Star Wars - Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back

Back in May, I started a blog focused on Star Wars.  I plan eventually to copy most of the Star Wars-related posts I've written here to that blog, but for now, I'm re-watching The Clone Wars (again) and pedantically noting references to the original movies.  It'll take me quite a while to get through that part of the project, so, for the time being, any significant Star Wars comments I have will appear here.

I watched a bit of The Empire Strikes Back recently in order to verify a bit of dialogue and find the time stamp for it, and I noticed a detail in the set.  Last May, I wrote a post about differences between the original version of the film and the special edition, and one feature I mentioned was these panels in the background of Cloud City:

When Han, Leia, Chewbacca, and C-3PO arrive, these panels have a warm glow behind them.  By the time Luke arrives, however, after the Empire's trap has been sprung, this warmth has disappeared, and the panels are colorless:

This contrast in color illustrates the change that has occurred.  At first, Cloud City seems like an inviting place, but once the Empire's presence is revealed, it becomes a stark and unwelcoming environment.

The Sound of Music

I recently watched The Sound of Music and noticed a small (and possibly just coincidental) connection between the movie's opening and Psalm 121:1, which is quoted by the Reverend Mother near the end of the movie.  The way she says it, it sounds like a statement:  "I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills from whence [sic] cometh my help."  I'm more familiar with it as a question:  "I lift up my eyes to the hills.  From where does my help come?"  This is answered by the following verse:  "My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth."

The Psalm starts with the Psalmist looking at the hills, and in more ways than one, the movie also starts with hills.  Visually, it opens with multiple establishing shots of mountains and hills, and musically, it starts with the line "The hills are alive with the sound of music."

Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory

I was thinking about the names of the children in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory recently.  I had a notion (admittedly, a rather far-fetched one) about the significance of these names, so I re-watched the movie (for the first time in about ten years) in order to develop my argument.

The five children who find Wonka's golden tickets are Augustus Gloop, Veruca Salt, Violet Beauregarde, Mike Teevee, and Charlie Bucket.  Along with being the main character, Charlie Bucket is significant in that his name is evenly balanced:  his first name is two syllables, and his last name is two syllables.  The names of the other children don't have this feature.

This balance of Charlie's name illustrates something of his character, although this is demonstrated more clearly in his contrast with the other children.  All of the other children are selfish, but this selfishness is manifested in different ways.  Augustus Gloop and Veruca Salt are simply greedy.  Augustus is constantly eating, and Veruca is always demanding things (primarily from her father).  Violet Beauregarde and Mike Teevee are more concerned with acquiring other people's attention.  When she's interviewed after finding the golden ticket, Violet makes sure to mention the world record that she's won, and on more than one occasion, she pushes her father away from the camera's lens so that the attention is directed solely on her.  Mike Teevee's selfishness doesn't really present itself until he's in the factory.  After he sees how Wonka transmits a bar of chocolate through the television, however, nothing will stop him from "be[ing] the first person in the world to be sent by television!"  He wants this claim to fame.

Charlie doesn't act selfishly, and occasionally, he even inquires about the welfare of the other children.  He questions Wonka about Veruca and her father ("They won't really be burned in the furnace, will they?"), and at the end of the tour, he asks, "What's gonna happen to the other kids?  Augustus?  Veruca?"  When Augustus falls into the river of chocolate, Charlie even tries to help him get out by extending a giant lollipop for him to grab.

At the end of the movie, Wonka calls Charlie "a very honest, loving child," and he clearly stands in stark contrast to the other children.  While their behavior is the most obvious indication of this, their names point to this too.  The syllables of Charlie Bucket's name are evenly balanced, but the names of the other children are imbalanced in the same way that their personalities are.