Star Wars is a topic of conversation that keeps cropping up in my life. The fact that I am usually the one who so often works it into the conversation is besides the point. It is a passion for so many and with today being May the 4th, you can see a lot of people wearing this love on their sleeves.
Several years back I wrote my undergraduate dissertation on Star Wars and George Lucas. It was something I was very proud of (not to mention something that I was very happy to receive my grade for!) and the content has been an area that has frequently came up in Star Wars conversations with friends since. On mentioning this piece I have been asked several times to email it to people to see more of what I was talking about, so finally I thought what better date than to share it with everyone else online who may be interested?!
Of course when I finished writing this in the spring of 2011 the Star Wars saga was in a very different place; the movies were dead, The Clone Wars were really starting to kick into gear and we were waiting on WW2 adventure Red Tails and the 1313 video game (something which many gaming fans are still holding out hope for). This time almost seems like a distant memory before the bright new hope of Disney and a franchise that looks like it will continue long into the future.
Again this was my final dissertation at university so it would certainly class as a bit of a long, and now slightly outdated read, it's also written in an academic style but hopefully it won't be too dry to get through. I'd love to hear whatever your thought's on it! Please feel free to get in touch on twitter -
@chrisjallan. So relax, put on some John WIlliams, pour yourself a nice tall glass of blue milk and enjoy!
“Evil is Everywhere”
The
Politics of George Lucas
and the
Representations of War and Totalitarian Power
in the
Star Wars Prequels
By
Chris J. Allan
A Dissertation presented at Northumbria University for
the degree of B A with Honours in Film and Television Studies, 2011.
Chapter
One - Introduction
In 1977 the film
Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (Dir.
Lucas) was a huge critical and commercial success; it propelled its colourful
cast of characters to household names, its principle cast to celebrity status
and its writer and director, George Lucas, to the forefront of the Hollywood
elite. Lucas is considered to be a very successful independent director as well
as a ground-breaking filmmaker for the important films he has made and the
filmmaking techniques and pioneering technology he has been involved with.
Baxter states that Lucas has “become a legend” (1999, p. 7) going on to say
that the filmmaker has “created something remarkable. An empire. A fortune. A
myth” (ibid.). Lucas is a filmmaker who
has been given a great deal of praise and appreciation for his work but also someone
who has gained certain degree of notoriety.
The success of
the Star Wars saga is something that continues in many forms to the
present day, with the release of the prequel trilogy between 1999 and 2005, the
on-going animated television series Star
Wars: The Clone Wars (2008 - present) as well as numerous video games,
comic books and various other forms of merchandise. However, as a filmmaker
Lucas has had a wider career beyond Star Wars, most notably with the
hugely popular Indiana Jones series
of films which he has been involved in with director Steven Spielberg. Lucas is
also a filmmaker who enjoyed some early independent successes with his various
short films, as well as THX-1138 (Dir.
Lucas, 1971) and American Graffiti (Dir.
Lucas, 1973). Lucas has also been pivotal in setting up digital effects studios
which have been revolutionary in Hollywood cinema. The ground breaking
companies Industrial Light and Magic (ILM) and Skywalker Sound, which were
originally established for working on the first Star Wars film, have since gone on to be involved in visual
effects, sound design and the production of hundreds of films, and have gained
a great amount of praise and acclaim for their work. The award winning Pixar
animation studio also evolved from the creative crew of the Lucasfilm Computer
division, further showing the visionary talent Lucas has nurtured and
encouraged though his companies.
This
dissertation will act as a study of Lucas’s life and career utilising
biographical accounts of his life from George
Lucas: A Biography by John Baxter and Skywalking:
The Life and Films of George Lucas by Dale Pollock. In using these texts to
establish a timeline of Lucas’ life, this study will be able to address various
events that relate to the wars and conflicts that have been a part of his life
and his problematic relationship with the notion of totalitarian power. This
will then lead to a further exploration of the ways in which George Lucas’
political views and opinions on war and totalitarian regimes, particularly the
effect that World War II had on him and how this shaped his life and his
filmmaking style. Using Phil Melling’s arguments in The Adversarial Imagination (2002) this study will explore how
Lucas as an American has been raised in an environment obsessed with warfare
and why this has been an element of his entire life.
In the first
chapter there will be a brief overview of Lucas’ life and career. This will
explore how his personal life and various decisions in his early career, his
interests and his hobbies have played a part in his work. It will also explore
his personal relationship with war and the military and how this too has gone
on to heavily influence his filmmaking career. Von Gunden notes that “Lucas
makes films to see them realized” (1991, p. 56) and whilst this description perhaps
most obviously relates to the action, adventure, science-fiction and fantasy elements
of Lucas’ films, with elaborate set pieces of visual interest and spectacle, it
is interesting to think that it has also manifested itself in his ideas
relating to war and politics and how this too has been reflected in his films. Additionally
this chapter will explore Lucas’ films in relation to other interpretations of
war films and war related subject matter made by Lucas and as well as his
filmmaking peers of the baby boom generation.
This chapter
will also try to address where Lucas’ opinions lay in regards to notions of
politics, war and the threat of totalitarian regimes, and how this has
influenced his filmmaking decisions and is reflected in his work. This chapter
will study some of Lucas’ political beliefs and a viewpoint that would seem to
be fairly liberal, with the example of his active support for President Barack
Obama in recent years. This section will also explore Lucas’ opposition to the
previous Republican president George W. Bush, especially during his second term
in the run up to the 2008 election. Additionally this will lead on to looking
at his opposition to recent issues of American warfare, most notably the
aftermath of 9/11 and the outbreak of the War on Terror with Iraq and
Afghanistan, as well as the political circumstances surrounding these events.
This recent activity leads to speculation about whether his position on war in
general has changed and if he has become more opposed to war and conflict in
recent years, although still retaining a fascination with war and
totalitarianism.
The second
chapter will be looking at the recent prequel trilogy of Star Wars films:
Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace
(Dir. Lucas, 1999), Star Wars: Episode II
– Attack of the Clones (Dir. Lucas, 2002) and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (Dir. Lucas, 2005). As
a case study this will prove to be interesting as they explore Lucas’ take on
the rise of a totalitarian regime and more general conflicts of politics and
politicians. Whilst the original series of Star
Wars films has established the narrative of what happens after these
prequels, these new instalments document the shift of political power and
explore how a totalitarian regime emerges and, most importantly, show Lucas’
interpretation of these ideas. This chapter will also further explore more
contemporary issues such as the aftermath of 9/11 and the George W. Bush
administration who were in government at the time. It will then analyse the
various war allegories and comparisons which are addressed in the prequel
trilogy films, why they are utilised and what affect this has.
In the
concluding chapter of this study there will be an overview of the analysis of
George Lucas and how through his filmmaking career his fascination with World
War II, the threat of another war breaking out and how the influence of
politics has manifested itself into his films’ narratives. This will lead to
discussion of the nature of his films, what message they are trying to convey
and how they can be seen as Lucas giving a message of warning to younger
generations, which is still being reflected in his work with upcoming films and
television programmes. It will also look at the possibilities of why the reception
of the Star Wars prequel films has
been mixed, especially in relation to the huge cultural impact of the original Star Wars films. This section will look
at George Lucas’ filmmaking legacy and how his impact is something which can
provide a truly important message in popular culture.
