Anna Daniels
One of the best things about Star Wars is how it distilled dozens of unrelated inspirations into a sci-fi world that felt simultaneously familiar and unlike anything people had ever seen. Tasked with wrapping up the entire Skywalker Saga, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker didn’t have quite the same freedom to innovate as George Lucas’s scrappy original 1977 film, but distilling reference material into new things is still an essential part of the franchise’s fabric.
Case in point: some new concept art has revealed that Leia’s lightsaber from The Rise of Skywalker was inspired by an art deco lamp. Check out the artwork below.
Phil Szostak, Lucasfilm’s creative art manager and the author of The Art of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, wasn’t able to include many big third-act reveals in his book because Lucasfilm didn’t want that information to leak before the film debuted. Typically, information like that is covered in the following film’s “Art of” book, but without another Skywalker movie on the horizon, that artwork may not find an official home any time soon. But Szostak has shared a couple of pieces of concept art on Twitter, and the first is the most interesting.
“[Leia’s lightsaber] bounced between myself and the prop makers until being finalised. The emitter area was inspired by a Walter Von Nessen, Art Deco lamp that JJ had taken a shine to.” – concept artist Matthew Savage#StarWars #TheRiseOfSkywalker https://t.co/FS0FkiRFrq pic.twitter.com/itelBDdnEO
— Phil Szostak (@PhilSzostak) May 10, 2020
Personally, I like to imagine J.J. Abrams walking through a high-end furniture store, spotting this in the corner, and pulling a Brick Tamland. “I love lamp,” he would say, repeating the phrase over and over again and pointing at the object until his personal assistant sighs, takes a photo of the lamp, and sends it to Matthew Savage. (This assistant is very good at their job.) But that’s just me. Lucas was heavily influenced by art deco style when making the prequels, so it’s cool to see a little detail like this come all the way back around in the last entry of the final trilogy.
The other piece of art showcases one of the final moments of the movie, when Rey buries the lightsabers in the sands of Tatooine. Debate the significance of that moment all you want, but one thing is undeniable: this is a gorgeous piece of artwork.
“Rey at the homestead graves” – concept artist Adam Brockbank (@MeZolith2)#StarWars #TheRiseOfSkywalker https://t.co/EOpXwqexAr pic.twitter.com/hgZ4azesNl
— Phil Szostak (@PhilSzostak) May 10, 2020
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is now streaming on Disney+.
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