Of all the Star Wars directors, Richard Marquand seems to get the least attention, typically being dismissed as a mere proxy for George Lucas. While it’s true that Marquand was definitely a hired gun, and probably exerted less of an influence on his film than any other Star Wars, here’s an interesting interview that he did, and I especially like his comments on directing Darth Vader: https://bit.ly/2W98HeE I think that does come through in Return of the Jedi. The mask does actually does seem to convey much more sadness and emotion here than it does in the previous films. What are your thoughts?
I agree. The film somehow brings us closer to Vader. Especially in the scene where Luke is brought to him, I think. Simple gestures, like standing with his back turned to Luke while listening and then turning around to face him as he replies in a rather forceful way, or his posture as he is left alone with his thoughts and puts his hands on the railing, speak volumes. It's easy to read doubt into his mask in that scene.
Well, that's because the film humanises Vader the way the previous films didn't. I agree that Vader is a lot more "expressive" while remaining expressionless, but it has a lot to do with the kind of story and the way it's edited, scored.... Great interview about Marquand! I agree that his contributions are often overlooked. There are many reasons for that: -He died a few years after the movie, so he hasn't been around to give interviews and stuff. -The extended myth implying that Lucas directed the key scenes in the movie and that Marquand was basically ignored on set (the rumors about Lucas having directed all the throne room scenes, or Vader's unmasking, for example... ). -The extended myth implying that Empire is great because Lucas was almost never on set (which is not true) and because Kershner did what he wanted without any supervision. Perpetuating these myths has been important to sustain a narrative that implies Lucas isn't a good director, and that Empire is great because Lucas let someone else make it, while Jedi not as good because Lucas was ghost directing. As a result of that, Marquand's role has been terribly downplayed.
This thread's first post is a duplicate of the one in the CT forum (which I posted in). Should they be merged?
