The Ultimate Struggle

Rating: 8/10 (16 March 2006)

In Star Wars: Episode Three Anakin struggles between good and evil. His breaking point is continually pressured throughout the movie by his dreams and worries. Anakin dreams that the senator dies and the fear of losing her begins. This gives opportunity for evil or good to leak in. Some of the angles on Anakin are high angles to show how he thinks he can control the situation that he dreamed. Also, lower angles are shown of the senator to show the lesser power that she has over Anakin. The high key lighting shown on the Senator's face to show her innocence and low-key lighting is done on Anakin's face to show the evil that may reside in him. Their clothing is opposite too, along with the angles and lighting. The Senator is wearing a beautiful light blue gown, while Anakin is wearing a black robe. Once again I believe it shows the innocence of the Senator and the evil that lurks behind Anakin. These are great motifs of good and evil.
Also, Anakin and the Senator talk about the government and each disagrees about how it's being run. In their dialog the Senator speaks about democracy, while Anakin talks as though the Chancellor is doing everything to keep the government as a Republic. Here the line is drawn for the audience to see each character's belief in good or evil. Their clothing is both black to show the death of the Republic. In one of the last scenes, the colors are black and red through the whole scene. Black represents the death of the ways everything use to be in the universe. Red represents the danger of the senator's life. A motif that is quite noticeable by this time is Anakin begins to wear black clothing to represent the evil that Anakin has given into. The senator and Obi-Wan are wearing light tan clothing, which represents good. The theme of this film is brilliantly shown in every aspect. The few selected scenes show the obvious war for Anakin's soul. Another movie that is similar to this theme is The Simple Plan. The Bill Pullman character suffers the same dilemma has Anakin, good versus evil. All the elements in each scene are placed perfectly to emphasis good and evil. From the lighting to the costumes, to the angles, all of these elements help the theme come to life.