Page 50 - Star Wars Insider #181
P. 50
CINEMATIC FORCES
04
Three
Outlaw
Samurai
04 / Finn marvels
at the opulence of Director: Hideo Gosha
Canto Bight. (SAMURAI PRODUCTIONS 1965)
05 / The muted
tones of the Canto
Bight casino are eorge Lucas has acknowledged
a visual nod to
Hitchcok’s film. that Akira Kurosawa’s samurai
G fi lms, particularly The Hidden
Fortress (1958), infl uenced many
of the plot points of the original
Star Wars, from its quest to save
a princess to its tagalong lowly
peasant characters, reconfi gured
by Lucas into the droids C-3PO
and R2-D2. Johnson also looked
to the chanbara (samurai) genre
for inspiration, particularly Three 06
Outlaw Samurai, made by director
Hideo Gosha.
05
Gosha’s film is a prequel to the
1963 Japanese television series of
the same name, about a trio of
the suave and sophisticated Master Finn and Rose switching places with ronin (masterless samurai) who
Codebreaker the duo are seeking. John Robie, but for the surprise that wander Japan lending their swords
The introductory shots of the the Cat would experience at coming to protect the defenseless and the
Canto Casino are a deliberate wink face to face with sentient felines poor. In contrast to Kurosawa’s
to the gaming palace in To Catch and assorted alien creatures of the
a Thief. Both locations have color Star Wars universe!
palettes of muted browns and To Catch a Thief’s infl uence
greens, and the same off-white doesn’t end with the production
overhead source lighting. All the design. Johnson wrote and fi lmed
background characters in both a sequence very much inspired by
casinos are dressed to the nines the concluding scenes of Alfred
in gowns and tuxedos, and have Hitchcock’s film, where John
money to burn in games of roulette Robie slinks along the rooftops,
and craps (or the science-fi ction searching for the real cat burglar.
equivalent). One could envisage Johnson’s version for The Last Jedi
had Finn and Rose chasing after the
06 / Rey finds
Master Codebreaker on the rooves herself without
“The introductory of Canto Bight before getting a master, as did
shots of the Canto caught by the cops. While that Gosha’s ronin.
Casino are a scene eventually ended up on the 07 / Johnson
deliberate wink to cutting room floor, Finn and Rose looked towards
the chanbara
the gaming palace do momentarily end up on the (samurai) genre
rooftops while riding the fathiers
in To Catch a Thief.” away from the police. for inspiration.
50 / STAR WARS INSIDER
