Author: Brian Jay Jones
Title: George Lucas: A Life
Narrator: Jay Snyder
Publication Info: Hachette Audio (2016)
Previously Read by the Same Author: Jim Henson: The Biography
Summary/Review:
This is a straightforward biography that traces the life of filmmaker George Lucas through his childhood, education, and various creative endeavors. As a child of a strict father in Modesto, California, Lucas took an interest in old movie serials, comic books, and fast cars. When he went to University of Southern California he chose to study cinematography because he wanted to do something in the arts and it sounded like something his father wouldn’t immediately dismiss. Young Lucas showed a talent for experimental filmmaking, especially editing, that made him stand out in his class.
After graduation, Lucas befriended other up and coming young directors, such as Francis Ford Coppola and Steven Spielberg. Jones does a good job of explicating the creative process Lucas went through in creating his most famous films including THX-1138, American Graffiti, Willow, Red Tails, and of course the Star Wars and Indiana Jones series. There’s also considerable detail on Lucas developing LucasFilm, Industrial Light and Magic, and The Skywalker Ranch, all enabling the type of creativity and independence he sought out of reach of the Hollywood moguls.
Qualities of Lucas such as perfectionism and weak interpersonal skills are shown to be both his strengths and weaknesses in film making. His workaholic nature proved too much for his troubled first marriage with the skilled film editor Marcia Griffin, but later in life he would have a more successful relationship with business woman Mellody Hobson.
Jones does a good job of getting inside the life and influences of a private and complex person without being gossipy about it. Lucas’ contributions to movies and the world of entertainment are uncontestable, even if people – including his director friends – believe he was capable of much more. Lucas for his part remains confident in his choices and accepts that audiences may not always be pleased with his vision.
Recommended books:
The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher
Rating: ***
Panorama of the Mountains 