| Show An Artifact From Allen Johnson Movie Editor In 1971 School of Film graduate George Lucas burst onto the scene with his artistic commentary on modern modem modem mod mod- em ern society and humanity For the first time ever it is isnow isnow isnow now available to us on DVD in a new cleaned up touched up Disc 2 Directors Cut Lucas explains that rather than a mere movie about the future it is a parable of life in inthe inthe inthe the In interviews contained contained contained con con- on the DVD he explains that the bleak sterile environment could be the ramifications of an unbridled consumer culture such culture such as this one His vision of humanity in inthis inthis inthis this alternate world is full of stark white walls names replaced with numbers mates assigned instead of chosen and a pill for every every- thing As I look around my bare windowless office swipe my access card and type in my ID number get a pop up on my computer for mates who are compatible compatible compatible ible with me as well as the latest in pill induced male enhancement I realize that Lucas wasn't that far off His view of humanity under the microscope isn't so much a astory astory astory story of right and wrong butmore but butmore butmore more of an observation or documentary approach to the world Originally written as a short film Lucas teamed up with Walter Murch to do it as asa asa asa a student student project One of the most delightful elements of the DVD is that this original short version is also in the set After the film caught the eye of Francis Ford Coppola he approached Lucas about funding it into a feature length movie Lucas and Murch again re rewrote rewrote rewrote re- re wrote and extended the script and with a budget of set up to re- re shoot the film For the lead character 1138 a ayoung ayoung ayoung young Robert Duvall was cast One interesting element of this view of humanity is that every character man or woman has their head shaved Much of the interviews were spent explaining the difficulty of getting a man in inthe inthe inthe the early to shave his hair off off much much I less ss women But the parts were filled including bus loads of extras from a local San Francisco dreg rehab center working for 30 a day The shoot lasted lasted lasted last last- ed 35 days and was largely shot in different plants and facilities in the Bay area Many elements present in inthis inthis inthis this film can be seen in his later work of II American Graffiti and the II Star Wars soon to be sextet He crates a used world that has dents and scratches a far cry from the polished chrome laden fi flicks of the time The Star Wars worlds are visually visually visually ally similar T uLL L I L i LUCas LUCast ca t O lS Ill rus russion oo es- es sion with speed and tracing racing t with an impressive chase scene in 1138 in I which some of the actual footage was shot speeding through a tunnel at mph This speed racing fetish is seen in the drag races of N American Graffiti II and of course many of the scenes in inthe inthe inthe the II Star Wars saga This is an artistic film and will be shunned by most who dont don't like to think during a movie Considering the relatively relatively relatively rela rela- light nature of Lucas Lucas' later films 1138 is surprisingly dark and grim Its It's a welcome break from the dime a dozen cliche films that saturate our theatres week after week And best of theres there's no Jar Jar Binks |
