 

 Outside, as Sam is about to drive away, Max sticks his hand through the driver’s side window of the car and grabs the keys. It is an invasive act which suggests the inability to escape a threatening presence. Max asks if Sam remembers him, and tells him the number of years, months, and days it has been since they last met, which totals more than eight years of incarceration. The details show the impact on Max of their last encounter. Sam does remember Max, and questions whether he blames Sam for what Max did. Max laughs, and says Sam doesn’t understand what’s going on. That means it will take some time for Sam to realize the full extent of what Max’s presence means to Sam. So, there is an ominous implication that this meeting will not be a one-time incident. As a shapely woman walks by, Max’s predatory sexual nature is evident as he talks about how the female’s “wiggle” is meant to arouse them. (In the book on which the movie is based, Max was convicted of raping a young woman, but that seemed too daring at the time, and is not mentioned in this adaptation). Max is always smoking a cigar, and in his case, a cigar is not just a cigar since it could be seen as a phallic symbol (consider General Ripper in Dr. Strangelove). Max then adds a creepy note as Sam drives away by commenting on how Sam’s wife and young daughter are attractive. The intimidation is obvious when Max tells Sam he should give Max’s “love” to his family and says he will be seeing him again. All of these comments on the surface sound acceptable, but the menace is implied, which fits in with the theme of benign appearance versus malevolent reality.

 

We have lilting, quick-tempo music which reflects Sam’s smiling return home as he hugs his daughter, Nancy (Lori Martin). Sam, his wife Peggy (Polly Bergen), and Nancy’s friend go bowling as part of a typical relaxed family outing. Into this supposedly safe space the scary Max arrives. He orders beer, not a cola. He notes the wedding ring on the young waitress’s finger and asks if it means anything to her. He assumes all women are whores and pushes a twenty-dollar bill towards her, asking if that “means” as much. She runs away from his lewd suggestion of prostitution, and he laughs as if confirming his warped assumption that all women are the same. Sam sees Max staring at him, and then misses the chance to make a spare. Max smiles, knowing he has rattled his prey. He even has the audacity to approach Sam in public, creepily saying he was just getting a good look at Sam’s family before he slithers away.

 

The cautious Sam talks to his friend, Police Chief Mark Dutton (Martin Balsam) about Max. We now get the backstory, as Sam says that he testified against Max eight years prior in Baltimore after he interrupted Max as he was beating up a young woman. She was hospitalized for some time following the assault. Sam says at the trial Max made it clear that he blamed Sam, and now the attorney fears for his family. Dutton wants to help Sam so he orders Max to be picked up for “vagrancy,” a flimsy charge. Sam is beginning to compromise his ethics as he is okay with police harassment here.

 

Max is at a bar where an inebriated, sexy young woman gives him a seductive look. The police arrive and when one of the cops grabs him, he resists. But, he quickly recovers his veneer of acceptable behavior by saying he will be cooperative, but just doesn’t like being “pawed.” It is an animal term, which fits Max’s bestial personality. At the police station, Max shows he has come prepared for any interrogation by the authorities. He declares that he is not drunk, and he has the right to be examined by his own doctor to ensure that the results of an intoxication test are legitimate. Sam enters the room, and Max agreeably consents to a strip search. Max points out that he legitimately has $5,400 in a bank account, which we later find out came from the sale of his property. So, Dutton can’t charge him with vagrancy. Max says he intends to stay in town for quite a while, which drives home how that it will not be easy for Sam to escape his presence. Sam tells Max to stay off of his property. Max just laughs, which seems like it is absurd that he would trespass, but his response really suggests he doesn’t take the warning seriously and that Sam will not be able to stop him.

 

The next shot has the camera behind a line of bushes, and as it rises we look at Sam’s house from the vantage point of a stalker. The family dog, Marilyn (a female, Max’s victim of choice) is barking, which indicates the possibility of an intruder, and the sound builds suspense. Then, the barking turns to canine whining, an escalation of approaching danger. Sam and his daughter go to investigate and become alarmed as Peggy runs toward them saying their dog is having a “fit.” They take Marilyn to the veterinarian, who tells Sam he believes that the animal was poisoned with strychnine and could not be saved. Sam realizes that Nancy was meant to see the loss of her dog, which means he knows the poisoning was an act of terror on the part of Max.

 

Sam shares his apprehension concerning Max with his family and tells Nancy that she must not leave the house or her school area. Max’s intimidation is beginning to sabotage social tranquility by restricting the family’s freedom and peace of mind. Peggy has a dream that contains bits of a conversation she had with Sam. Her anger and fear caused her to say that a man like Max should not have “civil rights.” Her subjective response is understandable, but Sam argued that a man can’t be put away for “what he might do.” He tries to keep to an objective code that requires all to be treated with the same legal requirements for protection against prejudicial impulses. In their talk Sam said that moving away would not stop Max from following, which emphasizes how quickly the course of their safe lives has turned into a road of danger with no exit. Sam knows that a man such as Max thrives on eliciting fear and Sam urged not to give into that emotion. Peggy wakes up from her dream and finds that Sam and Nancy are not in bed. The black and white photography allows no color to brighten the situation, and the shadows cast on the house’s corridors are ominous. As Peggy reaches the bottom of the stairs, no doubt worried that Max might have breached the family castle, she sees what looks like a man wearing a hat and jacket. She is relieved that it is only Sam’s clothes, and that Nancy is getting something to eat while Sam is talking to a policeman who is keeping guard over the house. But, the scene illustrates how Max has spooked Nancy and us to the point that what we see as innocent may contain an element of evil.

