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(More customer reviews)A through analysis of Star Wars from an academic standpoint (something sorely lacking in terms of Lucas's film). While much of the writing about Star Wars over the past 3o years has discussed its revolutionary special effects of its blockbuster status, Brooker analyzes Star Wars in terms of what it was for George Lucas the auteur director. In his early career, Lucas longed to be a maverick, separate from Hollywood and in control of his own projects. His first two experiences with the Hollywood system (THX-1138 and American Graffiti) left Lucas with a soured perspective of Hollywood. He began Star Wars by attempting to fashion a troupe of talented people all working together to create something that would out-do Hollywood at its own game. However, Brooker traces that in doing so, and so fiercely attempting to retain his control, Lucas's desire to create band of rebels gradually turns him into the empire itself as he must reign over and control an unruly cast, crew and special effects department. Brooker also examines Lucas's fascination with objects rather than people and demonstrates that Lucas, like the empire, prefers things that are cold and impersonal, less human, but longs for the wild improvisational spirit of creativity found in the rebels. Brooker's book demonstrates that Star Wars is a much more complex film that originally gleaned by demonstrating that Lucas, as the writer/director/editor, is identifying with both sides and while the narrative the film demonstrates a clear victory of the film, Lucas's direction does not reveal such a clear cut winner
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Will Brooker'silluminating study takes issue with many commonly held ideas about Star Wars. Heprovides a close cinematic analysis,carefully examiningits shots, its editing, its sound design, cinematography and performances.Brooker argues that Star Wars is not, as Lucas himself has claimed, a departure from his previous work, but a continuation of his experiments with sound and image.He reveals Lucas' contradictory desires for the total order and control ofthe Empire, and, on the other hand,for the raw energy and creative improvisation of the Rebels. Though at first Star Wars seems a simple fairy-tale, itbecomes far more complex when we realize that the director is rooting for both sides, creatinga tension unsettles the saga as a whole and illuminates new sides of Lucas' masterpiece.
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