Rian Johnson and Kathleen Kennedy Try to Explain the Meaning of The Last Jedi Title to Vanity Fair!
Vanity Fair was not kidding when they promised a new Star Wars story every hour for today. Their latest report focuses on the meaning of The Last Jedi title. Well, kind of. They at least tried getting that answer from director Rian Johnson and Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy. Read on for the funny exchange.
You probably remember that the somewhat simple title for the latest installment in the Star Wars saga was a subject of passionate debate among the fans for the simple fact that the word Jedi can be both singular and plural at the same time. When the international markets revealed the translation of the title in several languages, it was revealed that the word was actually in plural. But in later interviews Rian Johnson revealed that he always had it as singular in his mind.
Many believed that the title was referring only to Luke Skywalker, especially since he was called that way, not only in the opening crawl of The Force Awakens, but also by the movie’s big baddie – Snoke.
So when asked to give more details about the title, here’s what Johnson and Kennedy told Vanity Fair.
From Vanity Fair:
Vanity Fair: So, do we know what the words The Last Jedi allude to?
Kathleen Kennedy: Why in the world do you think I would tell you that?
VF: I’ll tell you why. Back in 1998, I interviewed George Lucas for V.F. ahead of The Phantom Menace, and I asked, “Who or what is the phantom menace?” And he nonchalantly said, “Oh, it’s Darth Sidious.”
KK: Did he really?
VF: Just like that.
KK: I’m not going to do that.
VF: So, does the word “Jedi” work in the singular or the plural?
KK: That’s actually what’s interesting about the title, and very intentionally ambiguous.
VF: As you’re being right now.
KK: Yes.
VF: Did you think up the title?
Rian Johnson: That was the very first thing, when I had not even written the script. When I was coming up with the story, I had that title. So I’ve had that title in my head now for years. I was so terrified that someone would guess it—it seemed like an obvious title. Every time a fake title would leak, I would hold my breath and click on the link and be like, “Oh no, did they get it?” But luckily, we were able to put it out clean.
VF: So, is “Jedi” plural or singular?
RJ: See, that’s the funny thing. I heard that in the foreign translations for the title, they made it plural. In my head, it’s singular. It makes sense with the story, to me, that it’s singular.
VF: Are you not going to tell me who the last Jedi is?
RJ: It’s weird, because I never even thought of that as the big question. But I love that people are speculating about it, so I don’t want to crush that under my heel . . . I never thought that everyone was going to be like, “Ooh, is it—.”
VF: “Is it Luke? Is it Rey?”
RJ: I never thought that was going to be the question. I guess partially because the answer—and this is going to sound like I’m being coy, but I swear I’m not—is, you do have to see the movie. It’s not as simple as saying, “It’s this person—ha-ha!” It is a little more complicated than that. I guess I can say this, that when—no, I’m not going to say anything.
VF: Come on! The train has left the station.
RJ: One would think, let’s say this, that at the end of Episode VII it refers to Luke, because of the notion that this religion has died out and he is the last of them.
VF: One would think?
RJ: One would think.
Well, there you have it. 🙂
Founder of SWNN, MNN and The Cantina forums.
Born on April 24, 1980.
Every bit of news increases my excitement.
The better a movie – or any form of art – is, the less mysterious and secretive you have to be about it. Don’t believe me? Everybody knew the plot to Lord of the Rings before the movies came out, and they still are master pieces.
What a stupid thing to say. If you want to make an analogy to a film that was adapted from a book, you should be asking if publishers should have kept the plot of The Two Towers secret before the book was released.
You lost me at stupid. But hey for the fun of it, what I meant for slow people like you is that it actually does not matter if you know the plot or not to a movie if the actual film is of good quality. Movies are called The Seventh Art, because they go beyond “plot” or a “mystery box”. A movie involves acting, writing, production design, building sets, cinematography, camera language, framing of a shot, color, tone, music, etc, etc, so my point in short, is that it does not fucking matter if I know who is the Last Jedi or not, that will not make or break the movie, there are tons of other aspects that go into making a good movie, but hey, fanboys like you just take what KK throws at them, it must be good to have such a basic existence, just worrying about surprises…
My point is much more general than Star Wars or Kennedy. Of course special effects and acting are important parts of a movie but so is the plot. You compared an adaptation to an original work. No matter how you argue it, spoilers matter. I never even suggested that surprises were all I care about but it’s absurd to say they aren’t an important element.
That’s not true at all. It depends on the movie.
Just say it!!!!!
Least favorite title next to Attack Of The Clones, Especially since it was stolen one of the shittiest EU books.