 Chief Dutton summons Sam in the middle of a case he is arguing. Here we have more disruption of the normal routine. Dutton says that Max has attained attorney Dave Grafton (Dave Kruschen) to represent him (does the first part of his last name imply corruption?). Max is sly as he has hired a lawyer who specializes in police harassment. In a meeting with the four men, Grafton notes numerous incidents where the police have brought Max in for questioning regarding robberies and theft, and searched his home and car after the poisoning of Sam’s dog. Grafton argues that these public displays of police involvement caused defamation of Max’s character and required him to relocate twice. Sam questions why the cops should not be allowed to do their job. Grafton is surprised that the ethical Sam is losing his objectivity and is not able to see when the line is crossed on the part of the authorities. We have here an example of how laws are made to protect individual rights, but how criminals can exploit those safeguards for their own purposes. Sam does score a point when he wonders how Grafton knew police manpower was used to protect his home. Grafton hesitates and says the information was acquired from cops. But, it is obvious Max told his lawyer based on his surveillance of Sam’s home. The threat of legal action against the police is implied, and Max’s exiting line that he will be seeing Sam again sounds mannerly but is actually threatening. 

 Desperation sets in as Sam wonders what he can do since, as Dutton points out, they can’t arrest a person for what's in his mind in the absence of evidence. Sam sarcastically asks if he is supposed to turn his house into a fort and isolate his family as he hunkers down with a gun. That normal legal means are not sufficient here is evident when Dutton suggests that Sam hire a private investigator, Charles Sievers (Telly Savalas), to dig up something usable. 

 Max is driving around with the woman in the bar, Diane Taylor (Barrie Chase). When she asks why they are taking the road they are on he says it has “better scenery.” She rejects that explanation and knowingly says that Max doesn’t understand beauty or anything that makes “life worth living,” because he is an “animal: coarse, lustful, barbaric,” another reference to Max’s uncivilized, predatory nature. She sees life through a cynical, pessimistic perspective and so she is attracted to the “bad boy,” and says he is “rock bottom.” It is, ironically, a comfort that she knows she can’t “sink any lower,” than to be with him. Max notes Sievers is following him. The rear window of Max’s car has one shoe dangling from it. Is this image a suggestion that we are waiting for Max to let the other shoe drop? 

 Sievers calls the police to report that Max is in a room with Taylor and they can arrest him for “lewd vagrancy,” something that would be considered an obsolete puritanical law today if consenting adults are involved. For the time, the following scene was quite daring as it depicts the bare-chested Max staring menacingly at Taylor in her scanty, black negligee. He forms a fist, and she knows he is ready to unleash his psychotic nature. She tries to escape, but he grabs her. The movie only suggests the violence as we hear her getting hit behind a slatted door. Mitchum’s role here mirrors the one he played in The Night of the Hunter, with both of these male characters drawn to women’s sexuality, while at the same time harboring misogynistic, abusive impulses. When the police arrive, they find the beaten Taylor alone as Max left through a back door. Taylor refuses to say anything to the police or Sievers, and she calls for a cab to take her to the bus station, hoping to escape, even though she doubts that she can. Sievers asks her to prevent Max from adding more names to his list of casualties, but she says that nobody “can protect themselves from a man like that.” She says that Max said that what he inflicted this time was “only a sample” of what might come next, which is Max’s way of making sure she doesn’t press charges. She knows once released he will come looking for her. Her impression paints Max as a man who sees himself as not being subject to the norms of decent behavior.

 

Sam arrives on the scene, and even though Sievers told her about the threat to Sam’s family, she tells him she is “sorry.” She leaves because she is not willing to take the personal risk to stand up to the man who will continue to cause harm to others. Sievers advises Sam to go even further outside the bounds of regular legal channels by hiring a man known to inflict violence for a price. Sievers suggests that with a man such as Max, one must deal with him on his own, brutal level. Sam dismisses the idea as he doesn’t want to approach that deep dark place in which Max resides.

 Max shows up at the dock where Sam’s family is taking care of their boat. Both mother and father leave Nancy for a bit to get some supplies. Bad idea, given that they know about Max being around. Sam sees Max staring down at his daughter and warns him to go away. Max says that his daughter is getting to be as “juicy” as Sam's wife. His words have sexual and food connotations, which fits Max being an animal on the prowl. Max may be trying to provoke Sam, possibly so he can lodge an assault charge against him. Unfortunately, Sam accommodates him by taking a couple of swings at Max, who makes sure those there saw that he didn’t lay a hand on Sam. He does warn Sam that his turn will come, which builds the story’s suspense.

 

The sense of danger increases as Nancy is alone in a car (why do her parents keep leaving her by herself?). She sees the ever-present Max approaching. He is like a pervasive evil entity. She runs off but can’t get into a locked building. She then enters a school as she sees Max following her (a place of innocence being desecrated?). She hears footsteps that she believes come from Max, but instead are caused by an employee. The audience shares her fear since we don’t see who is walking at first. Again, what should be safe feels threatening now. Nancy runs out of the school and, ironically, into the arms of Max, another image of the inability to escape. She runs into the street and gets knocked down by a braking car, but is only bruised. Max’s wish to instill terror is succeeding.

