Event Reports,
Earlier this year I was fortunate to fulfil a lifelong dream and visit a land far, far away. And I have to say - Japan, the land of the rising sun, far exceeded my expectations on every level. I hasten to add that Japan might be famed for its rising sun but its sunsets are absolutely spectacular. Whilst I didn't manage to team up with a travelling troupe of Ninjas and defend beleaguered farmers against an out of control warlord's hordes or find a Hattori Hanzō sword (or even an ancient Masamune Katana folded 200 times) I did however manage to wander the land, meet people... get into adventures and stuff.
When planning my Japan itinerary I was stoked to see that an exhibition dedicated to Star Wars called Star Wars: Visions would be on in Tokyo at the same time as I would be there. This was fortuitous as a little while back I had made tentative plans to visit the Star Wars: Identities Exhibition in Paris, my plans fell through and the exhibition moved on to its next international destination. London doesn't seem to be getting any Star Wars Exhibition love of late, in comparison to The London Film Museum's exceptional 2007 Star Wars: The Exhibition at least, so Star Wars: Visions was something I was keen to visit. However, my itinerary was fairly loose to say the least, as I intended to do a lot of travelling around Japan and as much as I intended to “plan the dive then dive the plan. I had no idea where I would end up from one day to the next or how long I might be there. If I may digress? My experience is that when it comes to travel you can plan for your expectations but if you can be flexible - some of the best experiences are the unexpected ones and you never know what new adventure or taste lies around the corner in wait. So there was a good chance I might not see the exhibition but it was on my radar.
Star Wars was released in 1977 and firmly placed itself into film history as well as became a cultural phenomenon.
An ingenious mix of a universe with compelling characters, an engaging weave of history and war, a variety of diverse planets, spacecrafts and weapons, the use of state-of-the-art video technology combined with a timeless story has captured the imagination of many, many fans.
Given Japan's contribution to Star Wars, particularly the films of Akira Kurosawa and its ardent Star Wars following it's no surprise that in the run up to the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens George Lucas decided to bring the Star Wars: Visions Exhibition to cities around Japan before taking up a permanent residence in Chicago at the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in 2018. George Lucas even wanted legendary and influential Japanese actor Toshiro Mifune most notably known for his collaboration with Akira Kurosawa and roles in films like; Rashomon, The Hidden Fortress, Seven Samurai, Throne of Blood, Yojimbo and Red Sun or Soleil Rouge, for the part of Obi-Wan Kenobi, then Darth Vader but Mifune past on both roles. Clearly Obi-Wan's Jedi robe and Lightsaber are nods to Japanese culture and Darth Vader's head gear is a modernised Samurai helmet.
George had described Vader as having flowing black robes. In the script, Vader had to jump from one ship to another and, in order to survive the vacuum of space, I felt he needed some sort of breathing mask.
George said, 'OK', suggested adding a samurai helmet, and Darth Vader was born. Simple as that.
VIDEO: THE ESTABLISHING SHOT: STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS - STAR WARS LEGACY FEATURETTE - 18 DEC 2015
I visit George Lucas' Star Wars: Visions Exhibition in Tokyo
I have been quietly anticipating the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. To that end I have been avoiding the marketing and hype as much as I can - until a couple of evenings ago when after seeing a snippet of Daisy Ridley and John Boyega chatting on the news - the switch flipped - there is no containing my excitement - bring on December 4orce, secondarily I thought I would finish this piece on my visit to George Lucas' Star Wars: Visions Exhibition in Tokyo. Incidentally since writing this I believe I have the entire Legacy featurette that the aforementioned Ridley & Boyega interviews were part of, I have embedded it below and it's worth watching just to see their reactions to being on the Star Wars: The Force Awakens set.Earlier this year I was fortunate to fulfil a lifelong dream and visit a land far, far away. And I have to say - Japan, the land of the rising sun, far exceeded my expectations on every level. I hasten to add that Japan might be famed for its rising sun but its sunsets are absolutely spectacular. Whilst I didn't manage to team up with a travelling troupe of Ninjas and defend beleaguered farmers against an out of control warlord's hordes or find a Hattori Hanzō sword (or even an ancient Masamune Katana folded 200 times) I did however manage to wander the land, meet people... get into adventures and stuff.
When planning my Japan itinerary I was stoked to see that an exhibition dedicated to Star Wars called Star Wars: Visions would be on in Tokyo at the same time as I would be there. This was fortuitous as a little while back I had made tentative plans to visit the Star Wars: Identities Exhibition in Paris, my plans fell through and the exhibition moved on to its next international destination. London doesn't seem to be getting any Star Wars Exhibition love of late, in comparison to The London Film Museum's exceptional 2007 Star Wars: The Exhibition at least, so Star Wars: Visions was something I was keen to visit. However, my itinerary was fairly loose to say the least, as I intended to do a lot of travelling around Japan and as much as I intended to “plan the dive then dive the plan. I had no idea where I would end up from one day to the next or how long I might be there. If I may digress? My experience is that when it comes to travel you can plan for your expectations but if you can be flexible - some of the best experiences are the unexpected ones and you never know what new adventure or taste lies around the corner in wait. So there was a good chance I might not see the exhibition but it was on my radar.
Star Wars was released in 1977 and firmly placed itself into film history as well as became a cultural phenomenon.
An ingenious mix of a universe with compelling characters, an engaging weave of history and war, a variety of diverse planets, spacecrafts and weapons, the use of state-of-the-art video technology combined with a timeless story has captured the imagination of many, many fans.
Given Japan's contribution to Star Wars, particularly the films of Akira Kurosawa and its ardent Star Wars following it's no surprise that in the run up to the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens George Lucas decided to bring the Star Wars: Visions Exhibition to cities around Japan before taking up a permanent residence in Chicago at the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in 2018. George Lucas even wanted legendary and influential Japanese actor Toshiro Mifune most notably known for his collaboration with Akira Kurosawa and roles in films like; Rashomon, The Hidden Fortress, Seven Samurai, Throne of Blood, Yojimbo and Red Sun or Soleil Rouge, for the part of Obi-Wan Kenobi, then Darth Vader but Mifune past on both roles. Clearly Obi-Wan's Jedi robe and Lightsaber are nods to Japanese culture and Darth Vader's head gear is a modernised Samurai helmet.
George had described Vader as having flowing black robes. In the script, Vader had to jump from one ship to another and, in order to survive the vacuum of space, I felt he needed some sort of breathing mask.
George said, 'OK', suggested adding a samurai helmet, and Darth Vader was born. Simple as that.
VIDEO: THE ESTABLISHING SHOT: STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS - STAR WARS LEGACY FEATURETTE - 18 DEC 2015
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