Halb Mensch. Halb Ding.
Blessings of the state. Blessings of the masses.
THX 1138 is certainly not the most accessible film of all time, but for my money it remains not only timeless, but both engrossing and devastating. It’s as uncompromising in its portrayal of a fundamentally alien society as it is in ignoring and avoiding traditional narrative structures and science fiction tropes.
Though it doesn’t quite beat a certain 125-page story conference transcript, I’ve managed to get my hands on what I think can rightfully be called a Lucas-rarity. It’s been referenced in a couple of books on Lucas1, but isn’t to my knowledge generally available, though it should hold the interest of anyone interested in THX 1138, American Zoetrope, Francis Ford Coppola, George Lucas and filmmaking in general in the late 60’s and early 70’s.
Allow me to first give it some context (or skip to goods):
Continue reading ‘George Lucas: Maker of Films (1971)’
It is really quite a miracle that Francis Ford Coppola managed to sneak THX 1138 into the seven-picture deal with Warner Brothers that launched American Zoetrope (a deal that also included Apocalypse Now and The Conversation). Even if the screenplay is slightly less abstract and dense than the film, it isn’t exactly light reading.
There’s a new trailer out for the DVD and limited theatrical re-release of THX 1138. If you haven’t seen THX, you should definitly give it a go. It is distinctively different from Lucas’s other endeavours (such as ehm, the ‘new’ Star Wars…); being more of an honest and rather sophisticated science fiction film.
Here’s a direct link to the trailer, saving you the hassle of a mystery-meat flash site.