Portman gets her ‘revenge’ at Cannes

LOOKING less like her character Princess Amidala and more like Sinéad O’Connor, Natalie Portman’s shorn tresses stole the show at yesterday’s special screening in Cannes of the third and final film in the Star Wars saga.

The youthful Obi-Wan Kenobi in the shape of Ewan McGregor was missing from the Cannes line-up of his Star Wars colleagues, although Portman, Hayden Christensen, Samuel L Jackson and George Lucas himself were on hand for the screening of Revenge of the Sith, which rolls out globally this week.

At a news conference, Lucas acknowledged the political allegories of the saga, which could have contemporary resonance although he wrote it at the time of the Nixon era.

“I’ve studied history a lot and it’s all about how a democracy turns itself over to dictatorship. It happened in Ancient Rome and in France with Napoleon and in Germany with Hitler. It’s also to do with how a good person turns evil and vice versa. So maybe the film will awaken people to the different situations we have across the world today.

“It was written at the time of Vietnam and that has frightening parallels to what is going on in Iraq today,” Mr Lucas said.

Reflecting on the phenomenon which took over his life, Lucas said that the saga almost developed by accident. He had set out to write one movie which was too big and became three.

Asked how he felt that the film was not in the festival’s official competition, Lucas shrugged. “I am happy not to compete with all those other films, it’s nice to be recognised without being in a contest.”

On the manic and almost religious zeal of admirers of the sagas, Lucas noted that he had two fan bases. One is over 25, and the other is under 25. The over-25s are loyal to the first three films, and they are in control of the media and the web. And the films that those people don’t like are adored by the under 25s. The devotion shown by each group is the same, he said.

“It’s like one group saying they love the Rolling Stones and Beatles and the other lot are saying hip hop is great. It’s simply two generational groups talking about the movies, and one is older and expresses themselves louder. In 10 years the other group will get their voice.”

Lucas indicated he had no problems with the PG-13 certificate given to Revenge. “It’s more a reflection of our culture, but I do not want parents to be uncomfortable. It’s certainly not the fun happy-go-lucky movie that some of the other ones were,” he said.

As for the future, Lucas said he wants to go back to making low budget experimental fare. “With the DVD market and other technological advances there is room for alternative cinema. There is a whole other area of cinema that has not been pushed into the mainstream, hopefully I can help that”, he added.

Sharon Stone returned to Cannes to trumpet a reincarnation of the role that put her on the road to superstardom in 1992.

The actress, looking demure and maintaining a suitable sense of decorum reprises her role of the seductive novelist Catherine Tramell in Basic Instinct 2.

The Empire Strikes Gold

€15.8bn: estimated revenue generated since the release in 1977 of Star Wars Episode IV.

€4.5bn: the box office take from the first five Star Wars films.

€91m: the amount a Star Wars video game pulled in on its first day last year.

€91m: the budget for Revenge of the Sith.

€2.4bn: George Lucas’ estimated personal worth.

70th: where the World Bank would rank Stars Wars if it was a country.

70,000: the number of Australians who say they are followers of the Jedi faith.

Six: the number of Oscars won by the 1977 Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.