Chapter
Two: “So this is how liberty dies?”
–
The Life, Career and Politics of George Lucas
Today, George
Lucas is considered a pioneer of cinema; as well as being directly responsible
for some of the most critically and commercially popular films in the history
of popular cinema with the Star Wars and
Indiana Jones franchises, he can be
credited with building a company which has enhanced and changed the landscape
of modern day popular cinema and popular culture. It is interesting to examine
how popular culture in the post-war period had an effect on Lucas’ early life.
George Lucas was
born in Modesto, California in May 1944 and as a child growing up in post-war
America it would seem that Lucas had a life shadowed by war. The importance and
impact of the Second World War is discussed by Kaes, who argues that “the
further the past recedes, the closer it becomes. Images, fixed on celluloid,
stored in archives, and reproduced thousands of times, render the past
ever-present…all of us, whether or not we have lived through the Hitler era,
have partaken of its sights and sounds in a host of documentary and feature
films” (1989, p. ix). This highlights the implications that the war would have
had on Lucas, despite his generation never having participated in the actual
conflict but rather experienced the aftermath in society and reflected on film,
acting as a message, reminder and warning for those who see them. The cultural
experience of living in a post-war environment may have influenced Lucas to
refer to World War II and contemporary wars in his work in order to educate and
warn people about the real threat of war.
Whilst the
Second World War is one of the most defining events of the twentieth century
with repercussions that are still evident in the present day, its impact could
be seen to relate to Melling’s theory of America as a society which is constantly
in need of a tangible Other, and that war itself “defined much of the American
imagination” (2002, p. 182). With Melling arguing that American society needs
to have an enemy through which they can define themselves, he also expresses
the belief that this national feeling manifests itself throughout the lives and
work of many Americans. This theory is also often evidenced in Hollywood cinema
with Melling saying that in film “action against real or imagined enemies
remains the imperative that continues to excite the popular imagination in the
current age” (ibid.). Being born towards the end of World War II, the theme of
war indeed seems to be something that has over shadowed Lucas’ personal and
professional life, this connection with war seems to be a weight that Lucas has
had to bear throughout his life for numerous reasons. This experience is
something that Lucas has had to live with and is a situation that has
confronted those of baby boom generation; the generation of people who were
born towards the end of the war and the years following the end of the Second
World War. The threat of another World War on such a great and devastating
scale was something that many feared after 1945. A life living in a post-atomic
bomb world meant that Lucas was part of a generation burdened with the fear of
war at any time; this was a threat that was constantly being enforced in
popular cinema at the time. Jerome Shapiro discusses the theory of atomic bomb
cinema and the numerous forms it has taken with both American and Japanese
interpretations of the subject matter ranging from realist narratives to more
fantastic science-fiction based films. With these types of films dominating
popular cinema and popular culture throughout the 1950’s and 60’s it is likely
that Lucas will have grown up with these depictions of war and nuclear threat
to some extent. Shapiro further discusses that “because the bomb cuts across
every gender, race, ethnicity, class and cultural, national, and ideological
boundary, atomic bomb cinema serves as the perfect model for understanding how
the politically powerless respond to their situation” (2002, p. 2). So the fear
of the bomb and nuclear war was a threat that bound a generation together. It
would seem that the impact of these films connected with the actual realities
of growing up in the wake of the nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in
Japan at the end of the Second World War, and the dangers of a potential future
nuclear war is something that further defined Lucas’ connection with the time
period and the impact of these events. It was something he couldn’t escape in
his everyday life and in popular entertainment. Growing up in a world with a
looming threat of the Cold War with Russia would have also been something Lucas
had to deal with in his youth, with America and the Western world constantly at
threat from a possible outbreak of war.
An event during
the Cold War, the Cuban missile crisis in 1962, was viewed as a key moment of
threat to the Western world. The confrontation revolved around America and Cuba
deploying various nuclear missile placements within firing range of each
other’s borders, this arms race resulted in national alert levels being raised
as the possibility of nuclear conflict increased. Although this particular
crisis ended with a military stalemate the event itself raised public awareness
of both American and Soviet government nuclear missile placements and the
potential effect warfare with these arms could have had, the aftermath of which
would have been devastating. The legacy of the Cuban missile crisis is the
possible effects that it would have had and how this kind of warfare would have
drastically changed the balance of power in world politics. This event would
seem to further exacerbate American national fears of nuclear war, and for
Lucas seeing this potential nuclear disaster unfold through national news
coverage would seem to further build upon his personal relationship with
warfare and politics.
The Vietnam War
was a conflict that emerged in the mid 1950’s and lasted until the mid-1970’s
revolving around the threat of the Communist North Vietnam against South Vietnam
and their anti-Communist allies. America’s involvement in this war was a huge
area of controversy, particularly their deployments of troops in the 1960’s.
The main body of the opposition to America’s involvement in the war came from
the counter culture movement, the popular opinion of the war was very low in
America and this discontent was further exemplified by challenging speeches by
people such as Martin Luther King Jr, student protests and marches across
America, as well as in popular music with artists such as Bob Dylan recording
protest songs. Lucas was undoubtedly affected by the counter culture’s reaction
to Vietnam from growing up and being a student in the 1960’s around the time of
the conflict, and the concepts of totalitarian power, war, including jungle and
guerrilla warfare, would be something he explored in his filmmaking career.
Lucas is an
active supporter of the American Democratic Party. In recent years this is an
important viewpoint as it not only defines certain policies and decisions that
he supports but it would seem to set him against the decision to go to war with
Iraq and Afghanistan in the War on Terror, something which was started by the
previous Republican government. In the run up to the 2008 United States
election Lucas gave his opinion about the Presidential campaign in an interview
with The Huffington Post, in which he referred to Democratic
leader Barack Obama as “a hero in the making” (2008). Discussing how Obama was
someone in American politics that could really make a difference and do as well
to be known as a “hero” would seem to imply that Lucas was highly enthusiastic
about Obama becoming President and replacing the Republican government who were
then in office.
In his teen
years Lucas had a keen interest in cars and drag racing. He was aiming to
become a professional racing driver, and spent much of his time working on cars
and racing on the underground circuits in California. However, in June 1962
Lucas was involved in a car accident where he was almost killed; this incident
abruptly ended his dreams of becoming a professional driver. However, his
passion for cars would later be shown most obviously in his 1973 film American
Graffiti as well as seen in the podracing sequence in The Phantom Menace
and the city chase scene in Attack of the Clones with both of these
vehicle types being reminiscent in various ways of the hot-rod style cars that
Lucas had loved.
