Dir: Jon Spira
2015
*****
StarWars is an incredible film,
a phenomenon if you will. It has made billions of dollars worldwide, it
marked the beginning of a technical age in film, helped change the
face of cinema and has even spawned a religion. Oh and it sold a lot of toys
too! Not bad for an over the top soap-opera set in a galaxy far, far away.
It is a cultural phenomenon that still evokes spiritual,
political and mythical discussion among its hard-core fan base even today, 40+
years on. I've heard people ponder whether Luke and Lea actually represent Adam
and Eve, whether Darth Vader and the Storm Troopers represent Hitler and his
Nazi Troops and even whether the heavy addition of synthetic life (robots,
clones etc.) is actually some kind of anti-abortion message! ….I'm
not sure I buy that last one. However, many of the hard-core fans are more
interested in smaller facts such as; how many Bothans actually died
stealing the Death Star plans? (there were many), did Han shoot first? (yes, he
did) and was Uncle Owen's Brain preserved in R2-D2 and if so whether this was
the reason why he always had Luke's back? (…get a life). Personally, as a lover
of film as well as sci-fi, there are other things I'd rather like to know.
That's why Jon Spira's ELSTREE 1976Kickstater campaign appealed to
me.
ELSTREE 1976 asks what happened to the
supporting cast members, the people who have been watched by a quarter of the planet’s
population but don’t know the names of. The film features an interview with the
guy who was immortalised as one of my favourite childhood toys. Indeed the film’s
thrilling introduction begins with these supporting actors and extras
talking about their character's toys and what it means to them. It was the
first time I'd heard philosophical debate regarding anything Star Wars that was
based on something that is actually real and something far more exciting than
my childhood dolls talking to me (which I wouldn't have thought was possible).
I've had the pleasure of meeting many of the
interviewees appearing in the film, speaking at great lengths to several at
various conventions, and feel that Jon Spira really has captured the best of
them. The documentary itself is refreshingly un-formulaic, its
structure is steady but the contents is never predictable. It reminded me of an
early Errol Morris film in many respects. Spira lets the people talk, he
never prompts them and so he gets the best out of them. There is no
sinister agenda, no one is asked to ‘dish the dirt’, the aim is simple; to try
and find out what it is like to be part of what is possibly the biggest, most
talked about happenings of the last 40 years. It will appeal to both Star Wars
and non-Star Wars fans alike. As a Kickstarter backer of the project I was one
of the few people to attend the first screening of the film and I brought with
me my Wife. I'm a big Star Wars fan, my Wife is not. However, she thoroughly
enjoyed the film (her words I promise, not mine) and was as thrilled as I was
with the end result. There is something rather spectacular and poetic about the
film's reveal, remove the helmets and masks off of these well-known
fictional robots and aliens and you find a much more interesting and colourful
character than that you enjoyed on screen. This isn't Clark Kent revealing he
is actually Superman though, quite the opposite, these people have always been
interesting and have all achieved very different things, they will
however always be known as either the green alien that shot Han Solo or
the Storm Trooper that bumped his head. How on earth do you deal with
that? A great question, which has been wonderfully answered.
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