EWOKS VERSUS DEAD HEROES

CREATIVE CONFLICT IN WRITING RETURN OF THE JEDI

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53450/2179-1465.RG.2021v12i1p102-115

Keywords:

Star Wars, George Lucas, Lawrence Kasdan, syuzhet, fabula

Abstract

The original Star Wars trilogy established a storytelling model that still influences Hollywood filmmaking today. However, the third episode in the saga, Return of the Jedi (1983), was received less favorably than its predecessors by critics. This article will examine historical record and analyze aspects of syuzhet (‘plot’) and fabula (‘story’) (BORDWELL, 1985, pp. 49-50) in the screenplay in order to establish why Return of the Jedi works less successfully as a narrative than the first two films. The results of the investigation suggest that this was due to a fundamental philosophical conflict between screenwriters George Lucas and Lawrence Kasdan.

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Author Biography

Brett Davies, Meiji University

Associate professor in the School of Global Japanese Studies at Meiji University in Tokyo. He has published extensively in screenwriting studies and linguistics, and his master’s dissertation demonstrated how a corpus of film screenplays could be used to improve conversational language use among Japanese students of English. He is currently a Ph.D. candidate in film studies at De Montfort University (UK), with his thesis analysing the career of writer-director Lawrence Kasdan. His research interests include the use of homage and pastiche in modern Hollywood cinema, and thematic relationships between Japanese and American films.

References

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Published

2021-06-27

How to Cite

DAVIES, B. EWOKS VERSUS DEAD HEROES: CREATIVE CONFLICT IN WRITING RETURN OF THE JEDI. Revista GEMInIS, [S. l.], v. 12, n. 1, p. 102–115, 2021. DOI: 10.53450/2179-1465.RG.2021v12i1p102-115. Disponível em: https://revistageminis.ufscar.br/index.php/geminis/article/view/599. Acesso em: 3 jul. 2024.

Issue

Vol. 12 No. 1 (2021): Challenges, Trends and Research: Audiovisual Scripts - Part 1

Section

Dossiê - Desafios, tendências e pesquisas. Roteiros Audiovisuais

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