What is the climactic moment of the movie Star Wars?
Is it the point where the Death Star explodes just as it's about to vaporize the Rebel base? Is it a couple of minutes earlier, when Han Solo swoops in to knock Darth Vader into deep space so that Luke can fire the torpedoes which blow up the Death Star?
Nope.
The climactic moment is about a minute before that: when Luke turns off his targeting device and chooses to rely on The Force to destroy the Death Star. That's the moment when he has become a Jedi Knight, trained or not. Here's a clip (which will probably get taken down as part of the endless war between copyright holders and YouTube).
How do we know this is the climax? The music. Watch it again and pay attention to the music. Up to this point the Rebel attack has been scored by the inimitable John Williams with discordant, menacing music, rather reminiscent of Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring. Luke's moment of uncertainty has a sort of ethereal interlude, heightening suspense.
Then, boom! He makes the choice and the music shifts dramatically to the heroic main title them. We don't really have to see him pull the trigger or watch the Death Star explode. The music already lets us know this is the path to victory. The hero has passed the test of faith.
John Williams is a great storyteller.
For a sample of my own storytelling, buy my ebook Outlaws and Aliens!
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