The scene you've all been waiting for: Qui-Gon, Jar Jar, and Padme meet Anakin Skywalker. Yippee!
Script copyright George Lucas
script excerpted from this site:
http://www.supershadow.com/star_wars/episode_1/the_phantom_menace/script.html
INT. WATTO'S JUNK SHOP - DAY
QUI-GON, JAR JAR, PADME, and ARTOO enter the dingy junk shop
and are greeted by WATTO, a pudgy blue alien who flies on
short little wings like a hummingbird.
WATTO (SUBTITLED)
Hi chuba da naga?
(What do you want?)
QUI-GON
I need parts for a J-type 327 Nubian.
WATTO
Ah yes, ah yes. Nubian. We have lots
of that. What kinda junk?
(subtitled)
Peedenkel! Naba dee unko
(Boy, get in here! Now!)
QUI-GON
My droid here has a readout of what
I need.
A disheveled boy, ANAKIN SKYWALKER, runs in from the junk
yard. He is about nine years old, very dirty, and dressed
in rags. WATTO raises a hand, and ANAKIN flinches.
WATTO (SUBTITLED)
Coona tee-tocky malia?
(What took you so long?)
ANAKIN (SUBTITLED)
Mel tassa cho-passa...
(I was cleaning the bin like you...)
ANAKIN (SUBTITLED)
WATTO (SUBTITLED)
Chut-Chut! Ganda doe wallya.
(Never mind! Watch the store)
Me dwana no bata.
(I've got some selling to do here.)
(to Gui-Gon)
Soooo, let me take- a thee out back.
Ni you'll find what you need.
ARTOO and QUI-GON follow WATTO toward the junk yard, leaving
JAR JAR with PADME and the young boy ANAKIN. JAR JAR picks
up a gizmo, trying to figure out its purpose. QUI-GON takes
the part out of his hand and puts it back.
QUI-GON
Don't touch anything.
JAR JAR makes a rude face to QUI-GON's back and sticks out
his long tongue.
ANAKIN sits on the counter, pretending to clean a part,
staring at PADME.
She is the most beautiful creaure he has ever seen in his
life. PADME is a little embarrassed by his stare, but she
musters up an amused smile.
Finally, he gets the courage to speak.
ANAKIN
Are you an angel?
PADME
What?
ANAKIN
An angel. I've heard the deep space
pilots talk about them. They live on
the Moons of Iego I thimk. They are
the most beautiful creatures in the
universe. They are good and kind,
and so pretty they make even the
most hardened spice pirate cry.
PADME looks at him, not knowing what to say. PADME : I've
never heard of angels.
ANAKIN
You must be one...maybe you just
don't know it.
PADME
You're a funny little boy. How do
you know so much?
ANAKIN
Since I was very little, three, I
think. My Mom and I were sold to
Gardulla the Hutt, but she lost us,
betting on the Podraces, to Watto,
who's a lot better master than
Gardulla, I think.
PADME
You're... a slave?
ANAKIN looks at PADME defiantly.
ANAKIN
I am a person! My name is Anakin.
PADME
I'm sorry. I don't fully understand.
(looking around)
This is a strange world to me.
ANAKIN studies her intently.
ANAKIN
You are a strange girl to me.
JAR JAR pushes the nose on what appears to be a LITTLE DROID,
and it instantly comes to life, grows legs and arms, and
starts marching around, knocking over everything. JAR JAR
hold on but can't stop it.
ANAKIN
Hit the nose!
JAR JAR hits the nose, and the DROID collapses back into its
original state. ANAKIN and PADME laugh. ANAKIN watches PADME
straighten her hair.
EXT. WATTO'S JUNK YARD - BEHIND SHOP - DAY
WATTO reads a small portable monitor he is holding. He stands
before a hyperdrive.
WATTO
...Here it is...a T-14 hyperdrive
generator!! Thee in luck, I'm the
only one hereabouts who has one...but
thee might as well buy a new ship.
It would be cheaper, I think...Sying
of which, how's thee going to pay
for all this?
QUI-GON
I have 20,000 Republic dataries.
WATTO
Republic credits?!? Republic credits
are no good out here. I need something
more real...
QUI-GON
I don't have anything else.
(raising his hand))
But credits will do fine.
WATTO
No they won'ta.
QUI-GON, using his mind power, waves his hand again.
QUI-GON
Credits will do fine.
WATTO
No, they won'ta. What you think you're
some kinda Jedi, waving your hand
around like that? I'm a Toydarian.
Mind tricks don'ta work on me-only
money. No money, no parts! No deal!
And no one else has a T-14 hyperdrive,
I promise you that.
INT. WATTO'S JUNK SHOP - DAY
JAR JAR pulls a part out of a stack of parts to inspect it,
and they all come tumblimg down. He struggles to catch them,
only to knock more down.
ANAKIN and PADME are oblivious.
ANAKIN
...wouldn't have lasted long if I
weren't so good at fixing things.
I'm making my own droid...
QUI-GON hurries into the shop, followed by ARTOO.
QUI-GON
We're leaving.