 Back home, the incensed Sam grabs his revolver and sets off after Max. Peggy tries to rein him in by saying how Max didn’t hurt Nancy and if Sam shot the man it would be murder, which would ruin the family, the very thing Sam wants to protect and which Max is trying to destroy. She pleads that he should offer Max money instead. She threatens to call the police to stop her husband. After Sam gets in his car, she follows through with her warning. But Sam, succumbing to Peggy’s logic, comes back in before she talks with Chief Dutton. 

 Sam decides to take Peggy’s advice and has a meeting at a restaurant to offer Max some cash. When asked to come up with a figure, Max says that eight years in prison added to the value of a family brings a high price. When Sam offers twenty thousand dollars, Max says that’s less than three thousand a year for his incarcerated time. He sarcastically asks Sam if he’s heard of the minimum wage. Max tells Sam that he lost his family because his wife couldn’t stand the humiliation of him being in prison, and she left with their son. After getting divorced, she married a “plumber,” and they had children. Max complains that his son doesn’t know who his father is. The cruel Max then basically kidnapped his ex-wife and made her write a letter with “dirty words” in it saying she wanted to be with Max for a while. He implies that he sexually assaulted her and physically abused the woman, but he threatened to give the letter to her husband if she pressed charges. Sam sees that the man is out for revenge, not compensation. Max says that he just wanted to kill “someone” (he is careful not to make a direct threat) for seven years in jail but in the last year he decided it would be more painful to exact retribution in small increments. Sam gets up and calls Max a “shocking degenerate” and the “lowest” of all the people he has encountered. Here he is echoing Taylor who called Max the “rock bottom.” Sam says that it makes him “sick to breathe the same air” as Max, implying the man is a plague infecting the human species. 

 

Sam tells Peggy that Max is after their child, and how it will be difficult to protect her all the time. If he attacked Nancy, she would be forced to testify in detail at her young age at what would be a rape trial (although the word “rape” is not used, the implication is that would be the charge). Sam says that Max would be convicted but not after the damage to Nancy was done. Sam says Max knows that Sam and Peggy wouldn't put their child through that ordeal. 

 

Sam concludes his only recourse is to step outside of the law, which ironically is his job to uphold. He decides to do what Sievers suggested about hiring thugs to hurt Max. The next scene has three men beating Max. But Max is one tough fellow and he is able to overpower his attackers, although he does sustain injuries. After the confrontation, the bruised and bloodied Max calls Sam’s house and Peggy answers. Max is sexually suggestive as he talks to Peggy and when Sam grabs the phone, Max says he will essentially destroy Sam’s life by turning the law against Sam for ordering the assault. Then he is frightening as he says that he has plans for Peggy and Nancy that make what he did to his wife look like “kid’s stuff.” His words not only stress the extreme nature of his threat but also the defilement of innocence by evil.

 

The next scene has Peggy astonished because Sam has obviously been talking about killing Max. Sam tries to reassure her that he will need help and will not proceed until all the details of a plan are in order. The option that he presents argues that the “terror” that Nancy will experience if Max attacks her is worse than if they involve her in the plot. The short scene shows how far Sam is willing to abandon legal options.

 

Attorney Grafton confronts Sam at the courthouse telling him one of the hospitalized thugs admitted that Sam hired him. Grafton says Sam’s career as a lawyer is over and will be arrested. Sam seeks aid from Chief Dutton, who is angry, given what Sam has done, that Sam would ask for help to have a stakeout to catch Max. Sam says there is a houseboat on the Cape Fear River, and he will have Peggy and Nancy there as bait. Grafton wants Sam to appear before a committee in Atlanta. Sam says he knows Max will see him leave and it will give him an opportunity to go after the wife and daughter. Sam will drive back. He wants one policeman to be at the dock to back him up and Nancy will be hidden in an obscure cabin nearby. He frankly tells Dutton he will shoot Max to protect his family. Dutton grudgingly agrees to the stakeout, but warns Sam he can’t kill Max just for trespassing. Sam is walking a legal tightrope here as he sets his trap.

 

Herrmann’s score at this point sounds similar to the heavy stresses that he used for Psycho as the story heads toward its climax. Max can pass for normal as he pretends to be asking about delivering a package to Sam at the airport. He confirms that Sam was on the plane to Atlanta and verifies the date of his return. On the houseboat, Nancy is alert as she hears the engine of another boat approaching. Peggy has a gun as she checks out who is coming. The sound of water sloshing followed by footsteps increases the tension. But director Thompson is pulling a Hitchcock move by faking a threat as it is Sam and Deputy Kersek (Page Slattery) who have arrived. The result is to ratchet up suspense and then offer relief only to be followed by more fear, similar to waves crashing and abating on a beach. Sam intends to join Kersek at an observation point at the water’s edge. Sam first calls Sievers who says that Max was at Sam’s house and confirmed that Sam’s car was there, but Peggy’s wasn’t. Sievers says Max tailed him, but then he didn’t see Max anymore. There is a plot question here as to why Max would have to track Sievers instead of just following Sam and his family as they first arrived at the houseboat. 

