This past Christmas my oldest daughter gave my wife and I his and her towels - one with Princess Leia's image saying 'I love you' and one with Han Solo's image saying 'I know'. We know have them hanging in our bathroom.
Aw, that's sweet.
It's actually a really complicated conversation they're having there.
What's the subtext?
She's saying "I love you" because it's maybe the last opportunity to do so?
But he doesn't reply "And I love you too" (as one might prosaically expect), instead he says "I know", meaning what? That he knows that she has stated the simple truth? And that, of course, she knows too that he loves her?
She's saying "I love you" because she loves him, she's afraid she may never get another chance to tell him (remember, she's been outwardly annoyed with him for most of the time she's known him, so she wants to be honest about her feelings and make sure he
knows she loves him), and the unspoken part of her declaration is "I will do whatever it takes to save you."
His response is much more honest than "I love you, too." A lot of people say that phrase without really meaning it, and Harrison Ford was absolutely right to say what would have fit Han Solo's character. Han isn't a goopy, sentimental man - he might be a smuggler and a rogue, but he's an honest one with his own code of honor.
So when she says she loves him, his "I know" isn't an arrogant, jerk response. He's saying not only that he knows she loves him, but also that he believes her. The unspoken part of that
is "I love you, too" but it's his way of speaking that says it without words. So he's expressing both knowledge
and faith in those two words. It's a very short scene, but beautifully subtle, the way Harrison Ford played it. And most of the people in the theatre audience just didn't get it, since most of them laughed and never looked for the real meaning.
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