The Severed Hand In Film

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The first part of this chapter will begin by examining the severed hand and how this is hold a shared connection between Luke and Anakin. The second part will focus on what influenced Lucas during the film making process as similar aspects can be seen to be kept throughout the new and old films. And finally, a look towards how religious connections are visible.
The severed hand can appear to play a huge part when it comes to the end of our hero’s adventures. With the severing of a hand within the films, what follows is the character’s decision-making moment, which followed by a large and deadly array of lightening which in both instances is used to kill palatines enemy. The human hand plays one of the biggest parts of these moments, for Anakin …show more content…

This action was created as a strike of passion and need, which from doing so breaks all his rules and expectances of a Jedi and breaks his barriers, it is at this moment after the severing of the hand that Anakin’s fate is decided. Which can be seen to be a darker parallel compared to Luke. As Wilkins supports, “Throughout the prequel trilogy, Lucas contrasts Anakin’s story with Luke’s, playing with the idea of doubles in the storytelling.” (Wilkins,2016, 37) Because for Luke the moment he severed Darth Vader’s hand Fig. 22 (his father), it’s the moment Luke sees for himself the similarities in which he and his father have. “Just as Obi-Wan paralleled Darth Vader’s loss of humanity to the robotics comprising the majority of his body, Luke realizes that his mechanized hand …show more content…

Lucas can be seen to have replicated moments from his favourite films from when he was in film school. It could be seen that Lucas combined a mixture of westerns, Sci-Fi, and an array of serial dramas from the early 1930/40’s. this because, when looking at the mythology used within Star Wars, it can be seen to venture into an array of historical references from a selection of Hollywood classics. It could be said that the films are a collaboration many films all put into one, which are based from various films which Lucas viewed and found to be very interesting in terms of their visual imagery and narrative. “The films of Akira Kurosawa, which Lucas viewed at the film school, even as he had absorbed at film school, even as he had absorbed the works of ford and other western-makers earlier on his own, impacted greatly on Star Wars.”(Brode and Deyneka, 2012, 8) With Kurosawa’s film Hidden Fortress, there can be what appears to be many influenced aspects which are used in Star Wars itself. For example, when looking at the image provided Fig. 24, the position of the characters in both images are very similar in term of space, stance and the use of medieval weapons. The samurai warriors within the film can show a similarity to the Jedi. Both showing to wield a sword, which is what shows and marks the iconic part of the characters within both films. Fig. 25

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