Lars
In A New Hope, Luke Skywalker lives at the homestead of his uncle, Owen Lars. The name “Lars” may be a reference to the character Lars Jorgensen from John Ford’s classic western, The Searchers. Owen Lars and Lars Jorgensen are both patriarchs of small, isolated homesteads situated in hostile, forbidding deserts – and furthermore, Star Wars‘ two most pointed references to The Searchers both involve the Lars homestead.
When Luke returns to the Lars homestead at the end of A New Hope‘s first act, he discovers that it has been burned in his absence and sees his aunt and uncle’s dead bodies in its ruins. This scene pays overt homage to a similar moment at the end of The Searchers‘ first act, when John Wayne’s Ethan Edwards returns to his family’s homestead, discovers that it has been burned in his absence, and finds his relatives’ dead bodies in its ruins.
George Lucas pays tribute to The Searchers even more explicitly when Anakin Skywalker travels to the Lars homestead in Attack of the Clones. The Searchers centers on Ethan Edwards’ years-long pursuit of the Comanche who have abducted his niece, Debbie. A miniature version of this plot plays out in Attack of the Clones, when Anakin learns from Cliegg Lars that his mother Shmi has been abducted by Tusken Raiders and sets out on a mission to rescue her. Both Anakin and Ethan Edwards are determined to find their relatives even though others deem the search to be hopeless, and both quests end when the searcher finds the enemy camp and spies on it from an overhanging bluff in the night:
Anakin and Ethan both pursue their quests to the point of obsession, and in the process, they reveal their similarity to the enemies they would destroy. Ethan, who hates the Comanche, becomes like a Comanche by scalping his nemesis, the chieftain Scar. Anakin hates the Tusken Raiders, calling them “animals” – but when his mother dies, he lashes out at them in an animalistic rage. Cliegg Lars says that the Tusken Raiders are “monsters,” but when Anakin slaughters them, he takes one more step toward becoming a monster himself.
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Characters: Cliegg Lars / Owen Lars
Films: Episode II: Attack of the Clones / Episode IV: A New Hope
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Bravo! I saw The Searchers twice when I was a teenager and it wasn't one of my favorites but I liked it. If I had remembered that Lars was the name of Ethan's brother, I probably would have mentioned it in my post about the burned homestead: https://christopherwilbur.substack.com/p/burned-homestead?r=3ulcqv
The most extraordinary connection you made is between The Searchers and Attack of the Clones. I do not remember that shot of Ethan on the bluff overlooking the camp like Anakin. The major reason I picked that shot for my post on Anakin's rage-fueled slaughter was because (superficially) I thought the moons in the background looked cool. Now that shot feels like a "happy accident." Thank you.