Warning: This story contains MAJOR SPOILERS from Star Wars: The Force Awakens. If you haven't seen it yet, stop reading now.
Even though many predicted it may happen, the ending of Star Wars: The Force Awakens was still a shock to all. Seeing Han Solo stabbed by his son Ben "Kylo Ren" Solo and then falling to his death was an emotional and devastating twist for the film. Director JJ Abrams and his co-screenwriters Lawrence Kasdan and Michael Arndt spoke about the reasoning behind this scene at a recent Writers Guild of America Q&A.
Abrams said,
“Long before we had this title, the idea of The Force Awakens
was that this would become the evolution of not just a hero, but a
villain. And not a villain who was the finished,
ready-made villain, but someone who was in process.”
“All of us bring our own experiences to it. As a father,
as a friend to people who have children, I know what it’s like to see
struggle, to be part of struggle. I know how painful it can be. I know
how real it is. And this is, of course, an insane extrapolated version.”
He also added,
“It’s this massive tradeoff. How can
we possibly do that!? But… if we hadn’t done that, the movie wouldn’t
have any guts at all. It felt very dangerous.”
Screenwriter Michael Arndt, who was involved in the early story process, added,
“In my early drafts, my thinking was we had to bridge the end of Return of the Jedi
to what happens in this movie, and we didn’t want everybody to start
off all together. We wanted them to be spread all throughout the
galaxy.”
“We came up with a backstory that Luke had a pupil who turned against
him and fought him, and killed all the other pupils, and that was a
thing that exploded the family and destroyed Han and Leia’s
relationship.”
“I had thought Han’s story and Leia’s story was just about them
coming back together. At the end of the movie they would have reconciled
and gotten over their differences. And you would have said, ‘Okay, bad
stuff happened, but at least they’re back together again. J.J. rightly asked, ‘What is Han doing in this movie?’ If we’re not
going to have something important and irreversible happen to him, then
he kind of feels like luggage. He feels like this great, sexy piece of
luggage you have in your movie. But he’s not really evolving. He’s not
really pushing the story forward.”
As for what it was like to be on set when the scene was filmed, Abrams said,
“It was really chilling. Seeing these two actors, they
weren’t chewing up the scenery. They were just doing this thing in a way
that, frankly, was disturbing. To see Harrison reach out and touch
Adam. I know this sounds stupid, but literally watching it, I forgot — I
forgot that he wasn’t his son. He did it so beautifully.”
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72 comments:
...In what way did any of the other characters from the OT "evolve" in this film...?
Talk about passing the torch.
Now I know why Harrison Ford has been so damned delightful on this press tour.
I thought Han was pushing this story forward. He really didn't get a chance. Of well viii better have something bloody awesome to replace the gap they have created.
I wouldn't be surprised if this had been a precondition to doing it. Of course I could be wrong
Killing Han off is ok but not in such an obvious and cheesy way.
it was a poor rehash of the old films. Don't care about 8
A real shame for the authors that have writen super books for SW. I know it was going to mess up some of the SW universe, but not this badly.
This film did not get me as excited as all the other ones already made. Shame, but I hope that make the trilogy Into something good.
How can anyone be upset with this movie borrowing from A New Hope when ROTJ copied the death star almost exactly. That movie was more of a copy than this. At least this one begins a new journey, adds to the story, and there are no Ewoks or Gungans.
Da struggle is real.
I don't know what yall expect, but I loved 7. No, it's not like watching star wars as a child, way back when, saw empire as a tot, but damn....I saw young and old flinch, laugh, and tear up....watching episode 7.
There was still the nostalgia, and it's a bridge. It was more star wars then the prequels. It's the opening to a new chapter after almost 40 years from the opening of a new hope.
Which was a guaranteed flop.
Why so much hate. Your favorite franchise is alive and progressive.
You can do better? Then write it. Push it. Do it.
Embrace it. It was great. Sure it had its moments, no star wars film has been without flaws.
Embrace the inner child. It's fun!.
I don't know what yall expect, but I loved 7. No, it's not like watching star wars as a child, way back when, saw empire as a tot, but damn....I saw young and old flinch, laugh, and tear up....watching episode 7.
There was still the nostalgia, and it's a bridge. It was more star wars then the prequels. It's the opening to a new chapter after almost 40 years from the opening of a new hope.
Which was a guaranteed flop.
Why so much hate. Your favorite franchise is alive and progressive.
You can do better? Then write it. Push it. Do it.
Embrace it. It was great. Sure it had its moments, no star wars film has been without flaws.
Embrace the inner child. It's fun!.
Da struggle is real.
