I'd never watched the Star Wars series in a state full of fandom. I'm not a Star Wars fan either. For this film 'Rogue One,' I went to the theater with a very close university classmate, and since there were no suitable films at the time we went, I encountered the film with the very 'light heart' of just giving it a try. But because this film stayed with me far more than I expected, I'm going to leave at least a short piece of writing.
- There are spoilers. Please read only if you've seen the film. -
1. The broad framework of the film's story
1) The female protagonist
The older a film is, the more often the protagonist who solves some problem concerning the state of affairs was generally a 'male protagonist.' A great variety of reasons are involved here. As one of them, historically, in order to be able to exercise a certain 'force'—that is, 'physical force'—the position of being male had many advantages over being female, and the status and role of women were neglected compared to the status and role of men; this can be given as an example. Oddly, the protagonists who play leader roles are mostly male protagonists. This isn't due to any regularity; there were just many such films, and historically, more time is recorded in which men's force was stronger than women's. However, as these 'biological penalties' carried over into modern society, the part they play as a core in competition between men and women diminished. Of course, most films—right away, the prequel and original trilogy films of this very Star Wars—had men as protagonists. - Anakin Skywalker (Vader), Luke Skywalker - But recently, on the basis of feminist questions about the setup of a strong prince saving a powerless princess (it's easy if you recall the phrase 'Girls do not need a prince' that was all the rage a few months ago; setting aside the controversy over the truth of how this phrase came about, let's focus only on the phrase itself), there's a trend of female protagonists gradually emerging, and in this film too the daughter of the scientist Galen Erso, 'Jyn Erso' (Felicity Jones), appears as the protagonist.
Jyn Erso appears as a protagonist who witnessed her mother's death in childhood. Compared to how many eldest daughters typically undergo their growth process based on empathy and emotional identification with their mothers, I think it wouldn't have been hard to dare guess at the emotional changes of a female protagonist who lost her mother in childhood. Because the scenes of her growing-up period are largely omitted and appear only through a few of Jyn Erso's words, I could learn only very limitedly about what kind of growth process she grew up in. After seeing the scene of her mother dying, Jyn Erso fled to a particular place as her father had told her. In that way Jyn Erso meets Saw Gerrera and grows up. The film omits this series of growth processes. What we can know is that Saw Gerrera abandoned Jyn Erso alone. (Through Jyn Erso's remarks.) One thing that's clear is that at first she didn't want to be involved with any organization at all. She wanted freedom. But because her name is connected to 'Galen Erso' she couldn't be free, and you can guess she repeatedly lived under aliases. Even in the situation where she'd been captured and brought in by the Rebel Alliance, Jyn Erso didn't want to cooperate. Though it was very early childhood, for her, who had vividly experienced her father's case, she probably didn't want to cooperate with anywhere. Moreover, you can cite the point that for Jyn Erso, neither the Imperial forces nor the Rebel Alliance was anything to welcome. The Rebel Alliance, from their first meeting, threatened 'Jyn Erso' and demanded her cooperation, and the Imperial forces were the cause of her family's collapse, and from her father in childhood she'd been told 'don't change,' so not a single one could be welcome. In such parts, the 'slight specialness' of being a female protagonist disappears as she tastes a 'harsh beginning,' just as people treated protagonists in earlier male-protagonist films.
We say that 'sociologically' the difference between men and women has nearly disappeared. But there can exist sociological differences caused by biological differences. For example, research findings such as that statistically women tend to care more than men about relationships with those around them, or that whereas for men morality is related to social justice, for women morality is related to empathy and consideration, are facts that can't be denied. And so the 'female protagonist' 'Jyn Erso' goes to solve a problem just like the 'male protagonist'-centered adventure films seen before. Only, one difference is that at first Jyn went without knowing the exact 'facts.' In that respect, this 'female protagonist' begins the work in a somewhat excluded state.
2) Spin off / a side story, but an independent story.
The reason this story is a side story is that it's a story about how the secret of the 'Death Star' blueprint came to be known. In that the film begins by showing the princess who obtained this 'Death Star' blueprint in Star Wars Episode 4, this film is a spin-off, and in the sense that it helps you understand the Star Wars story, you can also feel the burden of having to watch the other Star Wars series films before watching it. But the production company Lucasfilm (Disney) seems to have tried as hard as possible to erase such traces. In the film's intro too they removed the scenes distinctive to Star Wars, and they showed the care of attaching the names of planets as subtitles. Such points came across to me as quite impressive. I'm somewhat distant from the existing Star Wars fans. I'm not someone who's watched all the Star Wars films to begin with. Of course I've seen a few. The scene in Episode 1 where Anakin Skywalker races is still impressive. Also, the existence of 'Yoda' was an all-too-easy existence to remember, and recently I'd also seen scenes where 'Luke Skywalker' appears and shows the agonizing of having to treat his 'father' as an enemy. I roughly understood the story. Also, since the 'lightsaber' is the main item of the Star Wars series, I always had an interest in this lightsaber. Nevertheless, I'm not someone well-versed in this series. But this film had enough independent completeness to wash away this series of burdens.
