George Lucas
Guerre Stellari

The fantasy cinema of today is so saturated with visual and sound special effects, weak and pedantic (or heavy?!) scripts, expressionless actors, and optional directors that I propose we shout miracle if the genre still exists today.

Aside from the illustrious exception of "The Lord of the Rings" (calling it a trilogy is wrong, see the books…), the fantasy films released in recent years have very little to do with the creative push of the avant-garde fantasy cinema of the '80s. Perhaps due to the excessive marketability of such titles, or perhaps to save effort, filling artistic gaps with technique… anything is possible. Not so long ago, in our own galaxy, Star Wars made us dream and radically changed the world of cinema. It saved Fox from bankruptcy, the same Fox that was so hostile to the visionary director who brought Darth Vader (Dart Fener in Italian) or Luke Skywalker to life. It gave a strong reason to all aspiring directors and "cinecreators," it changed an entire generation and gave it a name and a motto: "May the force be with you." Talking about fantasy cinema with Star Wars is more than appropriate, as much as talking about a generational film, a political film, and an adventure film. There are those who consider it a masterpiece. Others, a conventional film. Some even, a noisy and epileptic mess. The facts disprove all these hypotheses. History also serves this purpose: to justify the truth in an objective and impartial manner.

The film was not a masterpiece. If it had been, it wouldn't have become a generational film in which each of us can see ourselves, because it would be unreachable. The film is not conventional. Because if it had been, it wouldn't have raised that dust cloud that still hasn’t settled completely. It is still a cultural phenomenon today. Contrary to those who consider it a noisy and awful movie, I add that the film won six Oscars (Editing, Art Direction, Costumes, Special Effects, Music, and Sound) and for one of the rare times, united excellent reviews from critics and audiences. And to think that the production was an odyssey… Director George Lucas, with a budget of just 9 million dollars, managed to revolutionize cinema, to achieve both economic and artistic success. So in the end, what really is Star Wars? What is certain is that it is an intelligent and lively homogeneous mix of mythology, adventure, epic, fantasy, action, humor, good ideas, technological innovation and, why not, even a pinch of audacity and foolishness. All expertly mixed with the secret ingredient of every artist who produces something called "Art," something missing in many modern fantasy products. Art wouldn't exist if everything were imitable, ingredient for ingredient. But now I move to the phase I like the most: the structured analysis. To render the utmost objectivity and informality to this wonderful title (personal judgment but hopefully shared), I will divide the analysis into seven, actually… eight points: direction, screenplay, actors, art direction and costumes, special effects, editing, music, Italian dubbing.

1. DIRECTION: George Lucas leaves the right transparency that befits his role. Stable shots, never restless, smooth camera movements; a certain symmetry in the images is noticeable. The dialogues for the time were a novelty: they were faster and more impactful than other films made earlier; the recurrent advice Lucas gave his actors was: "OK, faster and more intense." Bold direction.
2. SCREENPLAY: George Lucas also signs the screenplay, which was perhaps one of the most misunderstood in cinema history. It really took “divine providence” to render it on film. The story model clashed completely with all the films that were released at the time (the '70s, since Star Wars is from 1977). It is right to say that cinema at that time was in deep crisis on any front, especially the studios. The Vietnam War had brought a strong wave of pessimism, especially in Uncle Sam's country. The proposed stories were dark and often without a happy ending; so much so that the period produced a wave of films that gave life to the "disaster" genre. The story of "Star Wars," however, (which today is called, for greater implementation in the saga developed later, "Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope) was different. It told how a person of humble and poor origins could become noble thanks to their honesty, courage, and audacity. It is the story of one who decides to follow in the footsteps of a father he never knew, to be like him. The phrase that describes the entire story of the protagonist, the farmhand Luke Skywalker, is encyclopedia-worthy: "I want to come with you to Alderaan. I want to learn the ways of the Force and become a Jedi like my father." Too beautiful! Bravo George! You were courageous.
3. ACTORS: The naive and good Luke Skywalker, the evil and mysterious Darth Vader, the civilized and schematic Princess Leia, the mercenary and disillusioned Han Solo, and the faithful and loyal Chewbacca were all portrayed by little-known actors, new faces. In a single day, they found themselves on top of the cinema Olympus. Good results for all of them, particularly for those who voiced Darth Vader in the original language. Alec Guinness, chosen as the only known face to play the old master, received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
4. ART DIRECTION AND COSTUMES: To create the galaxy far, far away, the art directors had to work hard, as did the costume designers to create the legendary hairstyles of Princess Leia and the costumes of the Imperial officers. The result? On both fronts, an Oscar was awarded.
5. SPECIAL EFFECTS: The newly founded ILM, the world’s first specialized special effects company (created by George Lucas himself and in this film coordinated by the amazing Dennis Muren), created a never-before-seen special effects work using cutting-edge techniques, such as "blue screen" and "motion control". Excellent results.
6. EDITING: George Lucas thinks like an editor: the film is a clear demonstration. When he saw the first edit of the film, he was disheartened. So much so that he had to fire the editor because he wouldn't listen to him. He hired two others who determined the success of the editing up to the Oscars. Their names were Paul Hirsch and Richard Chew. Together with Marcia Lucas, they completed the product, already overdue, to release it to cinema audiences. Oscar-winning result.
7. MUSIC: John Williams is a genius. I think he is one of the greatest film composers of our era. And he is still active. For the occasion, he developed a great number of musical themes for every occasion and character, leaving scenes engraved in the mind eternally. The music, as beautiful as it is suitable, never covers script or direction gaps because there is no need (there are none…). Oscar also to the great John!
8. ITALIAN DUBBING: I usually don't analyze it, but for "Star Wars" I will. Italy has a very good dubbing system, but many films, especially more recent ones, have truly disappointing dubbing quality. However, "Star Wars" had the fortune of being dubbed with voices of theater actors. The result is indeed noticeable. Italian studios also had to dub one of the first foreign films in stereophonic sound. The translations from English of R2-D2 and C3-PO (into Italian C1-B8 and D3-BO) of the two robots were motivated by the greater musicality and ease of pronunciation they had compared to the English letters said in Italian (I've read too many protests online about this translation). So, since in English the names were automatic to say, I wonder why they couldn't be the same in Italian. So the change was legitimate.
   

With this last point, I conclude my review of "Star Wars" and hope for many of your comments. The film then had sequels, namely "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Return of the Jedi," in addition to the new trilogy, which, however, acts as a prequel. To read the reviews of the sequels, just search for the other reviews that bear my name.

And may the force be with us, always.