Force

I have been an avid collector of both film memorabilia and postcards. I no longer collect, but I still have my collections and so without too much trouble I was able to dig out a small selection of my accumulation of Star Wars postcards to commemorate a visit to the cinema for the Rise of Skywalker today. A modest supplement to 12yo's figurines. 

I was ten when Star Wars came out. I vividly remember the first clip that I saw on Tomorrow’s World. That created an enthusiasm for seeing the film which was satisfied at Prestatyn Scala in the summer of 1977.  I didn’t seen it again until it’s first appearance on TV several years later, although I did read and reread the movie novelisations. By the time I got to uni the original trilogy had all been released, and so for the first time I was immersed in repeat showings and marathons courtesy of the University Film Society. It is always that first trilogy which is imprinted on my memory.

As my children grew up I have watched the films again alongside them,  and 15yo and I have built a small tradition of Christmas viewings of the new films as they were released. The Rise of Skywalker presented an opportunity for 12yo to join us for the first time, and we made sure we were all caught up with the story before this last instalment.

This final trilogy has been a different sort of experience. Penned and directed by people who grew up with the films it must have been difficult to walk the line between overly reverential and iconclastic, while also inducting a new series of characters to the universe. I have enjoyed them, and today’s viewing did not disappoint. Of necessity it’s a little brazen in its plot devices, but it felt right. Tributes were made, loose ends were tied and a satisfactory resolution was achieved, although not without more than a few moments of peril and doubt along the way.

May the Force be with you!