Vader telling Luke that he is his father is one of the most iconic moments in cinema. For good reason. But the scene that precedes that is just as good and sets up that moment so well and I want to talk about that a little bit. The scene sets up Luke walking around in a narrow room, looking for his villain, notably anxious and rattled.
Vader comes out of the shadows and launches an assault on Luke, who is struggling to keep up. The path gets narrower and narrower as Vader pushes Luke back, making the scene more chilling and intense, as we know that Luke has little chance at this point.
He gets Luke to the ground and almost all hope is lost. Luke is terrified and Mark Hamill does a stellar job of this short realization that he is utterly screwed. He lies still, shaking as the lightsaber inches closer toward his face. One can't help but wonder what Luke is thinking? What can he do? Will he join him? Why won't he act?
But then he hears the name of his old master, Obi-Wan.
Luke comes to life in defiance of his fate.
And against all odds, the protagonist manages to graze his much more powerful villain. You can tell that Vader is furious but the audience is suddenly given a brief hope, a slim chance of Luke's success. The tone went from defeated to exhilarating. Luke, himself, is probably feeling that same excitement as he fends off Vader. By now, Luke is on an even smaller catwalk, the stakes at an all-time high.
Vader slices through a nearby panel of beams - note that they are central to the shot, almost hiding the scene for a bit.
And then, just as we feel that glimmer of hope, Luke loses his hand.
Remember those beams? The framing of the bottom shot is interesting - obviously for the time it was made, they weren't going to show Luke's stump. But they show you the charred remains of the panels below, giving you a gruesome hint. Yellow lights flash around them, giving the effect of a throbbing pulse.
The last shot of the sequence has Luke down on his knees, looking up in horror as Vader's lightsaber dominates the shot around him. There is a feel here of an inexperienced child looking up to a powerful adult, expertly hinting at what is about to come next.
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