Ah, apa lagi yang hendak dikatakan tentang saga sebuah dongeng moden Star Wars ini? Episod ini memperjelaskan banyak persoalan yang sebenarnya telah terjawab pada trilogi Star Wars pusingan pertama iaitu Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back dan Return Of The Jedi.

Penonton tidak berpuas hati dengan persoalan dan jawapan dalam pusingan pertama trilogi Star Wars tersebut. Sebenarnya persoalan dan jawapan itu juga sudah tidak penting bagi mereka. Mereka mahukan penjelasan dan perincian tentang bagaimana watak jahat Darth Vader atau Anakin Skywalker itu bermula dan bagaimana transformasi itu berlaku. Belum pernah berlaku dalam sejarah filem sebuah trilogi yang telah lengkap memerlukan sebuah trilogi lagi dalam pusingan yang kedua untuk melengkapkan perjalanan cerita watak-watak penglipur lara moden ini.

Star Wars sebagaimana kisah penglipur lara kita, sarat dengan kisah kepahlawanan, kemanusiaan, kedurjanaan, keajaiban, keanehan, fantasi dan harapan. Ia berlegar pada satu zaman yang lama dahulu, yang berlaku di zaman antah berantah dan pada masa yang sama juga berlegar pada tamadun zaman yang terlalu jauh ke depan dari segi teknologinya. Ia berlaku di padang tandus, di taman bak syurga, di kengerian neraka dan juga di alam kayangan di mana penghuninya bebas berterbangan dengan kenderaan masing-masing.

Watak-wataknya terdiri daripada manusia, robot, binatang dan makhluk-makhluk aneh yang hanya terdapat dalam kisah dongeng penglipurlara.

George Lucas menjadikan episod dan trilogi Star Wars ini sepertimana dia menyusun mosek cerita. Bermula dengan kisah pengembaraan si kembar dua beradik Puteri Lea dan Luke Skywalker pada episod ke empat (yang asal) pada 1977, kelima dan keenam pada episod Return Of The Jedi pada 1983 yang mana trilogi pusingan pertama ini menunjukkan bagaimana Luke cuba menyelamatkan bapanya daripada dunia gelap kejahatannya dan berakhirnya sebuah tragedi yang menyaksikan watak jahat Darth Vader menerima pembalasan daripada kejahatannya sendiri.

Pengakhiran sebuah tragedi yang menyaksikan pertemuan kembali sebuah keluarga. Kisah yang berisi pesanan moral yang mudah sepertimana dalam kisah klasik, watak baik atau hero akhirnya menang dan yang jahat menerima pembalasan.

Lucas kemudian menyusun pula trilogi yang mengisahkan permulaan lahirnya si Darth Vader atau Anakin Skywalker dan pada episod yang ketiga ini iaitu episod Revenge Of The Sith menyaksikan lengkapnya transformasi kejahatan manusia tersebut.

Transformasi

Biarpun dalam episod sebelum ini (The Phantom Menace) aksi dan kehebatan teknologi yang digunakan dalam peperangan antara kuasa baik dan kuasa jahat, tetapi dalam episod ini Lucas menumpukan kepada kelemahan manusia dalam menghadapi cabaran, dugaan dan godaan. Ini yang menjadikan episod ini lebih emosional dan lebih dekat dengan penonton (episod yang terbaik dalam trilogi pusingan kedua ini).

Episod ini bermula dengan Anakin (Hayden Christensen) dan mentornya Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) terlibat dalam pertempuran untuk menyelamatkan Canselor Palpatine (Ian McDiamid) daripada penculikan oleh Count Dooku (Christopher Lee) yang kemudian dibunuh oleh Anakin. Peristiwa ini mendekatkan Anakin dengan Canselor yang kemudian mula menyaksikan bagaimana Canselor tersebut mula mempengaruhi Anakin untuk menyebelahinya ke dalam kuasa jahatnya.

Pada masa yang sama Padme (Natalie Portman) sedang mengandung hasil perkahwinannya secara rahsia dengan Anakin dan Anakin telah mendapat mimpi tentang Padme yang akan mati ketika melahirkan nanti. Hanya Canselor Palpatine yang dengan pengetahuan dan kuasanya dapat menjamin Padme selamat daripada tragedi ini.

Untuk hampir tiga dekad, kisah Star Wars sebuah dongeng untuk remaja akhirnya menutup tirainya sendiri. Sebagai sebuah filem, Star Wars telah menghidupkan kisah dongeng fantasi sains dengan meneruskan tradisi naratif klasik Hollywood yang dipinjam dari filem The Searchers (John Ford) yang menggabungkan kisah penglipur lara masa silam dan kemajuan teknologi komputer terkini untuk mencipta dunia mayanya sendiri.

Ketika Star Wars pertama kali muncul, teknologi visualnya telah mencipta standard baru dalam penciptaan efek khas dan seterusnya telah membentuk budaya baru tontonan filem.

