Today marks the 30th anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back.
I saw Empire at the Big Newport in Newport Beach, CA on Saturday, May 24, 1980. I remember getting a copy of the souvenir program at the box office before it started and fighting the urge to flip through it, as I didn't want to reveal too much. I couldn't resist of course and came upon a picture of Han in Carbonite. I knew right then that Empire was going to be very different from Star Wars.
I couldn't wait to get into the theater to find out how this all played out. We were about an hour and a half early, however, nobody in line. We went across to a Coco's for lunch and all through the meal I stared out the window at the theater across the street, hoping we wouldn't get stuck at the back of the line and fighting more urges to flip through the program. We fortunately made it back with only about twenty people in front of us. I could actually hear the Imperial March from the earlier screening seeping out through the side doors as we waited.
Thirty years later Empire remains a very special movie to me. Where Star Wars opened my young eyes to the power of pure cinema, Empire really introduced me to the power of characterization and storytelling. To me, it remains as layered and complex as any Shakespearean tragedy or classic film noir. I usually screen it at least once a year and every time it's like visiting with an old friend; I'm transported back to that Saturday in May when I was nine, when worries and responsibilities were foreign concepts and my imagination swelled with endless possibilities. Happy 30th, Empire.
