Star Wars Never Had A Destiny.
Destiny has always been key to the Star Wars Mythos, for better and for worse.
The Rise of Skywalker is finally here and from early whispers to press screenings the view of Star Wars is once again muddled, with sighs of a disappointing consensus echoing among early viewers. A common complaint from some fans and critics alike is that Episode 9 highlights a greater issue with the sequel trilogy in that it lacks a cohesive ‘vision’, and with doubtless (and inevitable) comparisons to the original trilogy being made of how seamlessly those 3 films flow together.
And through this I want to make something clear, regardless of how we may feel about Disney’s new line of Star Wars films, its important to acknowledge that this idea of a definitive cohesive vision that was planned from the start with a unwavering certainty of how a space opera saga would end…
Has never been called Star Wars.
Star Wars was never ‘Destined’ for anything.
Throughout its lifespan, from a mere hope in George Lucas’ heart to a billion dollar Disney Empire, Star Wars has always been subject to changes: from personnel, to story beats, to technology, Star Wars new and old has always been a series that circled back to the drawing board countless times.
Though let me make this clear, I don’t begrudge anyone for wanting a more unified vision, a more solid laid foundation in a series they’ve grown to love, my only goal is to demonstrate that that’s just never been the Star Wars method, and ‘from a certain point of view’ it might even be beneficial that Star Wars doesn’t work this way. It’s ironic that the themes and world of Star Wars are so tightly linked with the concept of ‘Destiny’. The idea that things are predetermined and are a part of a plan is comforting and more and more we see major media franchises (especially one’s derived from existing extensive source material) adopt long term plans from their series and unveil them at press events to keep us fans salivating at the prospect of a greater universe. But this method (for mainstream film at least) is a very new concept and really only one franchise has pulled it off: The Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Comparisons between the MCU and the new Star Wars films are abundant and not necessarily unwarranted, both being owned by Disney and both being the driving force of the pop culture juggernaut we currently live in. And whilst both series have grand unveiling s for future films and TV series, Star Wars isn’t what I call a multiverse; sure there now exist Star Wars spin offs like Rogue One, Solo and now the Mandalorian but you’re not expected to watch all of them to understand the context of the sequel trilogy of Rey, Kylo Ren etc.
Kathleen Kennedy, current head of Lucas Film, whilst being interviewed on the subject of the Star Wars creative process stated that:
‘Every one of these movies is a particularly hard nut to crack. There’s no source material. We don’t have comic books. We don’t have 800-page novels. We don’t have anything other than passionate storytellers who get together and talk about what the next iteration might be.’
- Kathleen Kennedy, https://winteriscoming.net/2019/11/21/kathleen-kennedy-talks-the-rise-of-skywalker-the-future-of-star-wars/
Granted whilst she’s not entirely correct, with Star Wars having an extensive expanded universe of stories to draw off, from novels, comics, games that have mountains of stories that could be adapted. But if we take a step back, I think what she’s attempting to convey is that the sequel trilogy is choosing not to adapt a story from the past or present EU directly and instead takes elements from past stories and uses them to create a new perspective. Whereas you look at the ever-massive Marvel Cinematic Universe, many of the most successful films in the franchise are adaptations of existing comic book storylines and events: The Winter Soldier, Civil War, The Infinity Gauntlet etc. These films are based on comic works that already have a fame-work and immense passion behind them so when its announced that they’re being adapted the audience knows loosely what to expect and there’s a comfort in a beloved storyline being translated into film. This philosophy of inspiration rather than direct adaptation has been ingrained into Star Wars’ DNA since its inception. When George Lucas couldn’t get the film rights to adapt the pulp adventure serial Flash Gordon, he simply took some inspiration from it and made a little film called Star Wars. We always call Star Wars a gamechanger without a second thought but if you really stop and think, really think about what makes up Star Wars, and especially think about the filmic landscape that Star Wars was released in, then it becomes apparent that Star Wars should never have worked.
