The arrival of George Lucas, who will receive an honorary Palme d’Or during the closing ceremony tomorrow evening, was one of the most anticipated events of the Cannes Film Festival. Fans and journalists were not disappointed by this conversation hosted by Didier Allouch. The master has of course returned to the saga Star Wars and on his conception of cinema.
“What matters to succeed as a director is persistence,” he says. You have to finish your film no matter what. That’s what we did when we started Steven Spielberg, Francis Ford Coppola and I: we wanted to make cinema, not make money. ” The saga Star Wars changed the situation for him and for his colleagues.
A great perfectionist
“For me, a film is never finished, we abandon it,” he declares. A director must be able to get the film he wants. This was already the case for Michelangelo. When he was painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel from a scaffolding, he would sometimes change everything when he was not happy with what he had done. » George Lucas never hesitated to rework his films to improve the special effects as technical developments progressed.
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The director of 80 Spring also took the opportunity to return to subjects that are obviously close to his heart. “When I made the trilogy of the years 1990-2000, I was criticized for making cinema for children,” he says. This had already been the case for Return of the Jedi and the Ewoks. Well, I accept it: I make cinema for children. »
Inclusive whatever we say
George Lucas also seems very upset with certain fans who believe that there are not enough women in his films “Leia and Amidala are real heroines, I was one of the first to consider women as having left taking action. »
He also visibly took it badly when he was criticized for the lack of diversity of his characters. “Billy Dee Williams and Samuel J. Jackson are proof to the contrary,” he insists. In the saga Star Wars, no one is left aside: extraterrestrials and humans are on an equal footing. Only robots are discriminated against! »
And now ?
George Lucas retired and “abandoned” the Star Wars saga. “I stopped ten years ago and I don’t care about it anymore. When we say we’re leaving, we really have to leave. » He is fully aware that he has lived through a golden age and is not exactly enthusiastic about the way studios operate today. “We ask fans for their opinion too much,” he insists. The only way we should decide how films are made is to entrust them to people who know how to make cinema. »
Unlike his accomplices Francis Ford Coppola and Steven Spielberg, he has decided to throw in the towel but he is not bitter. “I came to Cannes for the first time in 1971 when THX1138 was shown at what was then called Directors’ Fortnight. Walter Munch and I had put all our money into paying for the trip. It is wonderful to be received and recognized here today. » The reception from 2024 moviegoers seems to have warmed his heart as well.