E-Paper
A reluctant movie mogul
Lucas wants to make "his sort of films" now. Saibal Chatterjee reports from Cannes. In pics
For a filmmaker who, by his own admission, was never really interested in lending his name and talent to theatrical movies, writer-producer-director George Lucas has come a long, long way indeed – all the way to a much-awaited sixth episode of the epochal Star Wars series, to be precise.
Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, the last installment of one of the most successful movie franchises in the annals of Hollywood, was premiered out of the competition on Sunday at the 58th Cannes Film Festival. That was followed by a ceremony aboard a ship anchored in the Bay Cannes to honour the American director with a special Festival Trophy.
Lucas is, however, through with Star Wars. His career, he says, can now afford to return to where it all began – in “non-character, non-story” films. “I was never looking at a career as a maker of theatrical films until I fell into the sway of my mentor, Francis Ford Coppola,” he says. “I was more interested in capturing people caught in abstract situations.”
Lucas, in fact, promises to get back to making the kind of films that his enormous success has prevented him from doing all these years. “I will now make my sort of films. I am sure they would get released in theatres somewhere or the other,” he adds.
He is particularly pleased with the fact that feature-length documentaries have broken into the mainstream in the US and other parts of the world. “There is no reason why the kind of films I now have in mind will not be accepted,” he strikes a hopeful note.
Is he bothered a tad by the fact that Episode I and II, The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones respectively, were not received as enthusiastically as the Star Wars trilogy had been? “No, I have never paid attention to whether people did not like this chapter or that. I see Star Wars as one film,” he asserts.
Lucas explains that he has two broad and distinct fan bases – those under 25 and those above 25. “What the latter don’t like is invariably fanatically liked by people under 25,” he says. “Such gaps in popular perception express themselves in the quite the same manner from generation to generation. For one group, Rolling Stones and Beatles were the best thing that ever happened; for another, hip-hop represents the ultimate in music,” he adds.
Lucas emphasizes that Star Wars was always intended to be just one film. “Circumstances led to its turning into a trilogy. And then, many years later, people suggested that the back story should also be told,” he reminisces.
Talking specifically about Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, Lucas says that, in essence, it isn’t different from the earlier episodes except for the fact that “it has got an emotional kick to it”. That is a fact that could get the film PG ratings in certain cultures.
“It is not a fun, happy-go-lucky film in the usual Star Wars tradition so parents must take a decision on whether they want their children to see Episode III,” he forewarns filmgoers. “But it is still a classic good versus evil drama which shows how a good man turns into a bad one.”