JJ Abrams directing Daisy Ridely on location during The Rise of Skywalker.
Star Wars was a swash buckling adventure film about galactic space forces with killer space stations, telepathic monks with laser Katanas and a compelling cast member who in essence was a 7-foot dog man. Influences ranged from World War II dog fights, to Japanese Chambara (samurai) films, cult classic science fiction tales like Gulliver on Mars and Buck Rogers. Star Wars quite frankly doesn’t get enough credit for being as weird as it really is. Especially in a time where science fiction adventure films were considered poison for the Hollywood box office.
Choosing to fuse so many influences and themes into a single movie may seem cumbersome but it’s always been the Star Wars way and I think these new films are simply following through with what George Lucas and the original crew set out with. George Lucas is an incredibly impressionable artist, and Star Wars might be one of the most derivative films in existence… and that’s why it worked. George Lucas as well as countless talented set designers, make up artists, cinematographers, model makers, costume designers etc. managed to hearken back to old things they loved and remade them into their own iconic imagery for new generations to enjoy. But as much as we say his name, George Lucas could never have made Star Wars on his own. Be it the originals or even the prequels, films on the scale of Star Wars are almost always never truly auteur films, they simply are too big for one man to try and control. No matter how George Lucas may want to.
‘I really enjoy editing the most. Its the part I have the most control over, its the part I can deal with the easiest… It’s the past I rely on the most to save things for better or worse’.
- George Lucas
Producer Gary Kurtz, Director Irvin Kershner, and Mark Hamill on the set of The Empire Strike Back. George Lucas famously picked Kershner as director due to his skill with communicating with actors.
People often forget that like many films and franchises before and after, Star Wars has always been a collaborative effort. So many hands and minds have shaped the feel of what we know as Star Wars. I think that we as audiences, love auteurs. We love to think of one person as having a definitive vision and tailoring it to a specific idea. We love to have ‘the guy’, the one person who seems to have an exact idea of where the story and direction of a series is going to go long term. And many Star Wars fans feel that the Sequel Trilogy doesn’t quite have ‘the guy’ and feel that the trilogy lacks vision and foresight. Now granted, it is well documented that Disney’s Star Wars films have had major issues with both creative decisions as well as actual film production. Famous news-stories of the extensive re-shoots and re-writes of Rogue One and Solo in particular, give the notion that Lucasfilm doesn’t know what it wants from modern Star Wars, some credit. But I feel it a necessity to point out that with so many comparisons to the original trilogy, that those films were also made with these kinds of ‘aggressive negotiations’. If Star Wars was just one auteur director’s vision, it wouldn’t be the Star Wars the we know and love.
People often forget that George Lucas only directed one film of the original film trilogy and was a story executive and planner as opposed to the solitary screenwriter on Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. The touches of directors Irvin Kirshner and Richard Marquand, writers Lawrence Kasdan and Lea Bracket, the saving grace of Marcia Lucas’ editing, designers and artists Ben Burt and Ralph McQuarrie among many others are what make Star Wars… Star Wars.
George and Marcia Lucas Editing Star Wars. Marcia is largely credited as saving Star Wars through her editing reconstruction.
Even issues in production, disagreements and staff parting were not uncommon during the original films’ production: Famously Star Wars producer Gary Kurtz, left Lucasfilm during the pre-production of Return of Jedi due to creative differences with George Lucas and his feeling that the Lucasfilm empire was being driven more by merchandising rather than the creative decisions that would benefit the film. These types of problems will always be present in film making, with the nature and sheer scale of films like Star Wars, its naive to think they wouldn’t. So many ideas are changed, reworked or just straight cut for time, feel or just convenience.
Ralph Mcquarrie’s painting of dual Death Stars that were at one point planned to be the climax of Return of the Jedi.
