Deborah Chow must be a fan of Rian Johnson’s THE LAST JEDI. And this is not a takedown of either. In fact I loved both works. And after watching KENOBI and specifically the finale, I saw a NUMBER of visual queues that pointed from the aforementioned series to the imagery and narrative of TLJ.
Think about it, an aged out of practice Jedi Knight now forced into exile due to their failure to train a pupil who has now turned to the dark side. Both are awakened from their depression by the arrival of hope: a younger generation that will light the path to their redemption.
The stories of KENOBI and TLJ both lead the exiled Jedis to the ultimate confrontation with their pupils that have now turned to the dark side. In Obi-Wan Kenobi’s case it is Sith Lord Darth Vader (formerly Anakin Skywalker) and in Luke’s case it is leader of the Knights of Ren, Kylo Ren (formerly Ben Solo).
But the two works also share so many visual queues, and this blog is supposed to be highlighting cinematic parallels. And I think the cinematic parallel REALLY comes to a head in the duels of both films. So let’s take a look:
1.) The Face-Off Between Jedi Knight and their Dark-Side Pupil Begins
To be fair this is the image that really had me initially reeling back to TLJ while watching the finale of KENOBI. This could not be coincidence. Mirrored images of a stark meeting between two friends turned enemies.
2.) The Pupil Confronts The Master
In both KENOBI and TLJ, the pupil confronts and questions their former Master, asking their intentions. Vader asks if Kenobi is there to destroy him. Kylo asks if Luke has come to forgive me.
First here that moment is in KENOBI:
And here is that moment in THE LAST JEDI:
I think it really illustrates the audacity and self-importance of Kylo vs. Vader who is much more in check – and who has very real and realized pain. Sure he, like Kylo, is a ruler of the galaxy but Vader’s background is so much more rich that I think here the “destroy me” conflict speaks to someone haunted by an inevitability whereas Kylo speaks to someone who has zero concept of the world around him.
3.) The Master forgives The Pupil
In both films, during the course of the duel, the master apologizes and forgives their now dark-side pupil for their failures. Kylo and Vader react wildly different but I think this moment, as it is an extension of the previous images, really cements the connection between the two films. First, here is the moment in KENOBI:
And here is the moment in THE LAST JEDI:
I think it is kind of fun to see the difference between the response of Vader vs. Kylo – menacing evil vs. impetuous defiance. I do think while some might knock Kylo for the response, and even I kind of laughed at first, it does point to the greater emotional conflict going on in him and how much closer he is to flipping toward redemption (he killed Snoke moments ago) vs. Vader who has a much deeper scar and is perhaps actually the more insecure (remember how he cowtows to the Emperor later in the episode). I can’t believe I’m defending Kylo’s dumb response here but I do think that Rian Johnson meant it to be something intentional.
4. Jedi Lifting Rocks
Now I switch from Luke to his new pupil Rey (soon to be Skywalker) and compare her use of the force and how it aids in victory with force use by Kenobi – and how his use leads to his victory. The similarity is kind of a startling one: both actually lift rocks to help their side in victory. Kenobi does it to take Vader down while Rey does it to help her comrades escape to the Falcon.
And yeah, this is kind of funny because early on in THE LAST JEDI, when Luke asks Rey what is the Force, she tells him that it is a power that allows her to do special things, like “lifting rocks”. The audience laughs and Luke dismisses. But guess both she and Obi-Wan Kenobi were right about the importance of a good rock lift!
5.) Bonus Comparison – The Emperor Has Monkey Eyes!
Honestly I don’t know if this is true or not but the final comparison is not about THE LAST JEDI at all but rather EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (a film which TLJ actually drew on for inspiration). Now I am sure that Deborah Chow is an ESB fan, I mean who isn’t? But I thought what was really cool was that Deborah Chow seemed to use an eye make-up choice for the Emperor that George Lucas originally did in his first version of ESB all the way back in 1980.
A lot of people do not remember that originally the emperor was played not by Ian McDiarmid but by Clive Revell (who provided the voice) and a female body double whose eyes were rotoscoped with those of a chimpanzee. The result was this:
And honestly this version of the emperor really scares the crap out of me. There is something horrifying and truly vicious about it – almost like seeing Leatherface from Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
And Deborah Chow’s Emperor Palpatine had similar, at least to me, exaggerated eyes that were far more than what we have seen previously in the redone and reissued ESB or even at the end of REVENGE OF THE SITH. Take a look at this beautiful interpretation of the Emperor:
I am definitely getting monkey eye vibes here, even if she did not go that far, she went pretty far, plus her use of his hood to sort of hide his face also calls back to the original ESB and even THE PHANTOM MENACE (the only other film where it was really employed).
Am I crazy? What do you think? I love all these works: KENOBI, TLJ, EMPIRE STRIKES BACK – so maybe it’s too easy for me to see comparisons. But I think they are definitely there.
No Scoops Club 