Flickering Myth’s writing team are counting down to the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens by discussing their most memorable Star Wars moments. Next up is Neil Calloway with the scene when Luke meets Obi-Wan from A New Hope…
Perhaps the most important moment in the entire Star Wars saga comes not aboard a Star Destroyer, not on the Death Star or the Millennium Falcon, it takes place early on in the original trilogy, in an old hermit’s home on Tatooine.
Everything that comes before or after is set up in this scene; that Darth Vader was once a pupil of Obi-Wan, that Luke’s father fought in the Clone Wars, who the Jedi were, what a lightsaber is, what the Force is and does – not midi-chlorians as the prequels suggest but something that surrounds every living being.
Almost everything that is iconic about the original trilogy is included, and it’s just a crazy old man and a young farm kid. By the end of the scene – or at least shortly after when he discovers his Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru are dead – Luke Skywalker’s whole life and everything he knew at the start has been changed, and he sets off on the path to become a Jedi – “a damned fool idealistic crusade”, as Obi-Wan says. It is also ironic, knowing what we know now about the characters and what actually happened – Luke’s father wasn’t actually killed by Darth Vader, but as Obi-Wan, as Force Ghost admits in Return of the Jedi, what he says is true from a certain point of view.
A lot has been made of Lucas following Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey when he wrote the original films. Campbell outlined seventeen stages, or beats, which are common to many tales of adventure. This scene, which is less than ten minutes long, features both The Call to Adventure – Obi-Wan telling Luke he needs to come with him to Alderaan, and the Refusal of the Call – Luke saying he can’t, but will take Obi-Wan as far as Anchorhead. Of course, when his guardians are found dead, that all changes, but the seed is planted here, by an old hermit.
Much of the credit for the scene goes to Alec Guinness. Already an Oscar winning actor – and an Oscar nominated screenwriter for his adaptation of The Horse’s Mouth – he would go on to be nominated for Best Supporting Actor for Star Wars too. It also made him rich – unlike other actors involved in the first film he negotiated a percentage of the profits, and he didn’t have to do any promotional work for the film either. He made millions from it, and this scene shows he was worth every penny.
Neil Calloway
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL18yMRIfoszFLSgML6ddazw180SXMvMz5&v=3AMx7tPsXgQ
Originally published December 11, 2015. Updated April 14, 2018.
