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Post by thomasallencummins on Sept 11, 2008 7:26:42 GMT -5
I'm still plodding through the book and have not progressed as far but I'm not at all surprised by your conclusions, ram. I'll have more to say on the subject once I finally finish the book. I guess it's going slow because it's an ebook and frankly I have a hard time sitting for hours staring at a vid screen to read.
I've never read anything by Campbell either though I have heard a lot about his views. I have not watched the Moyers piece. Perhaps it's available on Youtube.
Well after checking I discovered that exerpts from the "the Power of Myth" were available on Youtube but were removed due to copyright infringement by the Joseph Campbell Foundation. Oh well.
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ram
Magpie
randomly avoiding mainframes
Posts: 571
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Post by ram on Dec 19, 2008 19:48:36 GMT -5
So, I've gotten back into this e-book. I’ve read through Chapters VI, VII and VIII. Some meaty stuff in there.
Chapter VI: The Wreckage (a telling title) might be the most insightful chapter of all. It examines the madness and pressure that went into the making of The Empire Strikes Back. It argues that Lucas's personal struggle with Empire fundamentally altered the direction of the SW saga.
Lucas had put all of his own money into Empire, so the film had to be "the biggest grossing sequel of all time" just for him to break even. The movie had to pay not just for itself, but for the projects Lucas did outside of the SW films, most notably the relocation of ILM to bigger headquarters, and his dream of Skywalker Ranch.
But Lucas had hired a director, Irvin Kershner, whose slow and methodical approach to filmmaking was the complete opposite of Lucas’s “fast and faster” style.
Yet Kershner's exacting care resulted in what many have come to regard as the greatest SW movie of all, and Lucas made back all his money. Still, the budgetary nightmare of Empire was something Lucas was determined to avoid for the next SW film. That meant more control over how ROTJ would be made. As the book suggests, the dichotomy here is that after Empire, never again would Lucas face the same kind of budget crisis, but never again would he receive the same level of critical acclaim as on Empire.
Empire's ordeal also killed Lucas's enthusiasm for his dreamy 9-part SW saga. After "merely" two films, he had gotten tired of the stress of SW, and so had his actors. He resolved that ROTJ would be the final SW film.
Empire also caused a permanent rift between Lucas and his long-time friend and SW producer, Gary Kurtz. Lucas felt betrayed by Kurtz during the production of Empire, because Kurtz had taken Kershner's side. As far as Lucas was concerned, Kurtz's main role on set was to keep costs under control - i.e, get Kershner to move the picture along faster. But Kurtz liked the results Kershner was getting, and so he had more sympathy for the director than for his boss on the other end of the phone line. Lucas felt they were wasting their time trying to make a "great" movie when in his mind a movie that was "good enough" would have done the job.
Finally, the stress of Empire pushed Lucas's marriage to a point where it would never recover. Marcia Lucas had endured George's black moods during the making of the original film, but after Empire she'd had enough. She had wanted George to settle down so they could enjoy the kind of life that the massive success of Star Wars had made possible for them. But his unwillingness to let go of SW made peaceful living impossible. The two divorced just before the release of ROTJ. The tragedy of the split is made greater when one realizes what a beneficial force Marcia was in George's life and career. Marcia was a skilled film editor in her own right, so one ought not to underestimate her influence on the original Star Wars. Marcia could tell if a scene worked or not, and was one of the few people George really listened to. Marcia also provided "warmth" to counteract George's "coldness" both in his marriage and on film. (I now wonder just how much of Marcia might be represented in the feisty Princess Leia.) The divorce devastated George, of course, and he felt more isolated than ever before.
Whew. Anyway, terrific chapter, as are the next ones. I hope you'll read them, but if you're not interested, I thought I'd try to summarize some of the major points. Some of this is old news, of course, but these chapters incorporate it all to paint a sad - but sympathetic - picture of a man nearly destroyed by his desire to be the ultimate independent filmmaker.
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Post by thomasallencummins on Feb 4, 2011 7:36:04 GMT -5
You know I've still not finished reading this thing. I should try.
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Post by dANdeLION on Feb 4, 2011 9:06:51 GMT -5
Do or do not... there is no try!
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Post by thomasallencummins on Apr 30, 2011 4:52:10 GMT -5
Do or do not... there is no try! Still not finished. I'm not even sure where I have it. I know it must be in my documents directory on one of these computers. I'll look for it when I get a life.
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Post by dANdeLION on Apr 30, 2011 21:19:53 GMT -5
I'd tell you where it is, but it's a secret.
Also, I have no idea.
Plus, I forgot the question.
Who are you people, anyway?
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Post by thomasallencummins on Jul 11, 2013 6:06:06 GMT -5
By the way I finished the Secret History of Star Wars some time ago. Why someone would be so obsessed with making sure everyone knows that George Lucas can be less than truthful and go so far as to write a lengthy book on the subject is beyond me. There is some real journalism on display in the book, real fact, decent writing. I hope he doesn't target the late Gene Roddenberry next because I've heard old Gene liked the ladies even while he was married.
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