George Lucas’ “Star Wars Episode III”

The final part of the great universal epic saga that continued through more than a quarter century has finally been revealed. The Star Wars series created by George Lucas, a U.S. movie director, which started off in 1977 with “Star Wars,” premiered its last and final piece, “Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith,” to media from all over the world at the 58th Cannes International Film Festival, on May 15. The film was screened as an out-competition movie.

“Revenge of the Sith” returns to the first part of the Star Wars saga and shows how the rightful Jedi knight Anakin Skywalker turns into the evil villain Darth Vader. A packed house of 2,000 reporters and critics from all over the world attended the screening, which started at 8:30 a.m. In particular, the crowd applauded and cheered when Anakin Skywalker turned into Darth Vader and spoke in his distinguished metallic voice.

After the screening of the movie, director Lucas and his cast-- Hayden Christensen, who plays the role of Anakin, Natalie Portman, who plays the role of Princess Padme, Samuel L. Jackson, playing the role of Jedi Mace Windu, and Anthony Daniels, the voice of C-3PO throughout the entire Star Wars series--were present at the press conference held in the conference room of the festival’s main building, the Palace de Festival.

Lucas said on the meaning of this latest movie that he was interested how a historic democracy could pass its power voluntarily to the hands of a dictator. He cited the Roman senate that killed Caesar only to passed power to his nephew, and that the French revolution only resulted in the rule of Napoleon.

The republic’s acts, shown in the movie, declaring war for peace and stability, “You are either with me, or you are my enemy” were more than enough to recall the actions of the real world superpower, the U.S. In fact, President George W. Bush had also said in his ultimatum, right after 9-11, "You`re either with us or against us in the fight against terror."

The reporters’ questions were also focused on asking whether Star Wars was a satire on U.S. President Bush’s war in Iraq. Lucas answered, “When I wrote it in the mid 1970s, the Iraq (the US-led war) didn`t exist.” And he refrained from mentioning names, saying, “At the time I did that, it was during the Vietnam War and the Nixon era.”

“Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith” opens on May 18 and 19 (local time) in Europe and the U.S., respectively, and on May 26 in Korea.

Dong-Yong Min mindy@donga.com