More on “The Last Jedi”

SPOILERS ALERT!

The most recent “Star Wars” movie has inspired some thoughtful responses and some fascinating behind-the-scenes insights about all of the elements, choices, technologies, and expertise that were included.  As visual effects supervisor Ben Morris said, “It’s just a remarkable piece of filmmaking and action, and I think it started off with the stunts, but the visuals and the sounds are what made it in the end.”

Crafting the Throne Room  One of “The Last Jedi’s” most striking scenes takes place in Snoke’s throne room, and SlashFilm takes us behind the scenes to explain how it was done and what it means.  It is fascinating to see how many From production designer Rick Heinrichs:

When you look toward the throne, you see this almost spinal and rib-like structure above Snoke. So as part of this very elegant, simple shape, there was also an incredibly important sense of power and strength in almost a metaphorically organic way as well…The most important thing for me is that we took the language of the First Order/Empire architecture, and we were able to bend it to our specific use and created something that feels both familiar and novel at the same time.

From writer/director Rian Johnson:

The first thing to say is coming into writing this or any story, the object is not to subvert expectation. The object is not surprise. I think that would lead to some contrived places. The object is drama. And in this case, the object was figuring out a path for each one of these characters where we challenge them and thus learn more about each of them by the end of the movie. So that having been said, Kylo’s arc in this movie I saw as – besides his relationship with Rey – the big arc for Kylo in this movie was breaking down this kind of unstable foundation that he’s on and then building him to where by the end of the film he’s no longer just a Vader wannabe, but he’s stepped into his own as kind of a quote unquote villain, but a complicated villain that you understand, right?

On Uproxx, Johnson explains more about what he had in mind for the confrontation between Kylo Ren and Snoke.

And I like Bitter Gertrude’s view on the “subversive” qualities of “The Last Jedi.” Melissa Hillman writes:

Star Wars has always had its finger on the pulse of the cultural fear of the moment. In the original trilogy in the 1970s and early 80s, it was The Man– an evil establishment that needed to be purified by a younger generation. In the prequels of the 90s, it was evil corporations secretly colluding with a corrupt government to create endless war.

Now, in early 21st century America, the villain is an unstable young white man who had every privilege in life, yet feels like the world has wronged him. Unbeknownst to his family, he finds and communicates with a faraway mentor who radicalizes him with a horrific, authoritarian ideology. By the time his family finds out, it’s too late, and now this unstable young white man has this horrific ideology, access to far too many weapons, and the desperate desire to demolish anything that he perceives as a threat– or is told to perceive as a threat…The Resistance is impressive in its casual diversity. Women and people of color are valued for their expertise as a matter of course; nowhere does the film congratulate itself on its diversity by making a huge point of highlighting it, demonstrating white male benevolence by the generous inclusion of women and people of color, positing a white male audience nodding along, agreeing that we are so wonderful for allowing our White Male World to donate a very small corner for the Less Fortunate. The Resistance is naturally diverse, and no one even seems to notice. That is masterfully subversive.

And The Guardian calls it “triumphantly feminist.”

Among the approving voices is Annalise Ophelian, a documentary film-maker and psychologist whose current project, Looking for Leia, is about girls and women in Star Wars fandom. “The Last Jedi depicts women as multi-faceted, multi-generational, multi-racial. There are women in strong leadership positions and women who occupy student/learner positions,” she says.

The Last Jedi also contains what Ophelian says is the “first truly Bechdel Test passing scene” in the history of the franchise. “Female heroes are traditionally presented in cinematic isolation. This film gives us women working side by side, women in technical positions, and of course women learning the ways of the Force.”