The prospect of
a life in the military is something that Lucas then went on to consider after
some further time in education. It is possible that from growing up in a
post-war environment of 1950’s America Lucas had forged a strong personal
connection to war and it could be believed that he thought it should be his
duty to serve in the army. So, in 1967 he attempted to join the United States
Air Force, but was turned down because of his numerous speeding ticket
violations. He was later drafted for military service in Vietnam but failed the
medical examination when it showed that he had diabetes. However, despite never
actually serving in the military, his connection to the army and war would seem
to be something that Lucas would never escape from. It could perhaps be seen
that Lucas has a sense of guilt over not having served his country, especially
being from a generation of Americans where many were drafted to into the war in
Vietnam. These aspects of his life would be something that Lucas would
eventually go on to further explore in his film career.
Lucas attended
the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts (USC), a
university which was one of the first in the United States to have a school
dedicated to film and filmmaking, which now has many notable filmmaking
personalities in its alumni including Lucas and his frequent collaborator
Steven Spielberg. During his time at film school Lucas made various short films
often taking inspiration from the French New Wave, cinéma vérité and other
experimental film movements. Other cinema influences for Lucas included the
work of Japanese director Akira Kurosawa as well as the famous Western director
John Ford. The interest Lucas had in these iconic filmmakers can clearly be
seen in films such as the original Star
Wars with visual references to Ford’s seminal film The Searchers (Dir. Ford, 1956) being visible in how Lucas framed
shots on the desert planet of Tatooine, in that they were similar to shots on
the homestead in Ford’s film. References to Kurosawa can be seen in the warrior
and monk lifestyles that the Jedi Knights lead in the Star Wars series being similar to those of the traditional Japanese
Samurai often shown in Kurosawa’s films.
During his time
at USC Lucas directed various short films, one of these shorts which was remade
by Lucas as his first full length feature was THX-1138. This experimental science-fiction film depicts an
Orwellian take on the idea of the totalitarian state, a place where the people
are controlled by being administrated drugs and the robotic-masked security
guards. Dale Pollock describes THX-1138
as a “bleak, depressing film…austere
and unemotional” (1990, p. 95). This can be read as an almost clinical
exploration of life within a totalitarian regime examining the brutality of
life in a heavily controlled dictatorship. Pollock quotes Lucas on the film as
saying that “fear of the unknown is what keeps people in line” (p. 94), this
explaining why the filmmaker believes people can be susceptible to the lure of
the order of totalitarianism.
Whilst Lucas’
next film American Graffiti did not
directly deal with the topic of war it still can be seen as dealing with issues
related to Vietnam. Set in 1962 the film presents the end of the “Cruising” era
in American popular teenage culture with the characters coming of age and
beginning life outside of education. However it is the pre-credit title card
that shows an interesting insight into writer and director George Lucas. From
the information on the card we learn that a character was killed in a car
accident, a fate that almost befell Lucas himself, one character is shown
living the mundane life of an insurance agent and another character was
reported missing in action, presumably in the Vietnam War. It would seem as
though the fates of these three characters were the possible life outcomes for
Lucas if he had not gone into filmmaking, and indeed the lead character of the
film, Curt is said to be living as a writer, most closely mirroring Lucas’
life.
War allegory
relates to the idea that a story is used to convey an important message; this
story often has its characters learning from the mistakes of the past to
eventually “do right”. Considering Lucas’ interest with war it is without
question that war allegory is something which can be seen throughout his film
career. For example, the first three films of the Indiana Jones series take place during the 1930’s and all deal in
some part with the rise of the Nazi Party in Germany. Although this is not
usually crucial to the plot or heavily explored in what is generally a family
friendly series of adventure films, it is interesting to note how the
historical relevance and threat of the Nazis is utilised for an easily
definable Other for the heroes in the film to defeat.
The idea of war
is something which has been represented throughout the whole Star Wars saga and has been explored in
various ways by Lucas. The totalitarian regime of Hitler in Nazi Germany can be
compared with the character of Palpatine in the Star Wars films. From the character’s beginnings in The Phantom Menace as a manipulative
politician getting elected to Chancellor and with further manipulation seen in Attack of the Clones where Palpatine is
granted with “Emergency Powers” to legitimize his new clone army. This power
builds and leads to his eventual position of control as the Emperor in Revenge of the Sith, and with this shift
from a democracy to a dictatorship we see Palpatine power crazed and ruthless. The Emperor is only mentioned in A New Hope as the figurehead of the
Empire who has recently dissolved the Senate, further establishing his power.
The Emperor has a brief appearance in The
Empire Strikes Back (Dir. Kershner, 1980) through a Hologram projection to
warn Darth Vader of the threat of Luke Skywalker, but it is with Palpatine’s
appearance in Return of the Jedi (Dir.
Marquand, 1983) that it is clear that
he is feared and obeyed by all of those in his regime from the officers aboard
the Death Star to his legions of soldiers.
As well as his
personal connections to war Lucas also has an interest in war films, which can
be seen in his filmmaking with his films making allegorical and stylistic
references to the military past whilst they also entertain. Brooker notes how
the spaceship dogfight in Star Wars was
created using “inventive cannibalisation and poaching…retaining a passion for
editing, he had composed a prototype of the final dogfight sequences from every
war movie he and Gary Kurtz could videotape from television” (2009, p. 37), so
with this rough editing reel made up from footage of classic World War II films
such as The Dam Busters (Dir.
Anderson, 1955) and 633 Squadron (Dir.
Grauman, 1964), Lucas had a template for the climactic spaceship battle for A New Hope. An example of this editing
reel can be seen on the documentary Empire
of Dreams (Dir. Becker and Burns, 2004) where Lucas further expresses why
these particular cinematic dogfights were inspiration both visually and
symbolically for the Rebels attack on the Imperial Death Star. It is
interesting to compare these battle scenes from the original Star Wars film to the war sequences in Attack of the Clones. These sequences
towards the end of the film tend to display a more contemporary style of
shooting action and also a style that is seen in contemporary war journalism.
This kind of documentary filmmaking and modern day news coverage has been a
mainstay on news channels in recent years with the developments in handheld
camera technology. In many ways this style reflects back to Lucas’ interest in
the cinéma vérité movement in that it is a naturalistic and realist approach
which effectively makes the battle look more real and chaotic when switching
between and focusing upon different areas of the conflict.
Indiana Jones
and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (Dir. Spielberg, 2008), the fourth
instalment in the series, is set in the mid-1950’s and the threat of Communist
Russia is made highly apparent throughout the film, from the power hungry
Russian villains to the anti-communist march happening on the university
campus. The fact that on the university campus there is an anti-communism rally
occurring not only visually establishes the scene as being a campus in the
1950’s where rallies such as these actually happened during the decade but also
reflects the political unrest of the time for a modern audience. In an early
scene of the film, the time that has passed since the third instalment of the
film series is explored and it is mentioned that during the Second World War
the character of Indiana Jones was a war hero for the Allies. However, whilst
he is being interrogated by American agents Indiana Jones is accused of
possibly being a Communist sympathiser. During this time period various people
were black listed for having Communist connections or for being Communist
sympathisers which made it impossible for them to get work in America.