Each of these people brought their own influences and perspectives forward to the universe and the trilogy benefited greatly because of it. Kirshner had a history of working in documentary film, with a fondness of using close ups of actors faces to demonstrate emotion. Empire had more intimate scenes with claustrophobic cinematography and in moments like Yoda’s hut and repairing the Millennium Falcon, you can feel Kirshner’s fondness for these angles. Richard Marquand (who was the first self proclaimed Star Wars fan to direct a film in the series) was proud to bring a sense of adventure and spectacle, wanting to entertain both young and older audiences alike and this was assisted by Kasdan’s scripts of spectacle, adventure and mystery. And even Leigh Bracket, whose script may have been largely rewritten by both Kasdan and Lucas, can still be felt within the tone of Empire. Bracket was both a space opera author and a noir film screenwriter, and as well as Star Wars being a poster boy example of space opera, the underworld elements of bounty hunters and backdoor dealings on Cloud City clearly resonate in Empire’s feel.
I’d argue that this feeling still resonates and that the Star Wars film-making philosophy with the sequel films, regardless of how you feel about these newer entries you cannot deny that the people behind the camera’s are putting in a piece of their own influence: from JJ Abrams use of sweeping bombastic spectacle and more modern semblance of comedy, to Rian Johnson’s interesting cuts/transitions, colour theory and more quiet moments. Even the spin off films like Rogue One have touches that separate them from even the modern sequel films. Gareth Edwards films his action like a Vietnam film with both the ground assault and dog fights filmed with more realistic angles akin to an old newsreel.
This quote from Harrison Ford surrounding the making of Return of the Jedi, actually gives some fascinating incite towards Lucas’ method of conveying story to the audience:
“One of George’s real strengths,” adds Ford, “is not giving you all the information you need, yet at the same time not denying you anything essential. You have a feeling that you want to know more at all times”
Harrison Ford in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, 1980
https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/star-wars-slaves-to-the-empire-61931/
Ford’s comment, like most of modern Star Wars discourse brings my mind back to The Last Jedi. And more specifically, about how Rian Johnson directs (and misdirects). All the elements that Ford is praising Lucas for are elements that Johnson utilises. I find looking back that both directors have similar influences, like Lucas, Johnson appears to be an avid fan of legendary Japanese filmmaker; Akira Kurosawa, with Lucas using Kurosawa’s film ‘Hidden Fortress’ as a heavy inspiration for Star Wars in terms of visual style and story structure.
The Throne room fight scene in The Last Jedi has numerous influences from Chambara cinema. Rian Johnson, much like Lucas before him is creating new cinematic imagery from old.
But something that I can’t answer for now, is how the Legacy of these films will be perceived. After all, Star Wars is a Legacy franchise: Not just in the fact it has recurring characters and a serialised narrative saga but to us, the viewers, the fans, the legacy of Star Wars is ever changing. Often, we ask as a fan base, if something feels like Star Wars, or rather what doesn’t feel like Star Wars. Fans have claimed that from the sequels, to the spin offs, to the prequels they all lack some sort of essence. Something that unquestionably makes something ‘Star Wars’. And honestly, I think that’s untrue, because in the grand scheme of things…
Star Wars can feel like anything.
Between roughly the years of 1999 and 2013, the fan base felt mostly vicious animosity towards the prequel trilogy, but with the kids who grew up with those films now old enough to look back and properly engage in the conversation there is a massive appreciation for those films, the prequels in a weird way have become their own branch of cult classics. To those fans, the prequels are their Star Wars, that’s what Star Wars feels like to them. This series has an intrinsic relationship to both legacy and nostalgia, both are constantly being exchanged to the next generation of fans. Now many look back at The Clone Wars and Rebels TV shows, the countless books comics and games, and smile fondly as that was their Star Wars. Even fans during the original trilogy had grievances over Empire, Jedi and even the original, the same way we joke and fight about modern Star Wars. So regardless of how we feel about this new trilogy, we’ll likely look at it with different eyes in it 5 maybe 10 years. Our feelings are never static, and neither is Star Wars.
So, for better or worse, Star Wars never had a destiny. And it never will.