I would just like to suggest that we try to watch TFA within the same box of naivete that one would have watched ANH. The first Star Wars did not explain everything. We had no idea who Darth Vader was. We didn't even know he was human in ANH. We had no idea what the Jedi were, how one became a Jedi, how long it took, or what their potential was. We didn't know or maybe even care why Vader was so evil - or that he could have a back story. This story is going somewhere. It was pretty clear why Ben killed his dad - it was his test to begin his training. We get to see an antagonist begin or continue his journey to the dark side. He is on his way - not fully developed, like the Vader we first experienced on the Tantive IV the first time we meet him (heck, we didn't even know the ship was called Tantive IV until the Expanded Universe!).
Han's death was necessary and even welcome - Abrams and co. told us why Ren was doing what he was doing and what it was accomplishing as it was happening - the light going out, the darkness taking over - no only on that bridge and above that chasm, but represented in the last bit of star going out and the shadow falling. It was excellent storytelling and movie making. We have to appreciate the art - told in a way that wasn't even possible with the first trilogy.
Many of the criticisms about the story that I have seen don't seem to take into account how the originals came to us - we didn't know the backstory. We didn't know all of the motivations behind the villians and the characters. All we heard of the Emperor is that he eliminated the Senate. All we knew of Tarkin was that he was a Governor (Grand Moff?!). All we knew of Leia is that she was a princess with no planet. When Vader claimed he was Luke's father many refused to believe it, and many kids fought about it on the playground until the summer of Return of the Jedi when someone trustworthy and wise, Yoda, verified the horrible truth.
This story has just begun and our generation of instant gratification wants to know the ending and the motivations - to me that is brilliant story telling. We have done exactly what a story means to do - react to it. My point is that Kylo Ren will easily become one of the greatest antagonists of this generation if the story continues to develop the way it did in TFA. Kylo is in need of redemption and we know exactly why - I was sad and happy when I left the theater - that's art. Great start.
What is different today than 1977 is the culture in which we live of binge watching and instant gratification. At first I was bummed that Luke doesn't say a word - I wanted to press the "watch next episode" button. But I don't get to. I have to wait over 500 days to find out what Luke will say after 30 years of absence. I wanted to see Kylo Ren face his master after suffering a horrible defeat - but like Vader spinning off into space - I am going to have to wait. I wanted to see Han have a proper burial - but like Kenobi - his remains will only be in the hearts of the characters.
I thought it was a great movie, great story-telling, and I can't wait to see what happens next. Great job JJ and Larry and Kathy. Disney, you let them rock it - and thank you for carrying on a great legacy for me and my kids to enjoy. Rock on.
Kylo killing Han seems to parallel that exactly. That's why Kylo asked for Han's help and then thanked him after killing him. Sacrificing his own father, who he obviously loved, was his final test. He's committed to the dark side. It makes perfect sense in my opinion.
Also, a few comments at a few individuals.
1) It is Anakin, not Anikin. Not that hard, people.
2) Some of you are complaining how Kylo Ren's birth name isn't Jacen or how it doesn't follow the EU that closely. Disney said that that nothing of the old EU is canon (though some elements have returned, including Rakata Prime, which makes me happy as KotOR is my favorite Star Wars game). I was worried, deeply worried about this happening, but when it did, I just let it go, which surprised me.
3) Okay, to the person who said that Carrie Fisher hasn't aged well. People age. Deal with it. And honestly, I enjoyed her performance. The differences between what she did in the original trilogy and now makes sense in context. It has been thirty years between Jedi and The Force Awakens (both in universe and in reality). She's older and she isn't a princess any more, she's a general. There are going to be differences.
the star wars story is about the Skywalker family and therefore Ben Solo is, fundamentally, a more important character than Han Solo... so furthering his "sith" studies by murdering his father not only makes perfect thematic sense for his arc but is also a powerful device for engaging the audience (as evidenced by all the grief "OMG NOT HANS, HE'S MY FAVE!" and "I HATE KILO HE IS A WHINY HORRIBLE BASTARD, HE ISNT' EVEN AS POWRFULL AS VADAR I HATE HIM!!! OMG") whether they intended to be or not. Besides, moving forward, it isn't as though Han is going to bring balance to the force. He can't be the light in the darkness. That's not his role. Ben who is a bit of both light side and dark side (like all Skywalker men) is the focus and serves as a parallel to Rey... unlike the OT where Luke (and thus the Rebellion) and Vader (and thus the Empire) are a David and Goliath tale, the First Order and the Resistence are right now on equal footing.
As for not liking the movie, that's fair... there are things that aren't done particularly well (the 2nd act was plagued by funky pacing, a completely unnecessary rathtar action sequence, and not enough exposition on the New Republic before Alderaaning the entire system)... but whining about childhoods being killed sounds like a personal problem more than anything else.
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