Specifically the threat of being black listed is something that affected
Hollywood as various people within the filmmaking community were listed and
couldn’t work in the American film industry for many years, often having to go
abroad to get filmmaking work. This is something in film history which would
undoubtedly be a point of interest for the film scholars such as Lucas and his
frequent collaborator Steven Spielberg, and likely why it was referenced in the
film.
Similarly to
Lucas, the co-creator of and director for the Indiana Jones series Steven Spielberg seems to have a prominent
relationship with war. Spielberg was born in 1946 and was also part of the Baby
Boom generation born in the wake of the Second World War. From growing up in
this generation much like Lucas, Spielberg too will have spent his early life
shadowed by a world that was still recovering from World War II and living
under the threat of the Cold War and the Atomic bomb. Not only with the Indiana Jones series of films but with
the award winning Schindler’s List (Dir. Spielberg, 1993) and Saving Private Ryan (Dir. Spielberg,
1998), it is apparent that the era of the Second World War is one that
Spielberg too has a great interested in and indeed much like Lucas he has had a
successful film career exploring this interest. Not only does Spielberg have a
connection to the war from growing up as an American citizen in the aftermath
of the war and under the threat of the Cold War but he a further personal
connection in that he is Jewish, a religious faith who were particularly
persecuted by Nazi Germany. This is something which undoubtedly reinforces his
emotional relationship with the subject matter.
It is interesting to compare the work of
American directors such as Lucas’ post Second World War work in cinema with
that which was being made in West Germany in the 1970’s. The New German cinema
was made up of a generation of filmmakers who had grown up with a distrust and
resentment for their parents’ generation because of their connection to the
Nazi regime. With films such as The Marriage of Maria Braun (Dir.
Fassbinder, 1979) being produced there was a grim sense of brooding and resentment
in German cinema at the time. Lucas, whilst also deals with post-war concerns
he has done so in a very different way through the science fiction and fantasy
genres. It is interesting to contrast the post-war generation of American
filmmakers with those who were involved in the New German Cinema movement,
whilst their films were often realist and bleak in America the filmmakers were
starting to make blockbusters such as Star Wars, which were considerably
more uplifting stories which could be enjoyed by people of all ages. The
implications and effect war can have resonates in cinema generations after the
event itself and indeed despite which side of the conflict you were raised in.
The sense of regret is not something that is necessarily shared by the new
Hollywood directors such as Lucas who could be seen to have the freedom to
explore subjects more positively as they grew up in a country that emerged from
the Second World War as the victors. Most obviously for Lucas this can be seen
in the original Star Wars film where the heroic Rebels defeat the Empire
by the end of the film. However this freedom has also given Lucas as a
filmmaker the chance to explore his interest in the political threat and the
potential lure of totalitarianism, which countries such as Germany have suffered.
With American filmmakers of the time exploring their relationships with war in
the Hollywood mainstream of cinema they further differentiate themselves from
the films of the New German Cinema as they approach war allegory in a manner
which is more positive and heroic and often dealing less with issues of guilt.
Whilst
continually being grounded with an allegory relating to the Second World War
Lucas has also had a streak of representations of contemporary conflicts in his
films too. An example of this can be seen in Return of the Jedi where the
subject of the war in Vietnam seemed to be a theme that was explored by Lucas
with a jungle planet and its natives featuring in films finale, this is where
perhaps an allegory can be seen with Lucas comparing the jungle warfare of
Vietnam with the outbreak of war in the woodlands seen in the film. Not only
was this a conflict which was a huge area of controversy for America during the
time that Lucas was writing the original Star
Wars series but interestingly was also a conflict Lucas was almost a part of
if he had been successfully drafted into military service, and one which had
remained a subject of interest for him. Baxter discusses how Lucas was
originally going to direct the seminal Vietnam War film Apocalypse Now (Dir. Coppola, 1979), Baxter quotes Lucas on his
vision for the film, saying that it wasn’t to be “about massacres or anything
like that. It’s about Americans. Like a super-John Wayne movie” (1999, p. 140),
this would seem to show Lucas conforming to Melling’s theory in that the
American soldiers in the film would have very much been depicted as the heroes
of the conflict over the threat of the enemy Other. Baxter also notes that
visually the film would have very much reflected Lucas’ interest of shooting in
a cinéma vérité style, with war being shown in a very real and graphic way.
Despite the fact that eventually he never directed the film, it is Return of the Jedi and its sequences of
jungle warfare that could be seen as Lucas addressing his connection to Vietnam
as he never got the chance to do so first-hand with Apocalypse Now or in the conflict itself.
Additionally it
could be seen that there are comparisons to the events of 9/11 and the War on
Terror in the final Star Wars film, Revenge of the Sith. In a USA Today article Lucas is quoted as
saying that the film “isn’t the Iraq war” (Jacobson, 2005), whilst at the films premiere at the Cannes
Film Festival. Perhaps this is not Lucas actually saying the film has no
connection to the on-going War on Terror but perhaps trying to distance himself
and the film from the problematic subject and a matter that would have still
been a very emotional one for many Americans and people connected to the
tragedy of 9/11. It could also be seen that Lucas is trying not to connect the
film with current political events so that he is not seen with a political bias
that may put-off potential audiences who don’t share his more liberal
Democratic Party views. However, it could certainly be read that the film does
have similarities to these events.
Thematically, Revenge
of the Sith can perhaps be seen as one of the darkest films in Lucas’
canon. The film shows Palpatine’s rise to the position of Emperor with a
political strangle hold on the galaxy, Anakin’s grim demise and his fall to the
Dark Side as well as the purge of the Jedi Order. Whilst the films narrative
was always intended to be bleak, setting up the Empire before the “New Hope” of
the following film, Revenge of the Sith
was perhaps made yet more bleak with Lucas’ cynicism for politics of the George
W. Bush administration translating into the most dark and cynical film of the Star
Wars saga. Mulligan notes how science fiction films and television “brought
a darker narrative to an audience who had been barraged with the media coverage
of the September 11th attacks in America, and the consequent
invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq” (2008, p. 52). This can definitely be seen
with Revenge of the Sith reflecting
bleak times in the real world with a darker vision with his film.
Flanagan
discusses how Lucas ultimately approached making these new Star Wars films almost two decades since the last film instalment,
noting that “with Star Wars, Lucas finds himself in an odd position of
serving a demanding, difficult-to-please fanbase that will inevitably pay to
see the film anyway, hardly a scenario that encourages creative risk” (2002,
p. 334). However whilst the narratives of the film might not be every fan’s
vision of what they wanted to see, the process of making three self-financed
blockbusters is not likely something Lucas would have attempted half-heartedly
and if he didn’t want to make them. And so he could be merited for taking a
great creative risk and using the Star
Wars franchise as a platform to explore his strong war opinions and the
issue of politics and corrupt governments. It would seem that on a personal
level these films represent a story that Lucas wanted to further explore but
also to entertain audiences whilst making them conscious of the threat of
warfare.
