Tuesday 30 November 2010

ALWAYS IN MOTION IS THE FUTURE - R.I.P. IRVIN KERSHNER

Kershner on set with "Vader" (David Prowse)

Irvin Kershner Apr 29th, 1923 - Nov 29th, 2010 (aged 87)

Empire poster

"The Making of The Empire Strikes Back: The Definitive Story"
by J.W. Rinzler. Photo by George Whitear of Kershner and baddies

Followed very closely by "Star Wars: A New Hope", Empire is (imho ofc) still by far the best of the SW movies to date and in my personal top five films. Actually the original trilogy really does outshine the later prequels in most aspects apart from perhaps combat scale and lightsaber battles? I think Kershner said it well with:

“The thing you learn in directing is that no matter how complex the shooting, you have to remain sensitive to the people around you or the machine will ultimately take over,” Arnold quotes Kershner as saying. “If you don’t keep in mind the essential humanity of it all, technique will dominate. Then, suddenly, all you’ve got are technically fine shots, technically fine performances, a story being told but with something lacking, something that is mysterious and indefinable.”

John Booth at Wired's GeekDad had a nice parting line I liked:

"Clear skies, Mr. Kershner. Thanks for the awesome ride."

/salute :-(

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