Bukan itu sahaja, Star Wars juga bukan sekadar filem tetapi ia adalah sebuah industri besar yang menghasilkan pulangan berbillion ringgit.

Utusan Malaysia

Will Merchant-Ivory team continue?

Hasan Suroor

LONDON:

As tributes to Ismail Merchant, who died here on Wednesday, poured in, the big question being asked in film circles was whether the Merchant-Ivory team which he founded, with director James Ivory and writer Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, would continue now that the man who had been its guiding spirit for 44 years was no more.

Ismail Merchant’s friends and film commentators said that his sudden death was a huge blow from which Merchant-Ivory Productions may not find it easy to recover.

“I don’t know if they will continue because I’m not sure James [Ivory] will have the stomach to carry on,” said David Puttnam, one of Britain’s most prominent producers.

Lord Puttnam, who knew Ismail Merchant personally, described him as an “extraordinary man” and a truly “independent film producer in Britain.”

“Ismail was unique — he absolutely carved his own niche,” he said.

Actor Anthony Hopkins, who worked in James-Ivory films, Howard’s End and The Remains of the Day, called Ismail Merchant a “true pioneer”, a “great maverick producer, a law to himself.”

“He could charm the birds out of the trees… and sometimes he could get you to work for nothing,” he recalled.

Another leading British actor Ralph Fiennes, who just finished shooting in Shanghai for Merchant-Ivory’s The White Countess, said: “I was full of admiration for their passion and commitment to the film we were making.” Britain’s film establishment remembered Ismail Merchant as much for the quality of his cinema as for his personal charm, persistence and optimism. The Times hailed him as a “giant” of British cinema, and Sir Sydney Samuelson, the first British Film Commissioner, who was involved with Ismail Merchant’s Shakespearewallah, recalled that when he first met Ismail Merchant “he had never got any money” to pay for things he wanted for his films.

“But such was his personality and integrity, I found that as a supplier you couldn’t say no to him… from such humble beginnings, he rose to make some of the definitive pictures of the time,” Sir Sydney told a newspaper.

The Merchant-Ivory team was formed on nothing more solid than a wing and a prayer by a young Ismail Merchant after he ran into James Ivory while on his way to the Cannes festival in 1961.

In an interview, he famously recalled: “When we first began, Ruth told us she had never written a screenplay. That was not a problem. Since I had never produced a feature film and Jim had never directed one.” But that was then, and the rest is history.

Hindu On Net

LOS ANGELES : As superstar Tom Cruise vaunts his romance with actress Katie Holmes, Americans are extremely sceptical about whether the feted relationship is true love or an extravagant publicity stunt.

As the “Top Gun” heart-throb, 42, makes a series of giddy public appearances to proclaim his new love for the 26-year-old actress, fans and media suspect the much-publicised affair has more to do with the upcoming release of two new films starring Cruise and Holmes.

An unscientific poll by People magazine indicated that 63 percent of readers believe the romance is a publicity stunt, while only 37 percent believe the pair is genuinely in love.

A similar random poll by Us Weekly magazine showed that 65 percent of its respondents were sceptical, even as publicists for the two actors, who have been dating a month, insist they are genuinely smitten.

“Through all the changes that have swept Hollywood over the years, one thing still endures: strategic love,” said a columnist in the prestigious New York Times this week.

“The coupling of stars to create ballyhoo for a movie, burnish an actor’s image, create a name or distract attention from other relationships may not be as common as when the movie studios tightly controlled stars’ careers through the 1950s, some publicists and film industry experts assert.

“But it is still the easiest way to grab flattering publicity,” the Times said bluntly.

As it happens, Cruise is the star of Steven Spielberg’s big-budget “War of the Worlds,” due for release on June 29, while Holmes coincidentally, is set to make her big-screen debut in “Batman Begins,” which opens June 15.

The twice-married Cruise, whose storied marriage to Australian star Nicole Kidman collapsed in 2001, gave an extraordinary performance as a smitten lover on the US television queen Oprah Winfrey’s show this week.

In the appearance, an uncharacteristically emotive and exuberant Cruise repeatedly jumped up and down on a sofa, laughed uproariously, threw his hands in the air and yelled: “I’m in love! I’m in love.”

US media had a field day poking fun — and suspicion — at Cruise’s schoolboyish enthusiasm.

- AFP /ls

Channel News Asia

Queen Of Fashion impresses

BANGALORE: Queen Of Fashion and Amazing Striker excelled when the horses were exercised here on Wednesday morning.

