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American Morning

George Lucas Discusses His New 'Star Wars' Film

Aired May 07, 2002 - 08:56   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: As you must know by now, it is the countdown to the clones, as the world looks forward to the next installment of the "Star Wars" saga, "Episode II." It arrives in theaters later this month. We thought you might want to hear from the film's director, the creator, the man behind the force. I sat down with George Lucas at the Skywalker Ranch over the weekend.

Here's a little bit of what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: So with the first story, if the myth or the story there was the journey of the hero, what is the story of this trilogy? Is it the fall of the hero?

GEORGE LUCAS, "STAR WARS" CREATOR: The whole thing is the journey of a hero, the whole piece. You were just seeing a small part of it. This is a larger journey of the hero's father, so to speak.

COOPER: But we also see his fall. I mean, we see -- it's sort of...

LUCAS: Well, we saw his fall in the first trilogy, we just didn't know it. We didn't know it until the second film, and then, most people didn't believe it. It wasn't until the third film that we say, oh, yes, he really was his father. That's a terrible thing. How did that happen?

COOPER: What is it that makes Anakin Skywalker go bad? Why does he become evil?

LUCAS: Well, that you find out a little bit in this film, and you'll find a lot more in the next film. Obviously, it's a progression. But in this film, you begin to see that he has a fear of losing things, a fear of losing his mother, and as a result, he wants to begin to control things wants to become more powerful, and these are not Jedi traits. And part of these are because he was starting to be trained so late in life, that he'd already formed these attachments. And for a Jedi, attachment is forbidden.

You can love people, but you have to love them unconditionally, in terms of you can't sort of hold on to them.

COOPER: You're pretty unique as a filmmaker in that you've been able to be completely independent. You self-financed this film, as you have most of the other "Star Wars" films. Why is independence from the Hollywood system so important to you? Is it a creative decision? Is it a financial decision?

LUCAS: It's a creative decision. These films wouldn't be made if I were in Hollywood.

COOPER: Why?

LUCAS: Well, they'd be turning them into some kind of formula that, you know, the idea -- like, doing "Phantom Menace," they would have said, you can't do one of these with a 9-year-old boy, it will destroy the whole series. But I'm able to tell the story the way it's meant to be told, and I don't have to listen to what their market research does. They would be listening to the fans, and these people think you should be doing this, and these people think you should have that character in there, and these are not put together by a marketing department. They're purely sort of a creative act, that was created to tell a great story.

COOPER: This is the first major motion picture using high- definition digital video, also videotape instead of film. In terms of -- what -- how does that make a difference for a viewer, and also a filmmaker? What is the difference using this digital technology?

LUCAS: Well, in terms of the audience, they won't notice any difference at all. In terms of the filmmaker, it makes it much more easy -- well, for the filmmaker, it makes it easier for me to do what I have to do in terms of making the film, telling the story. I can have a much broader palette than I had in the first three films. I can have more versatile characters that can do more things, more exotic characters. I can have more exotic landscapes, go to different places.

For a fantasy film, this kind of technology is almost a must in order to get your story told. And, before, your stories were constrained. You don't couldn't tell these kind of stories just because the technology wouldn't let you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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