 

Sievers heads out to the houseboat pretending to deliver a phonograph to the family. He and Sam hope Max will follow, but Sievers doesn’t see him. Max is clever enough not to use his own car and instead hitches a ride. He observes Sievers’s actions and discovers the houseboat. Sam decides to proceed as planned and he and Kersek go into hiding. There is dissembling by both parties here and each wants to capture the other. Max swims in the river like a water snake. He hears Kersek swat a mosquito, surprises the man, and drowns him. He says to him that he will be found without a mark on him, as if Kersek died in an unmanly fashion. Max sets the houseboat adrift to make it more difficult for anybody to get on the craft. Sam finds Kersek’s body and tells his daughter to phone for help.

 

he bare-chested Max, stripped of civilized behavior, goes onboard the houseboat to confront Peggy. He squishes some eggs and coats her upper body with the liquid in a sexually suggestive image. He says she will say what happened was consensual, as he forced his ex-wife to do, because she feared Max might go after her daughter. He then begins to manhandle her as Sam gets on the boat with a gun. He finds his wife but she has not been raped because Peggy says Max only wanted to lure Sam away from Nancy. Max escaped through a hatch in the boat to go after the girl.

Max breaks the window of the door at the cabin as Nancy cowers in a corner. She grabs a fireplace poker but is too shaken to use it against the powerful man who then drags her away. Sam swims back to the shore but Max surprises him, and the gun Sam was carrying is knocked away. The two men fight, and it appears that Max has drowned Sam. But Sam is also capable of faking appearances. He grabs a rock from the waterbed and smashes it against Max's head. He finds Nancy and tells her to run and hide. Sam goes back for Max, but the man has recovered and has a hunk of wood with a large screw in it that he uses as a weapon. Sam hides and then finds the gun. As Max attacks he gets off a shot wounding Max. Max tells him to finish him off because he doesn’t “give a damn.” Sam uses Max’s own words against him as he says killing him would be too easy. Instead, because he is “strong,” he will be in a cage for the rest of his long life until he “rots.” In a way, for a predatory animal such as Max, that punishment is worse. Sam’s decision also shows that he has returned to using legal instead of vigilante justice. 

 

The family sails away from Cape Fear, but the traumatized look on their faces shows that the horror of the place will reside inside them as they attempt to resume their outwardly peaceful lives.

The next film is Gaslight.

Star Wars - Episode IV - A New Hope

 SPOILER ALERT! The plot will be discussed.

Of course most of us have seen the original Star Wars film written and directed by George Lucas. We know it was a pop-culture milestone. I attempted to see it when it first came out in 1977 when it was only playing in one theater in Philadelphia’s downtown district. It was incredibly difficult to buy a ticket. The lines were extremely long. On my third weekend journey to the center part of the city, I finally was able to see the movie. Why did this motion picture become so famous that it spawned so many films and even a TV show (The Mandalorian) along with its own theme park in Walt Disney World? Besides its innovative special effects and fast-paced editing that left audiences energized, the initial story contains archetypal character and has a mythic tale that all human beings can relate to. But, Lucas reinvents the characters and adds individual personality traits that widen their appeal.

 

 A huge influence on Lucas was Joseph Campbell, the famous scholar who studied and wrote about the world’s myths. This story, like ancient epics, and even Christian ones (such as John Milton’s Paradise Lost) begins “in media res,” that is in the middle of a lengthy tale. Subsequent parts of an epic go backward in time to show what led up to the middle part, and the whole tale concludes with sections that carry the story forward. That is the way the central nine Star Wars movies are structured. The first film introduces us to the opening words, “A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away,” which reminds the audience of the standard fairy tale opening, “Once upon a time.” The initial words evoke a feeling that we are to be presented with a very old story that is important enough that it has endured for a long time. As the movie progresses it presents technology that is advanced for us, but for the inhabitants it many times looks battered and in need of repair, as we would have to replace an aging washing machine. Through this manner Lucas is able to make science fiction relatable, and adds to the longevity of a timeless tale. As Roger Ebert notes in The Great Movies, this technique (and I believe along with beginning in the middle of the story) “gave the saga the aura of an ancient tale and an ongoing one.”

                                         

The movie throws us right into that central area with what becomes a signature orientation message that scrolls into the distance, as if written in the stars. The film begins with the universal struggle between good and bad forces, as the notes tell us that there is a battle between the “evil Galactic Empire” and “Rebel” forces. An empire communicates the accepted understanding that there is no freedom under that type of rule, and the opening remarks note that liberty is what the rebels want to restore. The words “destroy,” “sinister,” and “Death Star,” are all used to refer to the Empire, so we know who the villains are. That this is a type of Biblical David versus Goliath story is implied by the small Rebel blockade runner pursued by the huge Imperial ship. The planet-destroying Death Star is the size of a small moon, another image that stresses the against-all-odds struggle of the Rebellion.

