Kirby Ferguson is back. Last September, the writer/director released the first of a four-part film series – Everything is a Remix – that teases apart the long history of artistic “remixing.” This first short film concentrated on the artistic borrowings of musicians and writers, with Led Zeppelin and the Beat writers getting the major focus. Now, with his second film (view above or in large format here), the attention turns to film, and particularly to the homages and borrowings of George Lucas’ Star Wars. Akira Kurosawa films, Spaghetti westerns and John Wayne westerns, classic wartime movies, Leni Riefenstahl propaganda films, Fritz Lang’s Metropolis – they’re all remixed into the epic space drama. The film wraps up with Ferguson looking at Quentin Tarantino and his own remixing tendencies. And that sets the stage for parts 3 and 4 – a project that you can help finance in your own modest way. I’m sure Kirby will appreciate your generosity…
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You missed the most obvious thing from which Star Wars was ripped off, Frank Herbert’s Dune. It’s a good 65% Dune.
There’s also similarities with “Lawrence of Arabia”. Tatooine is a desert planet; Mark Hamill and Peter O’Tool are similar in apearance; Luke Skywalker, and Major Lawrence both wear Arab style clothing; both fight guerilla wars against an empire(the Galactic Empire, the Ottoman Empire).