With the
original Star Wars film Lincoln
Geraghty claims that “the concerns
over national politics, overpopulation and energy shortages that had once
weighed heavily on the films of the early 1970s had been forgotten as George
Lucas…took moviegoers to another place” (2009, p. 60). Geraghty argues that
whilst the films vision of spectacle and fantasy captured a generation’s
imagination it took cinema audiences away from problems and concerns that
existed within the real-world and in the audience’s everyday lives.
Interestingly however it was with the new series he brought the politics in the
fantasy to the foreground and with the freedom of the Star Wars franchise being Lucas’ own independent and self-financed
series of films he can make them as political as he wishes them to be, but whilst
still retaining the action and sci-fi fantasy elements associated with the Star Wars series.
The upcoming
Lucasfilm project Red Tails (Dir. Hemingway) would seem to continue
Lucas’ fascination and working interest with the time period of the Second World
War. The film tells the story of the first group of African American pilots who
fought in WWII. It seems as though this film will continue Lucas’ exploration
of the time period as an area he still has a great interest in.
Chapter
Three: “I am the Senate”
-
A Case Study of War in the Star Wars Prequels
The Star Wars prequel trilogy is an
interesting case study in regards to Lucas’ filmmaking career for various
reasons. The three films not only demonstrate an interesting return by Lucas to
the series he created, but it also shows an artistic and creative freedom from
Lucas that he is allowed through self-financing. With the freedom to deal with
issues that he wants to, it can be seen that these films explore Lucas’
thoughts on politics and war and give the filmmaker the chance to reflect upon
the impact these events have had on his life and the lives of others.
Ian Scott notes
that the original Star Wars films
were “escapism…returning to the screens” (2000, p. 124), he goes on to state
that he thought that Star Wars and
other blockbusters of the era brought an end to important political conspiracy
films for almost a decade, however this could certainly be argued that a
political undercurrent was present throughout the original Star Wars series. It is also interesting to note that whilst the
political element to the original Star
Wars films was not the main focus of the narrative, these prequel films
would be steeped in political intrigue and corruption as Lucas explored various
political themes and ideas. As previously mentioned the story that follows
these prequel films has already been established with the tyranny of the Empire
shown in full force in the original Star
Wars films under Emperor Palpatine’s control. However, the importance of
the narratives focus on the politics of war and the building of totalitarianism
is crucial as an exploration of the wars that have surrounded Lucas’ life and
representing and reflecting his invested interest in them. The films too can be
seen as reflecting Phil Melling’s theory of America as a nation under siege and
under threat because the film shows an established and good Republic being
corrupted and wrongly taken over, for audiences this shows an insight into an
enemy and discovering a new threat of war which they can relate to.
The over-arching
story of the Star Wars prequel trilogy is one that is steeped in
political corruption and deception. In Episode I – The Phantom Menace we
begin to see the eventual downfall of the Republic with Palpatine eventually
being elected as Chancellor after he suggests a vote of no confidence in his
predecessor. Episode II – Attack of the Clones shows the further rise of Palpatine’s power and the creation of his
grand army of soldiers. Particularly during the finale of the Attack of the Clones and the majority of Episode III – Revenge of the
Sith, that deals with the
Clone War we see an interesting representation of politics in a time of war,
politics that are constantly being manipulated and influenced by Palpatine which
ultimately lead to him becoming the Emperor, a dictator over his new Empire.
The story of the political corruption in the Star Wars prequels is all orchestrated by the character of
Palpatine, this overarching narrative of subverting the existing political
system from within spans decades and the entirety of the prequel trilogy,
Palpatine is The Phantom Menace to democracy and the Republic that the
title of the first film refers to.
As previously
mentioned, war allegory is the idea of a story that can be interpreted to mean
something or convey a message or meaning, and this is something that is
apparent throughout the prequel trilogy of Star
Wars films. Perhaps most notably in these films we see the rise of a
totalitarian regime and the message that is being delivered is a cautionary one
to the perils of dictatorship and war. The most obvious comparison to the
political rise of the character of Palpatine in the real world is the rise of
Adolf Hitler in Germany. Hitler is a figure in 20th century history
whose legacy has had a profound effect on modern society, as the dictator’s
influence is still remembered for the atrocities which he committed.
The concept of
totalitarianism relates to the political idea of one leader being in complete
control. Frank Bealey defines totalitarianism as “a totality of control by the
state…in the totalitarian state all political, economic, social, cultural and
intellectual activities should be directed towards fulfilling the aims of the
state. There is no pluralism. Nor is there Democracy” (1999, p. 322). Whilst
the term was first popularized in modern politics to discuss Mussolini in
Fascist Italy, it was utilised by Hitler in Nazi Germany and also by various
Communist countries. The totalitarian regime that is depicted in the narrative
of the Star Wars films, that of the
Galactic Empire, is similar to these real-world governments in many respects,
most obviously for the figure head dictator associated with these regimes, the
loyal legions of soldiers and the actions they undertook at the will of their
dictator, as well as the general negative connotations they hold in modern
society. Interestingly however it could also be seen that these leaders and
dictators would not necessarily have classed themselves as such or as doing
wrong at all, it is likely that they would have believed that what they were
doing was what was best for them and their people too.
The characters
of Obi-Wan Kenobi, a Jedi Master and Padmé Amidala, a Senator in Republic are
both shown lamenting the death and demise of democracy with the wake of the
Galactic Empire and the total control of the galaxy which is being given to
Emperor Palpatine. In their respective scenes both characters, who are seen as
the heroes within the Star Wars films,
are shown as clearly objecting to the movement to a totalitarian government.
Additionally, part of Palpatine’s plan in his rise to power as Emperor is
“Order 66”. This
military order is issued to the Clone Troopers for the removal of the Jedi
presence in the Galaxy. In Star Wars the
Jedi are represented as cultural, intellectual and peace keepers, and so what
they stand for is something that Bealey noted cannot exist within a
totalitarian regime. To enforce this cull of the Jedi Knights, Palpatine states
that the Jedi were plotting to overthrow his government in a coup against the
Republic. From this section of the narrative and the events leading up to it,
certain parallels with the re-militarization of Germany in the 1930’s can be
made with the film. After the events of the First World War, Germany was made
to have a set of strict legal and military restrictions under the Treaty of
Versailles and the Locarno Treaties with the aim of preventing future
conflicts. However the impositions on Germany were not successful and were
unpopular in the country, and when Hitler rose to power little over a decade
later he began to rebuild the German military in an exchange for a pact on
border control. The other nations in Europe and around the world were in many
cases to slow or late to react to these breaches of the deal with Germany which
eventually lead to the outbreak of the Second World War. This situation can be
compared to the character of Palpatine secretly orchestrating the creation of
an army; even though he initially uses this army as a means of defence its
purpose ultimately becomes one that serves his evil rule and dictatorship. In Star Wars the Jedi would here represent
the other allied nations, for some time they had known that there was a
disturbance in the galaxy and the presence of an enemy Sith lord, but through
their discussing the situation and possible threats, dithering over how to deal
with their problems and their general naivety of not realising that the enemy
was amassing right in front of them, for the Jedi it was their time wasting and
deliberation that ultimately lead to their destruction. In the real world this
can be compared with the rise of Germany under the Nazi Party and the potential
power that they could ultimately have had if they won the war.