 

Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) is trying to get the stolen schematics of the Death Star to the Rebel forces in order to find a way to eliminate this powerful ship. Her craft is damaged by the Imperial vessel and boarded by the Empire’s storm troopers (the name is an obvious reference to Hitler’s Nazi troops). She is able to program a droid (a nice abbreviation of the word “android” which is a robot that has human characteristics) with the specifications. She adds a holographic message to Obi-Wan Kenobi (esteemed Oscar-winning actor Alec Guinness) who she believes is on the sand planet Tatooine, which the two ships are orbiting. The droid is R2-D2 (Kenny Baker) who pals around with another piece of artificial intelligence, C-3PO (Anthony Daniels). The droids are the technological equivalents of movie sidekicks that are found in cowboy and adventure films. Lucas is able to successfully display the human aspects of these machines as R2-D2 is loyal and devoted, and his beeps, whistles, and shrieks mirror upset and exhilaration. C-3PO is fussy, pessimistic (“We’re doomed!” is one of the first things he says), and humorous. He, being a piece of technology, is ironic when he says he hates it when R2 spouts high tech concepts at him. He also at one point says how he hates “space travel” even though he is in a story about star wars. (The movie wouldn’t be anywhere near as appealing without the comic element involving the droids and later the character of Han Solo). 3PO’s cautious, almost off-balance walk with hands out makes him look precarious, like he is trying to navigate a tightrope between the two warring factions. The droids exhibit basic human qualities that those serving the fascistic Empire no longer have and which make the latter’s lack of individuality seem more robotic than the robots. 

 

The Empire’s second in command is Darth Vader (David Prowse, but it’s James Earl Jones’s deep voice and obscene phone caller heavy breathing that penetrates into our consciousness). His name sounds like “dark” and “invader.” He wears a black outfit, including a cape and a Nazi-like helmet which, according to Ebert, has a scary “fanged face.” The primal color of evil is black, an unfortunate fact, probably because it absorbs all light. White light, in practically all religious scriptures, represents the revealing of truth since it contains all the colors in its inclusivity. Someone who is masked appears more powerful, and scarier, since the abstract mystery displayed seems less understandable and more invulnerable. Vader is especially frightening because he has extrasensory abilities that can detect the presence of some others and is able to use his thoughts to control matter, including power over objects and an individual’s ability to breathe. This aspect of the supernatural is another element that resides in all mythological and spiritual stories, lending universality to the story.

 

R2 and 3PO are able to escape to Tatooine but Vader imprisons and interrogates Leia to find out the location of the secret Rebel base. Since the two droids left in an escape pod, and the plans for the Death Star are not on board, Vader assumes the details about the Death Star are now on the planet, and sends soldiers to investigate. The droids are captured by Jawas (whose language sounds like early versions of Despicable Me Minions). They are short technological junk scavengers that wear what look like monk’s robes. Their more mischievous nature contrasts with the similarly cloaked religious-like figure of Ben Kenobi who appears later. 

 

We now meet our hero, Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), whose last name suggests that he is destined for a life that transcends that with his Uncle Owen (Phil Brown) and Aunt Beru (Shelagh Fraser) who are moisture farmers in this arid climate. We already see that he would rather leave the domestic setting to do activities with friends away from home. Perhaps the setting symbolizes that, for Luke, it is a desert not only in fact by also figuratively which he must leave in order to grow. His uncle buys 3PO and R2. The connections between Leia, Ben, and Vader to Luke are already starting to form, which will lead to cosmic consequences. 

 

In cleaning up the droids, Luke releases a part of Leia’s message to Obi Wan-Kenobi, who Luke knows as Ben Kenobi. 3PO translates that R2 says he belongs to Obi Wan-Kenobi and wants to protect the complete message from being heard so only Obi Wan can hear it.  3PO calls his new master “Sir Luke,” which adds a sense of chivalry to Luke, as if he is part of a history of knights, which we eventually learn he is. Luke’s disenchantment with his boring life is evident, and he is excited when 3PO mentions that the droids were involved in Rebel action against the Empire. 

 

At dinner, Luke says that R2 said that he belongs to Obi-Wan Kenobi. Knowing, furtive glances are exchanged between the uncle and aunt, and we get the hint that there is more to Luke’s story than the bland surface of his life suggests. Owen wants Luke to erase the droid's memory so there will not be any indication that it was stolen. He calls Ben a “wizard,” which hints at special powers, but says the man is crazy, and warns Luke to forget about him. Owen says he thinks that Ben died about the same time as Luke’s father. Luke, wanting to know more, asks if Ben knew his father. Owen dodges the question, not wanting to reveal the truth of Luke’s heritage. Luke wants to go to the Academy earlier, another example of wanting more out of life. But Owen says he needs him now, which shows his hidden agenda of wanting to prevent Luke from putting himself in danger. After Luke wanders off, Aunt Beru says Luke has too much of his father in him so he will not be restrained, which is what Owen is worried about. Of course we don’t learn why Owen is so afraid until the second film.

 

The next shot is one of the most memorable in film history. Luke, on the cusp of setting out on a life of greatness, stares into a beautiful binary sunset on a hill, symbolizing his desire to ascend to his heroic role. The John Williams score is perfect as it swells and the cinematography is stunning, so we get an emotional surge that opens up the story by bringing an epic taste of what is to occur. 

 

R2 escapes to complete his mission and Luke and 3PO look for him. When they find him, the dangerous Sand People attack Luke and he is rendered unconscious. But a howling sound wails and scares the Sand People. It is the robed and hooded Ben Kenobi who scared them away. His attire makes him look like a member of a religious order, which he is as we learn. He puts his hand on Luke’s forehead and is able to revive him, so we see he has special powers. 