Outer sand

800m: Lindsay (Srinath), Shakira (Appu) 56, 600/43.5. Latter out-paced her companion. National Victory (Madhu Kumar), Tough Love (rb) 57.5, 600/45.5. Former better. Stilton (Srinath) 56, 600/43. Worked well. Force Furor (Rajesh Babu), Janasheen (rb) 59, 600/44.5. Magic Touch (S. Kapur), Really Romantic (Biramne) 58.5, 600/44.5. They finished level. Safari Brown (M. Narredu), Heroine Style (Rajesh Babu) 58.5, 600/45. Former finished two lengths in front. All The Rage (S. Kapur), Diffidance (Biramne) 59, 600/44.5. A fit pair. Top Cat (Suraj), Hayagriva (M. Narredu) 58, 500/44.5. Eden (Christopher), Essex (Srinath) 57, 600/43.5. They were pushed. Wafadar (Biramne) 56.5, 600/43.5. He moved well within himself. Queen Of Fashion (I. Chisty) 54.5, 600/42. A fine display. Spring Fair (A. Imran) 57, 600/44. In fine trim. Ikon Brown (rb), Amazing Forest (Rajesh Babu) 58, 600/44.5. Dingle (Srinath) 58.5, 600/45. Shaped well. Yutai (Suraj) 58.5, 600/45. Unextended.

1000m: Aryanoush (Badel) 1-15, 800/58.5, 600/44.5. In fine condition. Here Comes The Sun (Chary) 1-12.5, 800/56, 600/42.5. In fine fettle. Attorney (R. Marshall) 1-14, 800/56, 600/42.5. Impressed. Grey Hawk (Narendra), Pretty Queen (Suraj) 1-15, 800/58.5, 600/45.5. They finished together.

1200m: Spark Of Glory (Christopher), Baracudda (Srinath) 1-29.5, 1,000/1-14, 800/58, 600/44.5. Latter trounced former. Assessed (rb) 1-28.5, 1,000/1-13.5, 800/56.5, 600/43.5. Worked well. Roda Rosen (I. Chisty) 1-29.5, 1,000/1-13.5, 800/58.5, 600/45. Urged. Nordic Star (Appu), Staranzano (Ruzaan) 1-28, 1,000/1-12, 800/56, 600/43. Former pleased. Solar Crystal (Zia), Abraxas (L. Marshall) 1-30, 1,000/1-14, 800/57.5, 600/44. They moved well. Amazing Striker (B. Prakash) 1-27, 1,000/1-12, 800/56.5, 600/43.5. In fine nick. Star Salute (Gallagher), Spectacular Blaze (B. Prakash) 1-28.5, 1,000/1-13.5, 800/57.5, 600/44. Latter showed out. Game On (Tauseef), Cellisima (Ruzaan) 1-30, 1,000/1-14.5, 800/58, 600/44. Latter impressed. Fantabulous King (Ruzaan) 1-26, 1,000/1-11, 800/55, 600/42. Responded well to the urgings. Anorada (Suraj) 1-30, 1,000/1-14.5, 800/58, 600/44.5. Moved under pressure.

1400m: Cameo Role (T. Moses), Scottsville (Ruzaan) 1-44.5, 1,200/1-28.5, 1,000/1-13.5, 800/57.5, 600/44.5. Latter finished three lengths in front.

1600m: Sunlight King (A. Imran), Accordance (M. Reuben) 1-59, 1400/1-42, 1,200/1-27, 1,000/1-12.5, 800/57.5, 600/44.5. Former stretched out well.

Hindu On Net

Want to pamper yourself?

From facials to pedicure, it’s all Ayurveda style at Sowkhya

TAKE THE HERBAL ROUTE Feel the goodness of Ayurveda at Sowkhya

Why would a 3,000-year-old system like Ayurveda need the assurance of a doctor in a white coat? Maybe to convince cynics, dazed by the crazy rate at which the beauty industry is growing, that Ayurveda is the way to go.

“It’s time we recognised our own strengths, even Madonna is getting her tablets flown out of India, so that she can conceive her next child,” says George Koshy, MD Sowkhya.

“The most important difference about this parlour is that we don’t allow you to decide what’s good for you,” says Koshy. At Sowkhya, the Ayurvedic Cosmetology Clinic, you can get your massages and therapies only after consulting Dr. Sajina and filling in a detailed file-sheet. From pedicures to massages its all ayurveda style. “Even the steam is herbal,” says Koshy.

Beauty packages

A plain massage costs Rs. 225 while the Devangana facial treatment, “in vogue centuries back among the Royal family of Kerala” will cost you Rs. 1300. The packages are inclusive of ayurvedic medicine, diet and yoga asanas prescribed by the doctor.

“We don’t assure you of becoming Cinderella in a day, no way. It takes time,” says Koshy. The clinic promises to pamper its clients and will take on only three to four people at a time. Strictly by appointment since the herbal concoctions will be made fresh. A mixer and a mortar and pestle have been kept aside for that — no bottled recipes, no preservatives here.

According to Koshy, while we have regular servicing of ours computers and cars, we still wait for breakdowns when it comes to our body. “We don’t spare time for ourselves, but then we find time to sleep in the hospital for twenty days,” he says. Treatments for rheumatism and diabetes will be available soon. And yes, the clinic is strictly for women. Men will have to wait but not for too long, Koshy promises to set up more clinics. Sowkhya, 2nd floor, Sunnyside, No.49, 1st Main Road, Gandhi Nagar, Adyar, ph: 52117171, 52116262.

MEERA MOHANTY

Hindu On Net