The new Star Wars television series, The Acolyte, will be seen by many as a step into a new realm for the venerable franchise, centuries before the Skywalker saga featured in the films, in an era known in Star Wars lore as the High Republic. In truth, however, The Acolyte is a return of sorts to the foundational elements of the original 1977 Star Wars film, which was inspired by Japan’s feudal history and Samurai warriors, and Akira Kurosawa’s cinematic masterpiece, The Hidden Fortress . Lee Jung-jae plays a Jedi master, Sol, in the latest addition to the Star Wars saga, The Acolyte.
Credit: Lucasfilm “If you look at something like Darth Vader’s helmet, you can see the Samurai influence there, and especially in the personal, one-on-one, lightsaber fights in the Original Trilogy ...
they could be Samurai swords,” says The Acolyte ’s writer, director and producer, Leslye Headland. “There are many, many cinematic references [in Star Wars ], and I think that’s one of the reasons that it’s so indelible, and it’s so pushed into our consciousness, as an iconic world,” Headland says. “In creating my show, it did feel like an opportunity to live in [the genre of Asian cinema] because I felt like The Mandalorian was doing such a great job, and such a cool thing, of leaning into the Western films that obviously also inspired [ Star Wars creator] George Lucas.
” The Acolyte comes to a complex Star Wars story marketplace: the film franchise is, essentially, on hol.
