Rian Johnson’s weird film

I just saw Looper for the first time last night. Very interesting movie! I was really sucked in by the story and the multiple twists that I did not see coming. Not a perfect movie, but really good. It seemed that a lot of the details were well thought out and small things from one part of the movie tied into other parts of the movie. I see what other people are talking about when they say "weird."

 

What's interesting about Looper is the fact that even though it's not perfect, it's difficult to deny that
1/ the plot is very original even though the theme has been investigated multiple times
2/ the direction and the cinematography have a distinct vibe compared to the usual hollywood flick.
I find that 'Brick' share a lot of these characteristics.

I can't wait to see how it will apply to Episode VIII.

 

Yeah and I think some of the actors have been saying that VIII feels more like An Indie Movie .

 

My bad.

However, there is a big difference in the approach to the story telling of the OT and PT that should be considered. The prequels differed from ANH in that all involved KNEW they could span the story over 3 films (Remember Lucas thought he was taking a huge gamble in 1977 and before Fox had been turned by Universal and United Artists). It was only after the global success of Star Wars was evident that he knew he could realise his ambition of a trilogy. Thus ANH stands alone, but ESB and ROTJ only work as chapters in a bigger story. The story arc for all the prequels was planned out before ep i and the finer details fleshed out in the screenplays writing.

The ST is like the PT: they don't have to wait for the first film to hit the screens to know they will be able to make 2 more. There is no way on Earth that they will have waited for the reaction to ep vii before they worked out the stories for viii and ix and basic treatments for the whole sequel trilogy will have been written with TFA, most likely mapped out by Kasdan/Arndt. Whilst RJ has written the screenplay for viii, that screenplay will be based on a pre-existing treatment. The idea of Disney giving anyone 'complete control' of their newest, biggest cash cow is, frankly, absurd. Thus I stand by my original point - any 'weirdness' that comes from his involvement will come from his distinctive direction, not the story itself.

 

BRING ON THE WEIRD!!

 

You all have put up great theories and I agree with many of you yet nobody so far has mentioned that the ''weird'' aspect can be visual instead of being a factor of the plot. Having the director kill the main heroes would be more shocking than it would be weird yet what if Rian Johnson wants to play with our senses visually? We have always seen planets in SW where the laws of physics are those we know but imagine seeing zero G planets or worlds where instead of water there was another type of liquid like slime, mercury or some type of plasma. Wouldn't it be weird to see flying fish aliens in space or seeing that Snoke was actually a Jawa using technology to appear impressive to his followers a la Wizard of Oz? Though many fans might hate that, it would still be pretty weird.

 

Is direction not derived from the story? Obviously Rian is being kept on some sort of leash by the brass of Lucasfilm, but in terms of the story -- it's something that Rian came up with himself entirely. After VII, Lucasfilm had a general outline of the various beats they wanted to touch upon. They gave it to Rian and told him to make something new. When he started filming, he was only on the blue paper for his script. This means that Lucasfilm had him rewrite his script only once during the entire production. Whatever he came up with, Lucasfilm had no problem with it. Even if there were any questionable story beats, I think Lucasfilm is more than aware of Rian directorial prowess, so they would allow him to redeem those scenes behind the camera. Rian is the type to have an exact idea of how something will look and feel, and have it translate to the screen without problem. Anything questionable that he might've come up with, must've had some solid merits behind it as Rian is very competent and seems to know what's good and what isn't.

 

Actually the weird part can be in the cinematography and way that the lenses and cameras are used and in what angles

 

This reminds me a lot of Interstellar. I don't know why, but applying actual science to Star Wars just seems "wrong". For instance, black holes. They sound like something straight out of the Star Wars universe. Giant void holes in the galaxy that suck in everything, including light. But how would I feel seeing a black hole in Star Wars? I'm not sure. It would be more "science-fiction" where Star Wars is actually more "fantasy".

 

Interstellar was a lot of practical things though but sw will
Always be lot grounded than you think