Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back

The Empire Strikes Back establishes the central paradox of Star Wars fandom – its qualities are predominantly not the work of George Lucas, so the instalment that is adored by all and to a great extent defines the franchise is paradoxically an anomaly within the saga. The first Star Wars laid out the world of a galaxy far, far away and, as an update of old naïve sci-fi adventures in the mould of Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon, was intended to be a spectacle for children. Thanks to that, Lucas was able to make money from merchandising, which at the time was not yet targeted at the fat wallets of fans, but only family budgets. With The Empire Strikes Back, the franchise was catapulted to cult status in the sense of lifestyle. With its adult conflicts, tense emotions and brilliant dramaturgical structure, the second (now fifth) part of the saga resonated with both teenagers and older viewers. But instead of the father of the franchise, George Lucas, the director’s chair was occupied by his film-school instructor, Irvin Kershner, who had accepted Lucas’s offer under the condition that he could give depth to the story and develop the characters. The Empire Strikes Back is thus closer to fan fiction than to Lucas’s style of light-hearted space operas, which returned in the aspects of Return of the Jedi that were condemned by fans. Like the fan fiction that it in many respects inspired, the second/fifth episode retains Lucas’s worlds, settings, characters and basic motifs, but sets them in a stylistically completely different narrative that dispenses with naïveté, playfulness and melodrama in favour of pathos, fatefulness, intense emotions, twists and dramatic situations with a burdensome impact on the characters. Though the key twists and revelations were devised by Lucas, Kershner’s direction gives them their proper form – it suffices to compare the concept of key scenes and the direction of the actors here with the predominating swagger and inconsistent drama of the other two parts of the original trilogy. The same is true in the case of the film’s other strengths, particularly the brilliant narrative, which, instead of the linearity of the first film, offers the dramaturgically refined alternation of two parallel storylines, which is precisely timed so that the narrative never loses momentum. Together with director Richard Marquand, Lucas tried to emulate this in the last film, but the absence of dramaturgical feel and the preference for adventure attractions led to scenes that are desperately drawn out beyond the bounds of what is tolerable. In accordance with the consensus, The Empire Strikes Back is thus indeed the best episode of the saga, but it does not represent the desired culmination of style, trends and motifs, but rather a deviation or paraphrase that unfortunately reveals the saga’s potential, which remained unexploited in the other episodes. The fact that Lucas entrusted the directing to a filmmaker with ambitions and filmmaking qualities that surpassed his own is actually the cruellest of his notoriously ambiguous decisions. In the area of special effects, Lucas came into his own with The Empire Strikes Back, and the progress made in the three years since the first film, which is noticeable in every trick shot, is truly breath-taking. Lucas later diminished his contribution by releasing a special edition with added digital effects that gave the entire trilogy a uniform appearance. Much thanks and appreciation belong to the fan restoration project of the despecialised edition under Harmy’s direction, which allows us to again marvel at the original form of all three episodes. (09/03/2015) (less) (more)