 When Luke says R2 says he belongs to Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ben shows awareness and concern. He admits that he is Obi Wan, and decides to tell Luke that the young man’s father was a Jedi Knight, like Ben, and that they both fought in wars. The “knight” reference is another instance of adding a sense of ancient history to a modern tale, again making the story feel like a timeless rendering of heroic deeds. Ben praises Luke’s father for being a “cunning warrior,” and a great pilot. Ben acknowledges he has heard of Luke’s ability as a pilot of a landspeeder, cementing the father-son heritage. He says that Owen didn’t want Luke to know about his father for fear Luke would go on some quests, putting himself in danger. But, that is what a crusading knight does. 

 

Ben gives Luke his father’s lightsaber, one of Lucas’s most well-known creations. It combines future technology with the medieval version of a sword, again nicely welding the old and the new into one uniting object. Ben calls the lightsaber, “An elegant weapon for a more civilized age.” Many times science fiction shows a future that comments on the shortcomings of the present by metaphorically placing events in the future and suggesting the solutions to problems exist in the past. Ben stresses this idea when he informs Luke that for thousands of generations “the Jedi Knights were guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic, before the dark times, before the Empire.” 

 

Luke asks what happened to his father. Ben says that he had a pupil named Darth Vader who became “evil.” He betrayed and killed Luke’s father (a distorted version of the truth, which we do not learn until The Empire Strikes Back). We now see that Luke’s connection to the primal fight between good and evil is part of his destiny. Darth Vader hunted down and destroyed the Jedi Knights, and they are all but “extinct.” Ben says that Vader was corrupted by the dark side of the Force, which Ben says “gives a Jedi his power.” Ben describes it as “an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us, penetrates us. It binds the galaxy together.” By introducing us to the Force, Lucas accomplishes a few goals. He inserts the religious, supernatural element that is in mythological stories. By doing so, he taps into the ageless desire to connect with some power beyond the individual’s basic abilities. It also contrasts materialistic technological achievements with something that transcends the limitations of science. (Even Vader says that the power of the Death Star is “insignificant next to the power of the Force”). And, it offers a hopeful feeling that everyone is connected to each other. 

 

Since R2 has found the person Leia sent him to deliver his message, the droid plays back the full message. The holographic Leia says that her father served with Ben and she is trying to get the information stored in R2 to help the Rebellion in its most “desperate” time. She says that Ben is their “only hope” of getting R2 to her father on Leia’s home planet of Alderaan since she has failed in that mission. Ben decides that he needs Luke to learn the ways of the Force and help him complete the task. Luke says he can’t abandon his uncle and aunt, but promises to get Ben to a place where he can acquire a transport spaceship. We have the elements of a classic story of a young person who is caught between the draw of staying in the safety of his home and the desire to venture out to expand one’s experience and develop one’s potential. The story of the orphan who discovers his true heritage is also a standard plot in fiction, as that youth seeks a parental figure to fill a void that existed since birth. Ben is that father figure and mentor in this episode of the series

 

The story taps into the shared fear of losing liberty by having the high ranking Grand Moff Tarkin (Peter Cushing) on the Death Star informing his staff that the Emperor has suspended the Imperial Senate. He now runs the Empire with his local governors. With the use of the Death Star, the plan is to wipe away all that is left of whatever democracy remains in this sector of the galaxy. 

 

Luke and Ben find a destroyed cargo vehicle that belonged to the Jawas. Ben determines that Imperial storm troopers engineered the attack, and Luke now knows that they are tracking down the information contained in R2. So, he realizes that his family is in danger since the Jawas sold the droids to his uncle. Luke finds the burned remains of his home and aunt and uncle. He no longer has anything to hold him there, so we have him tragically freed to go on his hero quest. Now that he has some understanding of his past and has been personally affected by the evil enemy, he tells Ben he wants to go to Alderaan, learn about the Force, and become a Jedi. Finding one’s purpose is another example of a theme that resonates with everyone.

 

In the spaceport of Mos Eisley, a place of notorious “villainy” as Ben says, they seek a ship to transport them. Ben’s use of the Force is on display as it serves as a deterrent to that of Vader. He is able to get them past Imperial guards by controlling their minds, and is adept at defending Luke against one of the nasty customers with a lightsaber in the cantina they enter. The place has all sorts of strange looking creatures and the scene combines the right amount of danger and humor. Ben talks with the tall, furry Wookiee, Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew), who introduces them to his partner, the smuggler Han Solo (Harrison Ford). He is the archetypal bad boy who appears to be only interested in himself (his last name is “Solo” after all), but who, according to type, will find his morality and commitment to help others in the end. But Lucas and Ford bring dimension to this stock character by adding humor and swagger. 