A side story usually corresponds to a film that helps you understand the 'main installments.' Many films have been like that. I can't say specifically which films were like that since nothing comes to mind right away, but for example, you could cite 'The Hobbit' for understanding The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Also, the 'Avengers' series and Iron Man, Ant-Man, Hulk, and so on show interrelationships with one another. This film has such an interrelationship too, but it wasn't strong.
The subject that occupies the biggest part of the film is 'a father's love for his daughter' and the change in 'Jyn Erso.' First let's look at 'a father's love for his daughter.' The part where Galen Erso's love for Jyn Erso is revealed most directly, and movingly enough to tug at a corner of the heart, is the 'hologram message' part. In the scene of watching the message that came as a hologram together with Saw Gerrera, I couldn't help but feel how great a father's love is. In the voice of Galen Erso calling her 'Stardust,' there's the faith in his daughter that she's alive somewhere, worry about his daughter's safety, and showing the utmost 'rebellion' he could manage, he shows that he was cooperating with the Empire out of unavoidable necessity. Some might say this 'father' Galen Erso should have died rather than cooperate with the Empire. Because he's the chief person responsible for creating the 'Death Star.' Because of the Death Star, Jedha (a city) was destroyed. But this father thought that only if he stayed alive would his daughter also stay alive, and before the message sent by hologram, Jyn Erso realizes her father hadn't forgotten her and comes to know that finding the Death Star blueprint is what she must do.
So, after watching the hologram message, and as Jedha is destroyed by the Death Star so that even Saw Gerrera's base is destroyed, Jyn Erso and Cassian's party, who barely made it out alive, headed to the place where the father's research facility is (Eadu), and there Jyn, who ultimately witnesses her father's death, returns to Rebel headquarters and at the round-table council says they must seize the Death Star blueprint to prepare to destroy the Death Star later, but the council opposes it, saying they can't commit forces to an uncertain place. Jyn Erso, mentioning at the round-table council that 'the rebels were built on hope,' forms 'Rogue One' despite the council's opposition and heads to Scarif to seize the blueprint—this is the content of the film's mid-to-late section.
2. Impressive points
1) The father's love
Throughout the film, more than anything, I was moved by Galen Erso beginning his message by calling his daughter 'Stardust.' To a truly remarkable degree, the acting of Mads Mikkelsen, who played Galen Erso, was brief but, I think, very outstanding. For this film, it really seems like fortune that there was an actor who could play this ill-fated scientist who has such appeal and at the same time had to cooperate with the Empire out of necessity. Moreover, among this film's devices, 'the father's love' becomes practically the sole catalyst for Jyn Erso's awakening. The awakening I mean here isn't the kind of awakening used when you say you became alert after drinking coffee, but the awakening one speaks of when a so-called protagonist in a novel is said to have found the catalyst for awakening. In fact, in this part the scene of Jyn Erso changing isn't revealed in detail, so a lot of regret remains. Because that process was presented far too compressedly. To sum up, appearing as practically the sole means, the two deaths of the biological father (Galen Erso) and the foster father (Saw Gerrera) are, in fact, both a very effective and well-made part for depicting the process by which Jyn Erso is born as an individual opposing the Imperial forces, and at the same time amount to no more than the sole stitching-together, so they carry a double-sidedness. Well, of course, the father's love itself was depicted very outstandingly, and I too was able to watch it while sufficiently empathizing with those emotions.
2) The film's ending
The film's ending concludes with the protagonists dying. This ending scene corresponds to the most 'realistic' scene. As for why it's realistic, in a situation where even Darth Vader's destroyer has arrived, there's in fact no way for the protagonists to survive. Moreover, in a situation where the Death Star has already fired on part of Scarif, unless there were an aircraft like in the escape from Eadu, there was all the less any way to get out alive. That's why this was the most realistic ending. In particular, it's a scene that shows the reality of an ordinary infiltration unit. The best, that is the optimal scenario, is for the infiltration unit to infiltrate, secure the objective, and then successfully escape, but from the film's standpoint it'd be right to say that seemed impossible.
You can tell how truly ironic it is that the scene where Krennic, who led the creation of the 'Death Star,' comes to gaze at it in a state of having been shot and collapsed; perhaps this is a scene that indirectly shows that one who rose by force will perish by force. I think the thought 'if there'd been no Death Star in the first place, this wouldn't have happened' would have flashed through his mind. As in Galen Erso's line, since Krennic was in a state of confusing peace with threat through terror, it probably was all the more so.
3. Summary
Quite a decent film—no, it was considerably decent. It's not that there were no regrettable points, but with a Star Wars film of about this level, I think even those watching without knowing the Star Wars series could watch it easily.
Comments 0
No comments yet. Be the first.