Anakin learns he's free but his mom will remain a slave. See comment section for our thoughts!
Script copyright George Lucas
Script excerpted from this site:
http://www.supershadow.com/star_wars/episode_1/the_phantom_menace/script.html
EXT. TATOOINE - STREET - SLAVE QUARTERS - DAY
ANAKIN and A GREEDO are rolling around on the floor, fighting.
About A DOZEN OR SO KIDS are standing around them, yelling.
Suddenly, a long shadow is cast over the TWO BOYS; they stop
fighting and look up. QUI-GOMN is towering above them. KITSTER
is with them.
QUI-GON
What's this?
ANAKIN
He said I cheated.
QUI-GON
Did you?
ANAKIN
No!
QUI-GON
Do you still think he cheated?
GREEDO
Yes.
QUI-GON
Well, Annie. You know the truth...
You will have to tolerate his opinion,
fighting won't change it.
QUI-GON moves off down the street. Anakin follows. The GREEDO
wanders over to WALD who has been watching the goings-on.
WALD
Keep this up, Greedo, and you're
gonna come to a bad end.
Farther down the street QUI-GON and ANAKIN head toward
Anakin's hovel.
QUI-GON takes a handful of credits from beneath his poncho
and hands them to the boy.
QUI-GON
These are yours. We sold the Pod.
ANAKIN
(suddenly beaming))
Yes!
INT. ANAKIN'S HOVEL - MAIN ROOM - DAY
SHMI is cleaning up as ANAKIN bursts through the door,
followed by QUI-GON.
ANAKIN
Mom, he sold the Pod. Look at all
the money we have!
ANAKIN pulls a bag of coins out of his pocket.
SHMI
Oh, my goodness, That's wonderful.
QUI-GON
And Anakin has been freed.
ANAKIN
What?!?
QUI-GON
You're no longer a slave.
ANAKIN jumps for joy! SHMI is stunned.
ANAKIN
Did you hear that, Mom?
(to Qui-Gon)
Was that part of the prize, or what?
QUI-GON
Let's just say Watto has learned an
important lesson about gambling.
SHMI
Now you can make your dreams come
true, Annie. You're free!
(turns to Qui-Gon)
Will you take him with you? Is he to
become a Jedi?
QUI-GON
Our meeting was not a coincidence.
Nothing happens by accident.
(to Anakin)
You are strong with the Force, but
you may not be accepted by the Coucil.
ANAKIN
A Jedi! Mighty blasters, you mean I
get to go with you in your starship
and everything?!
QUI-GON kneels down to the boy.
QUI-GON
Anakin, training to be a Jedi will
not be a easy challenge. And if you
succeed, it will be a hard life.
ANAKIN
But it's what I want. What I've always
dreamed about. Can I go, Mom?!
QUI-GON
This path has been placed for you,
Annie; the choice to take it is yours
alone.
ANAKIN thinks, looks to his mother, then to QUI-GON.
ANAKIN
I want to go.
QUI-GON
Then, pack your things. We haven't
much time.
ANAKIN
Yipee!!
ANAKIN hugs his mom and starts for the other room, then stops.
SHMI and QUI-GON give each other a knowing look. ANAKIN has
realized something.
ANAKIN
What about Mom? Is she free too?
You're coming, aren't you, Mom
QUI-GON
I tried to free your mother, Annie,
but Watto wouldn't have it.
ANAKIN
But the money from selling...
QUI-GON
It's not nearly enough.
SHMI comes over to her son and sits next to him. Taking both
of his hands in hers, she draws him close.
SHMI
Son, my place is here. My future is
here. It is time for you to let go...
to let go of me. I cannot go with
you.
ANAKIN
I want to stay with you. I don't
want things to change.
SHMI
You can't stop change any more than
you can stop the suns from setting.
Listen to your feelings; Annie, you
know what's right.
ANAKIN takes a deep breath, drops his head. QUI-GON and SHMI
exchange a look of concern. When ANAKIN raises up, there
are tears in his eyes.
ANAKIN
I'm going to miss you so much, Mom...
SHMI
I love you, Annie... now hurry.
ANAKIN and SHMI hug. ANAKIN runs into the other room.
SHMI
Thank you.
QUI-GON
I will watch after him. You have my
word. Will you be all right?
SHMI
He was in my life for such a short
time.
WALD
ReplyDeleteKeep this up, Greedo, and you're
gonna come to a bad end.
....so....? One way or another this is wrong. Let me try to organize this disaster.
1) This is not the same kid as Anakin's Greedo-like friend from earlier in the film, right? Because that kid had a name that was not Greedo. But maybe I'm wrong.
2) This kid is actually referred to as "Greedo." Plus, we get a cute Lucasy line of dialogue about Greedo coming to a bad end. AND this is taking place on Tatooine.
3) It's CRYSTAL that this is supposed to be the same Greedo that Han Solo shoots.