 

While haggling over the deal to go to Alderaan, the rivalry between Han and Luke begins. The proud Han boasts about the speed of his ship, the Millennium Falcon, and the price he charges makes Luke feel like they are being cheated. Han is condescending about Luke’s claim that he is a good enough pilot to fly a ship himself. After Luke and Ben must quickly leave when storm troopers show up, Han tells Chewbacca that the payment will get him out of trouble. So, we know he has a huge outstanding debt, which is in keeping with his unlawful ways. He runs into Greedo (Paul Blake), a pointy, rubber-faced alien with a money-loving name, who is employed by the infamous Jabba the Hut, the creature Han owes money to. Greedo is trying to get the cash for himself and appears ready to do away with Han. Han is cool and can defend himself, blasting away the collector. (The revised version adds a scene that was edited out of the original film where Han meets the giant slug-like criminal, Jabba. Jabba’s gross appearance paints him as a stereotypical fairy-tale villain. Han persuades Jabba to give him more time to compensate for the smuggled cargo he dumped when being chased by Imperial forces. The scene shows Han is only concerned about his own interests at this stage).

 

Back at the Death Star, Vader notes that Leia has been able to surprisingly resist the use of “mind probe” drugs during the interrogation. Her character in fairy tales would make her the “damsel in distress” who must be rescued by the male protagonist. But, Lucas has made Leia a feminist heroine. She is the one who has taken on the dangerous mission to deliver the Death Star specifications. When Luke eventually says he has come to rescue her, she berates him and Han for not even having a plan, and is the first one to grab a weapon to blast open an escape route. She has a wicked sense of humor when she tells Grand Moff Tarkin that she recognized his “foul stench.” Later she calls Chewbacca a “walking carpet.” The David versus Goliath theme is depicted when she says when she first sees the disguised Luke, “Aren’t you a little short for a storm trooper?” It is again stressed in her words to Tarkin when she says, “The more you tighten your grip, Tarkin, the more star systems will slip through your fingers.” It is a good line, which visualizes how the small by their nature can evade those that are larger, and can live to fight another day. But, Tarkan demonstrates the total destructive nature of the Death Star by obliterating Leia’s home planet of Alderaan. It is an act of genocide, another reference to what the Nazis and other brutal civilizations have tried to accomplish. This action shows how technology can be vastly abusive when in the hands of those whose morality is completely corrupted by power.

 Luke criticizes the Millennium Falcon for being an old ship, but it fits in with Lucas’s providing a lived-in, realistic version of a science fiction tale. Han’s upgrades make it exceptionally fast. Lucas again shows the link between the old and the new, emphasizing the epic scope of the story and showing how those who are young need the wisdom of history and older individuals who have lived it. Likewise the elderly need the vitality of the young to fight for just causes, which is shown as the Falcon and its passengers are able to escape storm troopers and Imperial cruisers.

 

Ben feels the pain of the millions destroyed by the Death Star, showing how the Force symbolizes how everyone is connected, and the wrongful harm against one affects everyone else. Luke is practicing lightsaber maneuvers and the disbelieving Han says, “Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster.” At this point he is a cynic who just wants to put his faith in the material aspect of the world. Luke takes Ben’s advice of having his eyes shielded against the small drone used in the exercise. Ben tells him that what one sees can be deceiving, and he should “act on instinct,” and his “feelings,” intangibles that use one’s inner strength, which is the opposite of what Han says. Luke is successful, and Ben says, “You’ve taken your first step into a larger world.” All of us can relate to that path that takes one from the self-centered myopic view of a child to a vision of existence that has more depth and a wider lens of perception. (On a humorous note, one of my favorite alliterative lines occurs here. Han advises not beating Chewbacca at a holographic game because Wookiees can pull arms out of their sockets. 3PO tells R2, “Let the Wookiee win.”)

 

After realizing that Alderaan is no more, The Falcon encounters the Death Star which draws it in with a tractor beam. Han has hidden compartments in which he smuggled cargo, and the crew remains there until they can escape before being detected. It is an example of what Leia said about the small evading the larger foe. They overpower a couple of storm troopers and are able to hide in plain sight using the uniforms. Once R2 accesses the computer system they know where to release the tractor beam. Ben says he will handle that, and he already knows that Luke’s “destiny lies along a different path” from his. It is another universal example of an individual leaving the instruction and protection of a parent to find one’s own road on which to travel. Ben says the Force will always be with Luke. So, this otherworldly power that Ben has introduced Luke to is Ben’s legacy to his protege, one he hopes will turn out better for Luke than it did for Vader. Vader, however, with his powers of the Force, can feel beyond that which the senses can detect, and notes an old “presence” which he can’t determine just yet. It is that of his old teacher, Obi Wan. 

 

When R2 discovers that Leia is on board, Luke, who has seen her recording and is drawn to Leia, wants to save her. She is scheduled to be executed. Han doesn't want to stick his neck out, saying, “better her than me.” Luke appeals to Han’s selfish interests by saying there will be a reward if they rescue Leia. After she shows her toughness, Han’s admiration for her is evident when he says he’s “either going to kill her, or I’m beginning to like her.” A little later she admits to admiring his courage as he charges at the enemy so that the others can reach the Falcon. It’s that traditional love/hate relationship that is beginning to reveal itself, with the accompanying humor as the romantic leads insult each other, with their true passion simmering below the surface. 