JAR JAR follows QUI-GON. PADME gives ANAKIN a loving look.
PADME
I'm glad I met you, ...ah...
ANAKIN
...Anakin.
PADME
Anakin.
ANAKIN
Anakin Skywalker.
PADME
Padme Naberrie.
PADME turns, and ANAKIN looks sad as he watches her leave.
ANAKIN
I'm glad I met you too.
WATTO enters the junk yard, shaking his head.
WATTO (SUBTITLED)
Ootmians! Tinka me chasa hopoe ma
booty na nolia.
(Outlanders! They think because we
live so far from the center, we don't
know nothing.)
ANAKIN (SUBTITLED)
La lova num botaffa.
(They seemed nice to me.)
WATTO (SUBTITLED)
Fweepa niaga. Tolpa da bunky dunko.
(Clean the racks, then you can go
home.)
ANAKIN lets out a "yipee" and runs out the back.
Ok, imagine for a moment that Jar Jar isn't in this scene at all (he's on the ship, and/or he's the awesome gungan scoundrel). And imagine that Watto just speaks in alienese with subtitles. And that Anakin is 13 - which also strikes "yipee". I propose that in such a case, there is not actually anything wrong with this scene.
ReplyDeleteWatto being immune to mind-tricks is awfully convenient, but no more so than him happening to have Anakin as a slave.
I think we've already fixed this scene.
So what exactly is ethical use of the Jedi Mind Trick? Certainly when those weren't the droids they were looking for, Obi Wan was doing it to save Princess Leia, not to mention his own life.
ReplyDeleteIn this case, Qui-Gon is really just trying to rip off an honest merchant. For convenience. It's like a cop turning on his siren to run a red light and then pulling into the Gas 'n' Sip for a Mountain Dew.
I'm pretty happy with Watto being immune, because I like the line where he mocks Qui-Gon as "some kind of Jedi."
That "you're a slave" then "No I'm a person" line is way too heavy handed, also. Overall, though, I agree that if we cut Jar Jar and cast Anakin at 13, this scene is pretty good.
STILL, the fact that we see Natalie Portman chatting up an 8-year-old and we know what's going to happen between them romantically is way too freaking creepy.
I think we're supposed to know that Watto is charging them too much. More than a new starship? That's absurd. Also, he has slaves. So he's obviously not a Good Guy like Qui-Gon.
ReplyDeleteStar Wars has always been heavy handed. I can't really object to that.
And yet more reason for Anakin to be 13. Then it's a LITTLE creepy, but aren't we pretending she's 16?
Well just hang on there. To this point, we have not been told she is 16. Where does that come from? I mean, I've read the whole screenplay up to this point.
ReplyDeleteHeck, when I saw this movie I had been inundated with the "oh my God I saw Natalie Portman in the quad!" stories we heard at Harvard. I'm told I saw her myself, although I didn't recognize her. Apparently.
Anyway, in my head she was at least 18, and honestly I would have guessed 20 based on the importance of role in the Queen's retinue, as I perceived it at this point in the movie.
So, to me, this scene is even MORE creepy than necessary. It would have been quite easy to insert a quick, exasperated line from Qui-Gon in the previous scene, something like, "and how old ARE you?" when Panaka is insisting that Qui-Gon take Padme with him into Mos Whatever. Padme could answer with "16" or whatever is the galactic equivalent of 16 Earth years (awkward, that).
But hey, maybe avoiding talking about characters' ages in one of the ways Lucas plans to avoid the "parsec" error of the original Star Wars.
Another thought. Queen Amidala could be referred to as the "Child Queen." That supposed inexperience on the part of the monarch could have played into the Trade Federation's plans to invade Naboo. Or maybe that's mentioned earlier in the screenplay? At any rate, her age could be made more clearly an issue at that time, and someone could mention that all her handmaidens are of an age with her.
Oh, and one more thing. What is this crap with Amidala being an ELECTED queen? Why call her a queen then? I swear, this is just another example of Lucas being a revisionist historian. "Oh, I always meant for Amidala to have been elected, you know, to put her as a strong proponent of democracy in the galaxy and thus be opposed to the eventual rise of the Emperor." Sure, George. More like "Oh crap, she should have been more democratically minded all along....er....well actually, she was elected. Come to think of it. Not sure why I didn't mention that before. When I said 'queen' what I really meant was "female elected first statesman of a subset of the intelligent races that occupy the planet Naboo.' Oh, and, um, about that whole Leia character later on....when I said 'princess' what I really meant was, uh...oh, look actually child Greedo is coming up in a scene or two. You're going to be amazed at how different he was as a child. Let's watch."
Wait... is that actually meant to be Greedo?! I thought that was just a Greedo-like alien. If it IS Greedo, then Tales from Mos Eisley Spaceport and/or The Bounty Hunters are not canon, because we know about Greedo's childhood.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, it's even worse than I thought. Wikipedia says, "Padmé Amidala makes her first appearance in the prequel The Phantom Menace, released 24 years after A New Hope. Padmé is introduced as the 15-year-old queen of Naboo."
