Well, the talk of the Cannes Film Festival this week, aside from hair, was ?Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith.? It could be the most talked about film of the year. But now some are claiming it could be a thinly veiled lightsaber attack against President George Bush.
MICHAEL OKWU, NBC CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It is the much hyped, highly anticipated final episode of a decades-old drama. But this week, the buzz about Star Wars episode III, The Revenge of the Sith, opening in days: it may take shots at the Bush White House.
DAVID ANSEN, NEWSWEEK FILM CRITIC: It was clear that there was a parallel between the Bush administration and the rise to power of the empire?the evil empire.
OKWU: It?s been major chatter in the blogosphere and beyond. First, the film?s theme.
(on camera):
In the movie, a war-mongering chancellor of an intergalactic republic asks the senate to give up their liberties and to give him more power under the guise of being under attack.(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, ?STAR WARS EPISODE III: REVENGE OF THE SITH?)
EWAN MCGREGOR, ACTOR:
We are at war, Anakin.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANSEN:
It appeared to be a reference to the Patriot Act and our sort of giving up our civil liberties in the name of national security.(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, ?STAR WARS EPISODE III: REVENGE OF THE SITH?)
IAN MCDIARMID, ACTOR:
All who gain power are afraid to lose it.(END VIDEO CLIP)
OKWU: Many are reading into key lines and their real-life references. This quote from Anakin Skywalker, about to become super- villain Dark Vader:
If you?re not with me, he says, then you?re my enemy. President Bush in November, 2001.GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES:
You are either with us or you?re against us in the fight against terror.OKWU: In an interview, director George Lucas said he was less inspired by the current wartime climate than by the Nixon Vietnam era. When I wrote it, he said, Iraq didn?t exist. A full-throttle, hair- raising climax now raising eyebrows.
Michael Okwu, NBC News, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCARBOROUGH: That was NBC?s Michael Okwu.
Now, I haven?t seen it, but one person who has seen ?Revenge of the Sith? is Claudia DiFolco. She is co-host of MSNBC?s ?AT THE MOVIES.?
Claudia, tell us about this movie. Is it a veiled attack at George W.
Bush or just great cinematic fare?
CLAUDIA DIFOLCO, CO-HOST, ?MSNBC AT THE MOVIES?: It is, but not as bad as ?Fahrenheit 9/11? was. That was propaganda and it was a lot of lies there.
But I saw the movie, of all places, at Skywalker Ranch. And the room was full of journalists from across the country and all different media outlets. And, as soon as we heard that line, if you?re not with me, then you?re my enemy, everybody did one of these.
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http://msnbc.msn.com/id/7886473/
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