 

Lucas has some more fun with the traditional hero quest story as he places the protagonists in a garbage compartment, and even though it is a dangerous situation as the compacting walls close in on them, it is still an unusual and comical challenge which in this case the sidekicks, 3PO and R2, not the principles, as is usually the case, save them. As Luke and Leia head to the ship they are pursued by storm troopers. There follows an Errol Flynn type of scene where, instead of high-tech tools, Luke slings a rope with a small grappling hook around a high outcropping of metal and swings them across a deep air shaft. Leia even gives him a kiss for luck, as an old-fashioned heroine might do, which again links the past to the future appearing setting.

 

The ages-old face-off between the forces of good (Ben) and those of evil (Vader) is actually a diversion set up by Ben after he deactivates the force field restraining the Falcon. He wants to give Luke, the one who must continue the nobility of the Jedi, and the others time to get away. Vader sees the fight with Ben as a way to show that he was once “the learner” but is now “the master.” But Ben’s morality is superior since to him it’s a desecration to turn the uniting power of the Force into a weapon to foster arrogance. That is why he says Vader is only a “master of evil.” Vader seems to defeat Ben with his lightsaber, but actually Ben transforms himself into a pure spiritual form, leaving no corporeal remains behind. He transcends this world and completely merges with the Force. The scene depicts a spiritual rising above material existence. Luke is devastated as he sees Ben “lose” to Vader, but as he and the others get away, he hears Ben’s disembodied voice telling him to run. 

 

There are more references to the past with the blaster cannons on the Falcon that swivel like the turret guns used in WWII aircraft (as Ebert notes). When 3PO is damaged, he says “I’m melting,” which is an obvious reference to the 1939 film, The Wizard of Oz, which links the magic in that old movie to the wizardry in this space epic. However, the insightful Leia realizes the enemy allowed them to escape or else they would have been stopped. She realizes that the Imperial forces are tracking them, which is confirmed by Tarkin, who wants to follow Leia and her companions to the secret Rebel base. She just hopes that the specifications of the Death Star are intact and that the Rebellion can find weaknesses in the Death Star. But, Han assures her that he just wants his money, and doesn’t care about the Rebellion. She bitterly tells him he’ll get his money since that is all he cares about. At least in this movie, there is a bit of a love triangle going, another time-honored plot device, as Luke discourages Han’s interest in Leia, who, as we know turns out to be his sister in the later films, and which, in retrospect, is a bit disturbing, like the plot of Back to the Future.

 

The Falcon arrives at the Rebel base on a moon orbiting the planet Yavin. They review the Death Star schematics. The David and Goliath metaphor appears again here as Rebel Commander General Dodonna (Ales McCrindle) says the Death Star was designed to defend against a large-scale attack, but a smaller fighter craft can penetrate its defenses. It can fly down a narrow trench on the surface and drop torpedoes into a shaft with a small opening that leads to the reactor which will destroy the spacecraft. Luke, the David in this analogy, feels he has the experience to accomplish the task because he “used to bulls-eye womp rats,” back on Tatooine. Dodonna’s last line is now the often repeated “May the Force be with you.” It is an obvious variation on “May the Lord be with you,” the Christian blessing, which connects to the audience by invoking a centuries old phrase, and which also links us to an otherwise alien civilization. 

 

Han loads up the Falcon with his reward and Luke tries to appeal to his humanitarian side by stressing that Han can add meaning to his life by joining a fight for the greater good. Han does not see attacking the Death Star as an act of “courage” but instead calls it a “suicide” mission, and wants Luke to go along with him since he’s a good fighter. Luke tells him to take care of himself, because that's what he’s “best at,” indicating Han’s inability to see past his own interests. Han, the previously self-proclaimed non-believer in anything that transcends materialistic personal gain, now is able to give the “May the Force be with you” blessing to Luke.

 

Lucas once more gives us a battle in the stars that is reminiscent of an old airplane dogfight from the past to allow the audience to relate to the story. Before the Death Star is in range of the moon, the Rebels fly their fighters as they meet resistance from laser cannons and Imperial aircraft. R2 is on Luke’s craft for technical assistance to show how humans and machines can merge in harmony for good, and not just for dark purposes. But Luke hears Ben’s voice assuring him that the Force is with him, and that he should trust his “feelings,” and “use the Force” to rise above material restraints. Vader himself joins the battle. He recognizes that Luke is strong with the Force, but just as he is about to destroy Luke’s ship, Han, now committing himself to a cause beyond his own needs, appears and fires on Vader's group, causing Vader’s ship to fly off course. Luke releases the torpedoes without the computer’s aid and uses the Force to find the target and destroy the Death Star. After the hard fought battle, you feel like standing up and cheering, so effective is Lucas’s direction in this sequence.

 

After landing, the three main characters hug as they rejoice, and Leia says she knew there was “more” to Han than “just money.” Even the self-absorbed 3PO (who originally told R2, “Why I should stick out my neck for you is far beyond my capacity”), shows how the desire to help others is contagious as he offers to donate any of his parts to repair the damaged R2. The film ends in a large hall filled with the troops of the Rebellion, now showing that their size and accompanying spirit has grown in size to take on the Goliath dimensions of the Empire. To John Williams’s triumphant music, Luke, Han, and Chewbacca stride down to the dais where Leia presents medals of valor to Luke and Han, with 3PO and the restored R2 in attendance.

 

Despite the emphasis on special effects and technology, Lucas’s focus in the story emphasizes the intangibles inside a person, one’s morality, courage, and faith and the desire to care for others.

The next film is The Big Short.