It is also in
the speech announcing “Order 66” to the Senate in Revenge of the Sith where Palpatine announces that the Republic
will become a Galactic Empire with him as their one leader. This statement is
met with cheers and jubilation by the rest of the Senate. Padmé says “So this
is how liberty dies, with thunderous applause”. Her statement would seem to
reflect Lucas’ vision of how a country can be swept up by the manipulation of a
politician and do something that they believe is right and in their best
interests at the time, it is in the following films of the saga that we see how
bad this political shift turns out to be and how damaging the rule of Palpatine
is. This section of the film could also be seen to reflect the infamous stories
of Stalin’s rule in Soviet Russia where the audiences at his speeches were
forced to clap and support their leader at an excessive level from fear that
disloyalty or not being seen supporting their leader would result in them being
executed. This rise of the Empire is a further element of the Star Wars series that reflects the rise
of Hitler in the real world. When he convinced the people of Germany that he
was a political force that was good for the nation he ultimately turned the
country into a dictatorship and sparked the atrocities of the Second World War.
This scene would seem to be pivotal in Lucas’ interpretation of a totalitarian
regime in that it shows the tipping point of a democracy, and with the
following part of the Star Wars series
already established in the original films we know the damage that this shift in
the balance of power will have.
Looking at the
penultimate scene of Attack of the Clones we are shown the new Clone
army of the Republic being watched over by Chancellor Palpatine, with his newly
elected emergency powers and a small group of Republic senators. The Clone
Troopers are shown marching in regiments, with rows and rows of soldiers in
perfect uniformity preparing for the oncoming Clone Wars. This scene in
particular would seem to be very reminiscent of the Nazi propaganda films of
Leni Riefenstahl. Most notably with one of the infamous scenes of the Nazi
rally in the documentary Triumph of the
Will (Dir. Riefenstahl, 1934) which shows Hitler’s powerful and influential
speech to hundreds of marching troops and Nazi supporters at the Nuremberg
Rally. The Clone Troopers that are shown in Attack
of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith
have very similar armour designs to the Galactic Empire Stormtroopers of the
original Star Wars trilogy. To those
who have seen the original Star Wars films
it will be obvious that these troopers of the Republic will eventually become
the soldiers of the Empire. The importance of the term Stormtroopers is because
it is something which itself originated in Nazi Germany. Translated into German
these Nazi soldiers were known as the Sturmabteilung and were often also
referred to as the Brown Shirts. The rise of the Nazi presence in Germany is
something which is associated with these Brown Shirts, most notably with the
infamous Night of the Long Knives of 1934 where the soldiers purged political
adversaries and critics of the Nazi regime. The presence of villains called
Stormtroopers in Star Wars evokes a
memory of the Nazi soldiers of World War Two and would seem to immediately
identify them as the enemy, which would also seem to share particular further
parallels to the Jedi purge of “Order 66” in Revenge of Sith with the soldiers being shown ruthlessly killing
the unsuspecting Jedi Knights.
In the opening
narration of Revenge of the Sith it
states that there are “heroes on both sides” and that “evil is
everywhere”. These phrases seem to pose a complex view of the war depicted
on-screen in the film. It would seem that the complexities of war, even in Star Wars series, aren’t as simple as
the good fighting the forces of evil. It is interesting to relate this to
Lucas’ view of the war with him perhaps reflecting on his possible life in the
military; perhaps considering if he would have thought the wars he was
participating in were justified, particularly in regards to the Vietnam
conflict. These statements would also seem to show Lucas reflecting upon on the
positive and negative aspects of both sides of the Clone War, not only the
idealistic view of the Republic heroes that are depicted in his film but
perhaps also seeing some benefits to the theories of the Confederacy against
the Republic, the problems which are inherent in democracy and perhaps also the
positive side of the order in totalitarianism. It is interesting to note John
Orr’s discussion of the rise of films revolving around the Cold War, “Soviet
cinema…found equivalents for popular consumption, with the nationalities of
heroes and villains reversed” (2000, p. 50) this demonstrates that films from
either side of the conflict depicted its characters as the heroes of the war.
In Revenge of the Sith, Lucas could
be seen objectively looking at both sides interpretation of the conflict, and
in doing so seeing the good and bad aspects of both.
It could also be
said that the character of Anakin Skywalker is shown as a victim of war related
post-traumatic stress, reference to this can be seen in the Guerrero and Jamora
article where they talk about the “fall and redemption of…Anakin Skywalker”
(2007). It could be seen and argued that war has changed the character from the
more innocent and naive boy we see in The
Phantom Menace and the love struck teen in the early scenes of Attack of the Clones to someone on the
verge of an emotional breakdown and paranoia because of this on-going war. For
Anakin the stress of war manifests itself into distrust and discontent because
he is kept apart from his wife by the warrior lifestyle he has been forced
into. Eventually Anakin turns against his master Obi-Wan Kenobi and sides with
Emperor Palpatine, these events lead to Anakin killing his wife Padmé. Anakin
becomes Darth Vader when he makes his transition to the Dark Side, and although
he eventually finds redemption by the end of the Star Wars series, he is a character who is considered one of the
greatest villains in the history of cinema. It is interesting to consider if
this is an exploration by George Lucas of the life he may have had to lead if
he had joined the military. American Vietnam veterans in particular have a
certain stigma associated with them in popular culture for often suffering from
post-traumatic stress and other psychologically damaging effects from their
time in the war, which sometimes caused veterans to behave anti-socially or
even violently when back in American society. This is something which could be seen
to relate to the strain and anguish that the character of Anakin is put through
during the Clone War. Obviously the story of Anakin Skywalker is a fantastic
one due to the fantasy and sci-fi nature of the films but the concerns and
tribulations that the character is put through because of this war can be seen
as very real, and they also reflect the elements that could have been part of
Lucas’ life, the stress, hardship and the loss that war can bring.
It is
interesting to consider the events of 9/11 and how Lucas has reflected on this
modern event and the politics that surrounded it whilst still predominantly
focusing upon the Second World War. America after the events of 9/11 in many
ways was a very different country, with this being an event which caused a
dramatic change in worldwide politics and these huge cultural effects of those
terrorist attacks became greatly relevant to the present day. It could be
argued that 9/11 and its aftermath surpasses the cultural relevance of WW2,
atomic bomb cinema, Vietnam and the Cold War, at least as a defining cultural
event for a younger generation who are further removed from the Second World
War. Consequently, it would seem unlikely that a director with interests in
political and war concepts such as Lucas would ignore this, and so elements of
this event can be seen as reflected in the film. What sets 9/11 apart from
events such as World War Two is that with modern technology it was a heavily
mediated event with lots of news coverage, often with coverage often running
round the clock on various news channels across the world. With the advent of
more modern media there is also online coverage on official news sources as
well as peoples mobile phone footage of events, various blogs and social
networking sites which have given people the chance to have a constant source
of news coverage, this type of news coverage was prominent in 9/11 and in the
War on Terror that followed.