So with our revised 13 yo Anakin, this is ENTIRELY appropriate.
The elected queen thing bothered me at the time. Somehow Princess Leia being the daughter of a Senator never struck as so odd. Huh.
Well, Padme goes on to be a Senator herself. So maybe in George Lucas World, the Senate is like the House of Lords.
ReplyDeleteI just made up the bit about Greedo. It's very Lucas-y, though, and I'm excited to see how Lil' Greedo is referred to in the screenplay.
Oh, but that reminds of yet another thing.
ReplyDeleteIf Tatooine is such a backwater, why is it so cosmopolitan? If it is such a hive of villainy and corruption, and THAT's how it attracts such a wide range of aliens, then why does Qui-Gon have to explain to everyone what/where it is? I mean, it must be pretty close to Naboo, considering they don't even have to have a hyperdrive to get there.
I mean, if there's a bright center to the universe, Tatooine is the planet that it's farthest from. Or so I hear.
Oh, and also, what is with that "are you an angel?" line from Anakin?????
ReplyDeleteMaybe a five-year-old says that.
But an eight-year-old who's already some kind of genius, has a savant-like ability with electronics AND mechanics, and is a veteran of the deadly sport of pod racing?
Better to have made Anakin suspicious of Padme. IN FACT, here is yet another brilliant improvement: Anakin is fiercely loyal to Watto and believes Qui-Gon is there to rip Watto. This despite the fact that Watto holds him in slavery and exploits his abilities as a mechanic/pilot. THIS VERY RELATIONSHIP sets up Anakin's personality trait of being a follower of power, of being easily manipulated by the same. It sets us up for the Emperor to take control of him. It's perfect, it's easy, it's...somehow missing here. Instead, we get "yippee!"
On the plus side, it does presage all the horrible lines he'll throw at Padme in the next movie.
Ok, yes - that whole angel exchange needs to go. Why do we need to use THAT word? I didn't remember that. It's pretty unforgivable, really. And then to cover it up with some steaming pile of space-angel-story shit? Please.
ReplyDeleteAnd I think your Stockholmish Syndrome idea is BRILLIANT.
Also, I'm amused by the idea that Padme could be elected Queen and thus appointed Senator.
ReplyDeletewhere to start? - this scene opens many a can of worms.
ReplyDeleteMaybe senator is the natural/required move after Queen? As a CEO gets old and becomes chairman of the board, so the Naboo Queen progresses to Senator.
Evidently I blocked out the Angel conversation. Thank God. Lose it.
Rather than introducing a new species immune to mindtricks, maybe Watto could be a Hutt? That would be one more twist in the rope tieing all the movies together.
I am not as concerned about Qui-gon negotiating - Tatooine is a barter/haggle culture, and all participants use all means to gain an advantage. But perhaps he should express some resignation as he enters town about the haggling process and having to bend his morals for the good of the republic. Or, he could arrogantly comment on getting what he wants by using his mindtrick. Then watto kicking his ass would be even more enjoyable.
In this scene Anakin is briefly treated like slave when Watto raises his arm at him. I haven't seen the movie in years - but my memory is that his slavehood is benign if not indulgent. Unfortunately, a true slave experience must be denied to Anakin if he is to accomplish everything else he must do to maintain a semblance of Lucas' plot.
Now on to Lucas' second biggest gaff of the movie. A 10 year old Anakin is ludricous for thousand reasons. 13, although an improvement, is still inadequate. 16 is a minimum, and even that is a stretch.
Let's ignore the fact that Anakins is a SLAVE for this discussion and focus only on the age issues. At the time of this scene, this 10 year old boy has built a robot and a speeder and learned to drive a speeder so well, that he is racing at the highest level. I get that he is a Savant, but even a savant needs a mentor and time. This 10 year old presumably has slave duties, so he has to accomplish all of these activities on his own time.
16 gives more time to learn everything he'd have to learn to accomplish these tasks. I can't even begin to list them all, but here are few - wiring, machine design, process control, flight stabilization, programming, hydraulics, combustion, piloting, etc.
Amidallah at 20 and Anakin at 16 would lose the sick quality and becomes much more plausible. It also makes the "he's too old" argument much more plausible. After all, Luke as an 18 year old was good enough, kind of hard to buy the hard line objections to a 10 year old that crop up later in the movie. However, 16 is more believable.
Now, back to the SLAVE issue. If this is slavery, how is it any different from the life of a spoiled kid with evidently unlimited funds to to build and race speeders and robots? This slave with toys and time has got to be explained or he cannot be a slave. This incongruity must be addressed. I don't have any good ideas that retain slavery. I don't see why it cannot be abandoned entirely, as I don't recall any references or impacts in later movies.
Love the Stockholm idea - Loyalty to Watto makes sense. This could even make slavery work, if it is made apparent that Watto treats him like a son, if Watto is harassed by his fellow slave holders for being to nice, if other slaves give Anakin a hard time about it, etc. And if Watto is more demonstrably a greedy, slimy, turd with everyone else
ReplyDelete