Rian Johnson Discusses STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI Movie Influences and Filming
Director Rian Johnson is deep in the post-production process of Star Wars: The Last Jedi and is currently editing the film. In a recent interview with Empire, he said that the film is taking shape and that he's excited. I think every Star Wars fan is excited to see how this next chapter in the saga story comes together!
The filmmaker went on to talk about some of the cinematic influences he had when directing The Last Jedi and also talked about his experiences developing and shooting the movie. When it comes to his influences, he mentioned three films and explained what each one of them brought to the table:
“‘Twelve O’Clock High’ was a big touchstone, for the feel and look of the aerial combat as well as the dynamic between the pilots. 'Three Outlaw Samurai’ for the feel of the sword-fighting, and the general sense of pulpy fun. And ‘To Catch A Thief’ was a great film to rewatch, for the romantic scale and grandeur.”
Aerial dogfights, swordplay, and romantic grandeur! Sounds like all of the things that help make a great Star Wars film. Johnson went on to talk about writing dialogue for the film. If you're familiar with Johnson's previous films, then you know the guy loves to right fun and quick-witted dialogue, which I hoped we would see in The Last Jedi. In regards to writing dialogue for the film he said:
"I found myself constantly wanting to push modern idioms into the dialogue, and sometimes that can work, but you have to be very careful. If you go too far you can break that Star Wars spell. The other challenge is the tech talk, which has to be simultaneously complex enough to sound real and conceptually simple enough to follow. The original films were brilliant at that."
Johnson also talked about his experience filming the movie and what the biggest surprise for him was:
“I guess the biggest surprise was the intimacy of the process. It’s huge, sure, and it’s filled with pressures great and small. But at the end of the day, it boils down to the same things as the smaller films we’ve made: telling a story we care about with a camera and some actors. And a Wookiee.”
I'm most excited for the full return of Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker. This is the chapter in the story where we see him back in full-on action, and the thought of that so freakin' cool! I can't wait to see his character's story arc play out over the course of the next two films.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi is scheduled for release in theaters on December 15, 2017.