In a 2005 USA Today article Harlan Jacobson
interviews Lucas after the Cannes Film Festival premiere of Revenge of the Sith about the topics of
9/11, the War on Terror that followed it and the presidency of George W. Bush.
In the interview Lucas however can be seen as distancing himself from current
politics to some extent, seemingly with the intent to not alienate sections of
the potential Star Wars audience who
would likely be going to see the new film. In the article Lucas is quoted as
saying when writing the original outlines for the Star Wars prequel series in the 1970’s the current Iraq War didn’t
even exist and that “we were just funding Saddam Hussein and giving him weapons
of mass destruction”, whilst avoiding discussing the current situation in any
real detail Lucas here demonstrates a clear hostility towards certain American
foreign policy decisions and how the country had dealt with figures such as
Hussein.
A year later in
a 2006 article in Variety, David
Cohen references how Revenge of the Sith had
been seen as a critique of the George W. Bush administration and their
mishandling of the events of 9/11 and the following Iraq War. In response Lucas
is quoted as jokingly saying that “Some people have said Revenge of the Sith is coming true. I say I didn’t mean to make
this all happen”. Lucas again goes on to state that he has been influenced by
various moments in modern political history which have had an effect on him
such as the Vietnam War and the presidency of Richard Nixon. Despite the tongue
in cheek attitude of this article it would seem apparent that the themes that
Lucas had been exploring with Revenge
of the Sith were being recognised by
people and the parallels it made were making people discuss and explore the
issue further themselves. Indeed, later in the article Lucas also goes on to
state that “you’ve got to remember that the rebels win in the end. Darth Vader
is vanquished. Don’t forget the ending. Don’t get stuck on Episode III.” This additional insight shows a degree of optimism
from Lucas for the future. Perhaps most notably this can be seen as a
presidential election was forthcoming in 2008 and so Lucas would have seemed to
be hopeful for a Democratic victory.
Towards the
climax of Revenge of the Sith there
is a wide landscape shot of the planet Coruscant with the Jedi temple
prominently shown within the frame. The temple building is shown with the dark
smoke bellowing from its damaged structure creating a stark visual contrast
against the blue skies of the Coruscant city landscape. This imagery would have
seemed to be designed with the intent of evoking memories of 9/11 and the
dramatic impact the event had. In regards to how this particular scene in Revenge of the Sith could be seen as a
tool to elicit an emotional response to the film, Ott states that “dramatizing
the moral dangers and pitfalls of unrestrained fear…furnishes viewers with a
set of symbolic resources for managing their social anxieties” (2008, p. 14),
making viewers relate with the characters who are confronting a situation of
threat and chaos. In American culture the Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre
were seen as being symbolic of success, business and capitalism, pivotal
aspects of what is important in Western civilization. The temple building that
is depicted in the Star Wars prequels
could similarly be seen as an important symbol in the film as it represents the
spiritual home of the Jedi Knights. In Star
Wars the Jedi are seen as the keepers of peace and order in society and so
it could be seen that destroying this building is similar to destroying the
World Trade Centre, as what they represented is an American symbol of hope and
freedom. It is interesting to consider why the event of 9/11, a demonstration
of terrorism against Western style politics, society and commercialism has been
appropriated in Revenge of the Sith.
Whilst it has been noted that the Star
Wars saga is a story which is partially inspired by World War II, The Cold
War and Vietnam, it seems inevitable that it too would become something that
incorporated and reflected upon a monumental event such as 9/11 in the real
world.
The final film
in the Star Wars saga, Revenge of the Sith can arguably be seen
as an anti-war film, particularly in regards to the contemporary issue of the
Iraq war and the War on Terror. With Lucas perhaps seeing the Bush
administration and the knee-jerk reaction to the War on Terror as the real
threat, a threat from within, much like what Palpatine, The Phantom Menace had been all along. Further relating to Phil
Melling’s idea of the American people having a constant fascination with war
and desiring an enemy, the Star Wars saga
can be seen as reassuring as even though at the end of Episode III the galaxy is facing perhaps its darkest hour, by the
time of Episode VI the evil that has
been a threat has been vanquished.
Chapter
Four - Conclusion
It would be
remiss to say that the work of George Lucas has not been greatly influenced by
the world at war which he was brought into and the repercussions which that war
had till the present day. It is something that he has had a lifelong interest
in and something that has become intertwined with his filmmaking career.
In this
dissertation when exploring the reasons why Lucas has been so interested in war
and his concern over the possible threat of the having to live through the
atrocities of a conflict like the Second World War again; it seems clear that
there is a shadow that looms over his life, a shadow of war that he does not
want to have to pass on to younger generations. This being combined with the
fear of the Cold War and the threat that the Atomic Bomb posed in his early
life as well as the conflict in Vietnam it would seem that war was something
that those born into the Baby Boom generation had to engage with. It would seem
that Lucas’ work has in many ways conformed to the theory of Melling as he has
been a filmmaker who, despite the variety of film projects he has been involved
with, he has always returned to the theme of war and the threat against the
safe vision of the American way of life. By looking at Lucas’ filmmaking legacy
we can see his interest in war, the power of totalitarianism as well as the
influence of the documentary films by Leni Riefenstahl as well as the many
other war films that he took filmmaking inspiration from. Through his career
decisions and self-financing Lucas has always had the possibility to explore
the concepts of war and totalitarianism and what they meant to him. The threat
that Lucas documents in his films, particularly the new Star Wars prequels, show that he yearns for an era of peace,
prosperity and a time without political corruption and greed, and why the
pitfalls and tragedies of war should be avoided. However this isn’t to say that
Lucas’ message is necessarily consistent either; with the filmmaker himself
almost going into military service he can be seen to have mixed feelings about
various conflicts that have happened throughout his life. These differing
opinions could be seen as a particular stance on certain issues, such as the
general unpopularity of the Vietnam War or even perhaps showing that Lucas
doesn’t necessarily know how he truly feels about conflict himself. Looking at
the quotes from Lucas in the Variety and
USA Today articles it is also
apparent he doesn’t directly give his opinions on modern issues of war and
current affairs, this was possibly a tactic as to not deter fans who didn’t
agree with Lucas’ political viewpoint away from seeing the newest instalment of
the series. It could also simply be that some filmmakers do not always want to
let everyone know what their films are about and can often leave it up to the
audiences interpretations. The concept of war is however undeniably something
that has constantly been a fixture in Lucas’ films, from THX and American Graffiti to
Star Wars and Indiana Jones, it is a topic that has very much occupied the
entirety of his filmmaking career.
The Star Wars prequel trilogy serves a
useful purpose in exploring Lucas’ personal and working relationship in regards
to war and politics. The films are interesting for various reasons including
that they mark Lucas’ return to directing after more than two decades as well
as the culmination of the talents that the filmmaker has assembled throughout
his company including those at ILM and Skywalker Sound. Additionally in regards
to Lucas’ personal investment in war, the films show an in-depth view of his
take on how corrupt politics and manipulation can lead to rise of
totalitarianism and a full scale war, and arguably show his most rounded and
objective look at war from both sides of the argument in any of his films.
