Rian Johnson’s Journey to a Galaxy Far Far Away

There are so many different kinds of filmmaking – big budget, small budget, indie, TV. There are plenty of others, but those four are enough to make today’s point. I’ve found that many of the best directors are great at one or two of these. Scorsese, for example, makes spectacular films of varying epic-ness, yet his direction of the Boardwalk Empire pilot was so-so, at least in my opinion.

You might know Rian Johnson, and you’ve likely come across his work. But he’s not yet a household name. That’s going to change over the next few years. From his debut feature film Brick, through to the much large scale Looper, as well as a few great episodes of Breaking Bad, Johnson has proved his versatility. Now he’s preparing to follow up J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars opener with the second and third instalments of the trilogy.

Some weren’t thrilled with the news. I myself have high hopes, but I’m not entirely sure why. So I thought I’d have a rifle through his cinematic work to this point, and see if he’s built enough steam to sustain a universe.

Brick

This is one of those dream debuts, which saw Johnson’s slaved-over script paired with an early days Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Though it was far from an overnight success story. It took eight years for the film to go from script to screen, the majority spent accruing the necessary funding. In the end, this came to about half a million dollars, which is measly for an almost two hour film staring a known actor. But in the hands of great talent, a small budget can spread like warm butter, right to the corners. In this case, it forced Johnson to tell his high school detective story in very creative ways. It meant having his cousin compose the film’s score with instruments they built themselves. It meant fiddling with odd camera angles and practical effects to avoid costly CGI. And it all came together to make a unique, highly praised film.

What we learned: Rian can take a classic genre (film noir), and put a new spin on it (high school). I know a lot of filmmakers who see genre as a limitation, a set of conventions that impede creativity. But when you approach genre openly, and challenge expectations, you’re rewarded with a film like Brick. And then people will let you make something like…

The Brother’s Bloom

This time in the con man genre, I’d call this Johnson’s only misstep. It wasn’t a fall-down-the-staircase blunder, but it was enough to sprain an ankle or two. Here we see the difference between low and high budget filmmaking. Now with $20m at his disposal, Rian was free to make a bigger scale, more complicated movie. But the thing is, Brick had a complex story, and it worked well. The Brother Bloom went further, and had the kind of intricacy that requires a second viewing. Unfortunately, the story wasn’t enticing enough to bring most back for round two. So it was left misunderstood and unappreciated. At this point, Johnson was at risk of being left behind in the blockbuster world.

What we learned: He’s not perfect, but Johnson takes risks to tell the story he wants to tell. Mistakes may have been made, but when you learn from them you can make a film like…

Looper

Taking a look at its parts, this film shouldn’t have worked. By parts, I mean Gordon-Levitt’s prosthetic ‘Willis’ face and the mid-point shift from sci-fi action to farmhouse family drama. But this time travel flick rose above Bloom because it was interesting, and entertaining. It was funny, without getting quirky. It had spectacular dramatic set-pieces featuring fun characters, and it kept you guessing without drowning in its own enigma. This is all interesting stuff to watch. Johnson brought his storytelling ability, combined it with a big budget, and gave us something one of a kind. Looper proves to us that Johnson will be around for a while.

What we learned: He’s well suited for the sci-fi genre. Looper is unique, and yet familiar enough to keep us, as an audience, comfortable. Also, once again, the use of practical effects over CGI gave impressive results. That’s the kind of thing that gave the original Star Wars trilogy much of its charm.

Breaking Bad

After watching the first season, I took a Breaking Bad break (go on, say that fast). I’m so glad I started it again, and I literally finished it this week. I’m a bit too late to write an article about the series as a whole, but a few episodes really stood out to me along the way. Fly (from season 3) and Ozymandias (from season 5) were examples of how incredible television can be these days, and they inspired today article, because Rian Johnson directed both of them, as well as Fifty-One (also from season 5). If you haven’t seen this far, that’s alright, I won’t give any key story points away. But suffice to say, these are all very different episodes, and Johnson handled them with a deft touch. Fly is self-contained, filmed in a single location which sees Walt and Jesse attempt to kill a fly threatening to contaminate their batch. Breaking Bad shines because of the conflict created between characters, especially Walt and Jesse, the polar opposite partners. Putting these characters in a room with a common goal gives fantastic creative scope, and Johnson pushed and pulled the story expertly. Ozymandias is rare in that it has a perfect score on IMDB, so clearly I’m breaking no new ground when I say it was outstanding. Johnson was put in charge of key sequences in the series, and he flourished.

What struck me about these episodes is that each had their own theme or subject. Fifty-One was the ticking clock. Fly was…the fly (open to interpretation, but I believe it to be about contamination, not only of the drugs, but of Walt himself). Ozymandias (slight spoiler……), was derived from a poem about the fall of a king. The thing is, you always know when you’re not in the hands of a professional, because themes will be bounced all over the place, or won’t be evident at all. But these episodes were taught, and tense because each scene played its part in expressing the theme. This can and should of course be attributed to the writers as well, but Johnson’s visual representation of each theme resulted in three of the best television episodes ever made.

What we learned: Johnson can take someone else’s characters, someone else’s universe, and make them his own.

Star Wars

I’m sure J. J. Abrams is going to give us something really cool with Episode VII. But I’m not as excited as I could be. I think this is because J.J.’s films, while great, don’t really push the boundaries. He’s quite a safe filmmaker, and also I’ve already seen his vision of space. So is he a smart choice to start a new Star Wars story? Absolutely. But I’m more excited to see what Johnson’s adventurous nature can provide. His path to this point has him almost ideally suited to give us something special.

But as with everything I say, there’s a good chance I’m wrong. We’re dealing with unknowns here, so this is just an extended semi-educated guess. Do you think we’re about to see a new frontier? Or will it be Lucas’ prequels all over again?