4) If so, this is really stupid and more stupid stupid coincidental crap. I'm reminded of Isaac Asimov somehow pulling R. Daneel Olivaw into the Foundation universe in his disastrous finale to the Foundation saga, "Foundation and Earth."
5) On the other hand, what if it's not our favorite Greedo from the Mos Eisley Cantina? It's just some other random Greedo-species-being? That's possibly even dumber. It's dumber than dumb.
6) Next, just a note if you're confused (as I was) about there possibly being two Greedo kids. There are. In fact, they are talking to each other in this scene: Wald is described earlier in the screenplay (in the "meet the midichlorians section) as a Greedo-type, and is a friend of Anakins. "Greedo" is a different character, the churlish juvenile we see here.
7) NOW, it should also be noted that Heelzebub has stated earlier that, according to (the infallible) wookieepedia, Han Solo's Greedo is NOT EVEN FROM TATOOINE.
8) Conclusion: Major error.
9) Suggested correction: Removal from screenplay.
10) Further note:
Here's how wookieepedia (read: Lucas) tries to get around this ridiculous error:
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Greedo_%28disambiguation%29
Greedo was the name of two different Rodian bounty hunters.
Greedo the Elder, who had a minor scuffle with young Anakin Skywalker on Tatooine,
Greedo, who was killed by Han Solo in Chalmun's Cantina on Tatooine.
......sure, George. Sure.
Jesus Christ. I completely missed that in the theatre, I think. Yes, it is painfully, painfully obvious that this is meant to be THE Greedo. But I refuse to accept that. So instead we have to accept that apparently "Greedo" is like "Jim". But really, since the whole scuffle adds nothing and produces this disaster, let's just cut the whole thing.
ReplyDeleteWhich lets us focus our attention back on our child actor. He's awful in this scene. Awful. Is "mighty blasters" supposed to be "gee willikers"? I think I'd rather have "gee willikers".
I will admit that this is one scene that SHOULD benefit from having a younger character... nobody's going to cry about a 16 year old boy leaving his mom. But any pathos is completely lost by his agonizing dialog and stilted delivery.
Next section for comment:
ReplyDelete"Farther down the street QUI-GON and ANAKIN head toward
Anakin's hovel. "
Hovel? That "hovel" looks like a pretty nice two-bedroom apartment. Which, again, is fine with me (the audience doesn't see the word "hovel" on screen so it doesn't matter) if you have the ol' apartment be a symbol of Watto's largesse toward his favorite slave, Anakin. The 16-year-old Anakin, that is, who acts as his street enforcer through his self-taught mastery of the force! Which occasionally gets out of control because
1) He has no formal Jedi training, and
2) He is freaking filled with anger!!!!
This is so easy.
Agree that the Mighty Blasters thing is dumb. In contrast, his shout of "Yes!" a few lines earlier is perfect. THAT is how you get around not cursing or using English metaphors in a science fiction film.
ReplyDeleteAlso, if you grant me Anakin's revised age and street tough status, it makes it a whole lot easier for Yoda and Samuel L. Jackson to question his ability to be trained as a Jedi later in the film.
Otherwise, given proper acting, I'm fine with the scene. I think it should be in the movie.
ReplyDeleteUNLESS, you know, what if Anakin was an orphan? We get around all this immaculate conception crap. His devotion to Godfather Watto becomes much more understandable/sympathetic, like the Robert Duvall character in the real Godfather movie.
Okay, one more note before I relinquish the floor. I STILL don't understand how a kid so strong in the force was not picked up by the Jedis' recruitment/identification program, even if he is on a lawless world like Tatooine.
And, like you said earlier, how is Tatooine so ignored by the Republic? Heck, you can get there from Naboo without even using hyperdrive. It must be pretty close.
I really think we're done here already. We have a Big Picture Problem with why Tatooine is so neglected, but we're not going to solve that within this scene. I hope someone's keeping a list of Big Picture Problems for us to address when we iterate this process.
ReplyDeleteOf course someone's keeping a list! I mean, otherwise this whole thing is stupid right? What do you think eshaughn has been doing all this time she's spent not posting?
ReplyDeleteI got really excited yesterday thinking about the possibility of actually sitting down with the script and trying to realize our suggestions.
Figuring out whether to do the massive Big Picture rewrite right from the beginning or just fixing little stuff first is a little daunting, though. Clearly little stuff ie easier. But I'm not really sure big picture is that hard....I'm stoked.
And while I like the orphan idea some, I think it's gratuitous rewriting. Just having a mom who wasn't impregnated by Gabriel is probably good enough.
ReplyDeleteI should make it clear at this point that I know that the Immaculate Conception refers to Mary and not Jesus, and that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and not by Gabriel. I'm just aiming for humor here.
ReplyDeleteActually, I better go back and clean up my original Immaculate Conception post before somebody calls me to task.
Agreed - let's use Occam's Toothbrush to help us decide.
ReplyDeleteNicely referenced! For that I invite you to my show at the campus pub on the 9th. Free ticket.
ReplyDelete