The Visual and Poetic Symmetry of Star Wars

Star Wars has a certain rhythm, rhyme & symmetry

It's a visual poem where themes echo and rebound.

Where the colors compare and contrast and bode both hope and dread.

When voices air similar beats.

There are plenty of callbacks and references to each movie.

Common moments happen at the same time in the film's pacing as they did in their mirrored scenes.

This occurs across all 9 saga films but especially the first 6 of which George Lucas acts as the poet or Great Bard.

Star Wars aficionado Mike Klimo will happily explain this to you as ‘Star Wars Ring Theory‘.

And there's no denying the above when you look at these comparisons between the films which show the extent of the visual symmetry that the first 6 Star Wars films that George Lucas helped write, direct and produced have.

Lucas should be more widely credited for the six Star Wars stories he told – here's the proof why as put together by Mike Klimo on his most interesting Instagram.

His posts have a lot of detail about common connections between the films, and plenty of comparisons of how Lucas was inspired by many movies as he made his films – for example, did you know that Return of the Jedi had a small homage shot to the Wizard of Oz? 

So, with full credit to Mike (and George Lucas) here's some visual symmetry and poetry of the Star Wars films:

Feeling a great disturbance in the Force.

This pose of Mace Windu is a deliberate homage back to when we first met the cocky and arrogant Han Solo in ANH.

While Han's personality was not his undoing, Mace's ignorance of the spread of the Sith was his (and that of the Jedi).

Jedi and Sith, looking after their protege

Frize Framing

Klimo writes: “When Palpatine reveals himself as the Sith Lord Darth Sidious in Revenge of the Sith, there is a wall sculpture, or “frieze,” hanging in the background of Palpatine’s office.

In Return of the Jedi, there’s a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it wall sculpture on Jabba the Hutt’s sail barge that depicts the slimy gangster surrounded by slave girls. (You can see it right after the first skiff guard falls into the Sarlacc Pit.)

 

In “The Art of Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith,” Erik Tiemens, concept artist on the film, notes: “The idea behind the archaeological frieze in Palpatine’s office is that it depicts an event. [George Lucas] was very clear about making it a dynamic and somewhat gory scene of Jedi and aliens and warriors fighting each other.”

It foreshadows what is to come at the end of the film and parallels back to Return of the Jedi.

Poor C3P0 didn't catch too many breaks in Star Wars.

When Han Solo wasn't trying to shut him off, Poe Dameron was trying to get his mind wiped so they could learn Sith secrets in The Rise of Skywalker – and all the while his mechanical body took a few hits.

When we first met him he had a silver leg and the parallels in Attack of the Clones and Empire are quite notable – and let's not forget his red arm in The Force Awakens.

Die Jedi Dogs!

Klimo reveals: “When cleaning R2-D2 in the original Star Wars film, Luke Skywalker accidentally stumbles across a hologram of Princess Leia pleading for help, a vital message that draws Luke into a quest to rescue her. In Sith (A New Hope’s corresponding episode in the Star Wars Ring Theory), director George Lucas reinterprets this crucial plot point, rather brilliantly, as Anakin Skywalker’s nightmare about Padme dying in childbirth.

Much like Leia’s holographic message, the vision of Padme will draw Anakin into a life-saving quest. And if you listen carefully during Anakin’s first nightmare, Padme cries, “Anakin, help me,” which, of course, echoes Leia’s “Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You’re my only hope.”

In addition, the holographic message is played twice in A New Hope, the second time with Obi-Wan Kenobi in his hut. In Sith, we witness two of Anakin’s nightmares, with Obi-Wan appearing in the second one”

It's also worth noting that director Rian Johnson cleverly incorporated Leia's plea into the plot of The Last Jedi by using R2D2 to deliver the message for the second time to Luke, but this time meaning Luke was Leia's only hope.

There are plenty more connections made between the films, check out the symmetry of Revenge of the Sith to A New Hope – and for the curious fan, here are 510 facts about Star Wars.

This article was produced and syndicated by Wealth of Geeks.