J.J. Abrams Discusses His Renegade Directing Style on THE RISE OF SKYWALKER and How it's About a Young Generation
A lot of Star Wars fans are excited for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. This movie is the final film in the saga that will wrap up the story of the previous eight films. According to Vanity Fair, the movie will “bring to a climax the millennia-long conflict between the Jedi Order and its dark shadow, the Sith.”
When talking about the challenge of bringing this epic story, which started with George Lucas in 1977, to a close, Abrams explained:
“That’s the challenge of this movie. It wasn’t just to make one film that as a stand-alone experience would be thrilling, and scary, and emotional, and funny, but one that if you were to watch all nine of the films, you’d feel like, Well, of course—that!”
I really hope that Abrams is going to be able to effectively pull this off. I’ve enjoyed the Star Wars film that have been made under the Lucasfilm/Disney banner. I know not all fans will say the same thing, but I’m just speaking for myself.
Abrams goes on to talk about how he approached shooting The Rise of Skywalker, and how he took it on with a different approach that he explains is a “fuck it” and “slightly more renegade” approach. He says:
“Working on nine, I found myself approaching it slightly differently. Which is to say that, on seven, I felt beholden to Star Wars in a way that was interesting—I was doing what to the best of my ability I felt Star Wars should be.” But this time something changed. Abrams found himself making different choices—for the camera angles, the lighting, the story. “It felt slightly more renegade; it felt slightly more like, you know, Fuck it, I’m going to do the thing that feels right because it does, not because it adheres to something.”
Well, I really hope that this new style of shooting the film works out for him. Abrams goes on to explain that the new Star Wars trilogy is about a young generation. It explained that these new films “don’t long for the past; they’re more about the promise of the future.”
“This trilogy is about this young generation, this new generation, having to deal with all the debt that has come before. And it’s the sins of the father, and it’s the wisdom and the accomplishments of those who did great things, but it’s also those who committed atrocities, and the idea that this group is up against this unspeakable evil and are they prepared? Are they ready? What have they learned from before? It’s less about grandeur. It’s less about restoring an old age. It’s more about preserving a sense of freedom and not being one of the oppressed.”
I get what they have been trying to do with these films and that’s a good explanation of what Lucasfilm has been trying to accomplish with these films. Now it’s all just about bringing the story to an end and I really hope to heaven that Abrams doesn’t let the fans down.
While it’s certain that not all fans are going to like how the ending turns out, there will be fans that do end up liking it. I can’t wait to see what that ending is! We’ll find out on December 20th!