There has been a
great deal of speculation regarding the reception that these recent Star
Wars films have received. Both fan
and critical reactions to the prequel films are generally mixed, especially
when compared to the praise given to the original films. It could be
seen that his interest in war and its relationship with political upheaval was
damaging to the overall story for these films. Baxter speculates that “the
characters in Phantom Menace spent far too much time talking politics
and not enough establishing human relationships. The friendships that lay at
the heart of the first three films, insofar as those films had a heart, were
absent here.” (1999, p. 400). It would seem that there could be various reasons
for this mixed reception, it could be argued that these films had to live up to
unrealistic expectations of fans and the heightened sense of nostalgia that
they have for the original series. This seems to be the argument that Brooker makes
in Using the Force (2002), where he
sides with comedy programmes such as Spaced
(1999 - 2001) which lampoon the prequel films. However, in response to
these criticisms it could be argued that these new films in the series have
more complex narratives and are perhaps not as simple or straightforward as the
good fighting the bad as was the case in the original Star Wars trilogy. This is still an area of active discussion and
debate amongst Star Wars fans and
critics in magazines, fanzines, websites, conventions as well as being the
focal point of the recent documentary The
People Vs George Lucas (Dir. Philippe, 2010).
Today, the
future of the Star Wars franchise is most prominently being explored in The
Clone Wars. Under
Supervising Director Dave Filoni the animated film Star Wars: The Clone Wars (Dir. Filoni, 2008) and the following series is further
exploring the Star Wars universe that
Lucas created in the time frame between Attack
of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith.
Lucas himself seems to have an integral role in the series suggesting episode
plots and working alongside writers and directors on the programme to expand
upon their ideas and further explore issues he dealt with in the Star Wars films. Part of the writing
team for the programme includes Katie Lucas, one of George Lucas’ three
children. As her involvement with the Star
Wars brand continues through writing on The
Clone Wars series it will be interesting to see if she shares her father’s
interest in subjects revolving around war or if she brings her own personal
subject matter to the franchise.
Additionally,
with the forthcoming Lucasfilm release of Red Tails (Dir. Hemingway)
based on the true story of the Tuskegg Airmen, the first group of African
American pilots fighting in the United States army it is interesting to look at
Lucas’ future with war related film projects. Lucas has himself written the
story outline for the film as well as being credited for filming various
re-shoots for the finished film when Hemingway was busy with another project.
Lucas has had passion for the project for some time with the film itself being
in some form of development at Lucasfilm since the late 1980’s. Additionally,
with Lucas taking over directing duties for the first time since Revenge of the Sith it would certainly
seem that he is eager to further explore the war stories and that his interest
in the Second World War time period is still a matter that is of importance to
him.
For over three
decades George Lucas has been a figure in filmmaking who has made several
timeless classics, can be seen as partially responsible for the rise of the
modern blockbuster and also a filmmaker who has benefitted a wide array of
feature films with his involvement in the ground breaking companies Skywalker
Sound and ILM as well as in the huge impact his own films have had upon popular
culture. Ultimately, it would seem that throughout of his career George Lucas
has explored his personal relationship with war, politics and the power of a
totalitarian leader in various ways in an array of films. Whereas these have
ranged from allegories to more obvious references and homages to dealing with
real world subject matter they have all been important in conveying the message
of the threat of war and totalitarianism, by looking at the after-effects of
the Second World War or the events that happened in his lifetime such as The
Cold War, Vietnam and recently 9/11. Stephanie Wilhelm poses the question “how
seriously can the audience take Lucas’ representation of a democratic republic
turned evil empire?” (2006, p. 182), her argument would seem to speculate that
perhaps Star Wars is a franchise that
is too much orientated towards children to be seen as a serious commentary on
politics and modern warfare. However it could be argued that whilst Star Wars can perhaps be seen as a
modern fairy-tale or fable from Lucas, with its narrative presenting an
anti-war warning to avoid the political mistakes and resulting war of the
generation that came before him which has shadowed his life. The massive
influence of Lucas’ Star Wars series
in popular culture is undeniable, reaching audiences both young and old, and if
it has made some people consider and debate the purpose of war and discuss the
political concepts of totalitarianism and corruption in politics then it could
be seen as being a personal success for Lucas in delivering his message
regarding the threat of war and the damage it can create.
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Filmography
- 633 Squadron (1964) Directed by Walter Grauman [Film]. Century City, California:
United Artists.
- American Graffiti (1973) Directed by George Lucas [Film]. Los Angeles, California:
Universal Pictures.
- Apocalypse Now (1979) Directed by Francis Ford Coppola [Film]. Century City,
California: United Artists.
- The Dam Busters (1955) Directed by Michael Anderson [Film]. Paris: Pathé.
- Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars
Trilogy (2004) Directed by Edith
Becker and Kevin Burns [DVD] San Francisco, California: Lucasfilm.
- Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal
Skull (2008) Directed by Steven
Spielberg [Film]. Hollywood, California: Paramount Pictures.
- Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) Directed by Steven Spielberg [Film].
Hollywood, California: Paramount Pictures.
- Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
(1981) Directed by Steven
Spielberg [Film]. Hollywood, California: Paramount Pictures.
- Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) Directed by Steven Spielberg [Film].
Hollywood, California: Paramount Pictures.
- The Marriage of Maria Braun (1979) Directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder
[Film]. Cologne: Westdeutscher Rundfunk.
- The People Vs George Lucas (2010) Directed by Alexandre O. Philippe
[Film]. Los Angeles, California: Exhibit A Pictures.
- Red Tails (2011) Directed by Anthony Hemingway [Film]. Prague, Czech Republic:
Partnership Pictures.
- Saving Private Ryan (1998) Directed by Steven Spielberg [Film].
Universal City, California: Dreamworks.
- Schindler’s List (1993) Directed by Steven Spielberg [Film]. Los Angeles, California:
Universal Pictures.
- Spaced (1999 - 2001) Directed by Edgar Wright [DVD] Channel 4.
- Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999)
Directed by George Lucas [Film]. Los
Angeles, California:
20th Century Fox.
- Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002)
Directed by George Lucas [Film]. Los
Angeles, California:
20th Century Fox.
- Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005)
Directed by George Lucas [Film]. Los
Angeles, California:
20th Century Fox.
- Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977)
Directed by George Lucas [Film]. Los
Angeles, California:
20th Century Fox.
- Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
Directed by Irvin Kershner [Film]. Los
Angeles, California:
20th Century Fox.
- Star Wars:
Episode VI – Return of the Jedi (1983) Directed by Richard
Marquand [Film]. Los Angeles,
California: 20th
Century Fox.
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008)
Directed by Dave Filoni [Film]. Burbank,
California: Warner Bros.
- Star
Wars: The Clone Wars (2008 – Present) Directed by Various [DVD]
Cartoon Network.
- THX-1138 (1971) Directed by George Lucas
[Film]. Burbank, California: Warner Bros.
- Triumph of the Will (1934) Directed by Leni Riefenstahl [Film]. Berlin: Universum Film
AG.
