One of the primary characteristics of the hero's journey is the atonement with the father. In The Last Crusade this is present between Indy and his father, Henry Sr. In the beginning of the film, the strain between the father and son relationship is clearly present. Indy, who feels excited about finding the cross relic, is emotionally disappointed by his father's nonchalant reaction. He feels that his father cares more about his work than his son's accomplishments, and it is this belief that ultimately influences Indy's attitude about life. Due to the absence of Indy's mother, his father's lack of affection makes the atonement that much more traumatic for him. The "paternal role that Ford was constantly reminded of his relationship with his father ( Pfeiffer 2002) ", so this obviously adds to the effect of the movie.
Another factor that led to the atonement with the father is the difference of beliefs between the two men. Henry Sr. searches for the existence of the Holy Grail throughout the duration of 40 years. This concept is something that is seen a mythological to some, but Henry insists on chasing this concept. Due to this, Indy holds a resentment against things relating to mythological concepts. It also leads to both men's different approaches to handling problems in the outside world. One scene that shows this is the scene with the plane and the birds. Henry Sr. uses his wits to scare the birds into making the plane crash. He uses mental and unorthodox tactics to achieve his goals in the outside world. Whereas Indy uses physical and literal strategies to handle his problems.
When Indy rescues his father, there is an immediate power struggle between the two. Indy is stressed about leaving the hostile area where his father is cool and relaxed, maybe to a fault. Another scene with a power struggle is when the two are at the crossroads and Indy wants to go and find Marcus, while his dad wants to go to Berlin to retrieve his journal. The two go back and forth until Indy's father slaps him. This shows Henry Sr. still has authority over Indy, and that is something that Indy does not like. Indy's struggle with authority is something that is present within all the movies. There is a struggle with the government, police, and morality, but all these problems stem from his troubled relationship with his father. When Indy brings up this conflict, his father dismisses it and says that it helped him become a stronger person.
When Indy's father is dying, and he saves him with the water from the Holy Grail, it is parallel to when Luke saves Darth Vader. The scene is completely is really similar to the scene in Return of the Jedi. The only difference is that while Vader is dying, Henry is living. Both men have watched their sons grow into their own, and at this moment, the atonement has been diminished. One of the last scenes in which Indy is hanging above the abyss, there is key lighting on two objects. One is his father, and the other is the Holy Grail. Henry Sr. calls Indy by his first name (Indiana), as he tries to pull him up. This is a form of respect, because throughout the whole film, Henry has called him either Indy or Jr., much to Indy's distaste. They are both now on equal terms, and when Henry says "job well done" instead of "I love you", it means more to Indy, because he always had his father's love, and now he has earned his respect.
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