You may have seen some surprising interpretations of Star Wars, but you’ve never seen anything like this.
In advance of the upcoming release of Star Wars: The Last Jedi in December a folding screen painted in ink featuring the main characters of the movie was unveiled this week. The screen was painted by 39-year-old Masayuki Kojo and went on display at Byodoin, a Buddhist temple on UNESCO’s World Heritage list in Kyoto Prefecture.
A traditional Japanese Kyogen (comedy play) inspired by the movie was also performed at the event. It starred Master Kisyu Shigeyama Chisaburo, Shigeyama Shoji, Suzuki Minoru playing R2-D2, C-3PO and Kylo Ren respectively wearing traditional clothes and masks.
Kyōgen (狂言) also known as “mad words” or “wild speech”, is a form of traditional Japanese comic theater. Lines are delivered loudly in a rhythmic, sing-song voice. The pace, pitch, and volume are all varied for emphasis and effect and that explains the voices which sound like a record played backward.
Rian Johnson, who’s directed The Last Jedi attended the event and noted the historical Japanese roots to the original film. “It was a wonderful Kyogen!” he said, “I felt deeply the connection between Japanese culture and ‘Star Wars’.”
THIS HAPPENED and it was amazing https://t.co/H3SY6Szrdz
— Rian Johnson (@rianjohnson) September 12, 2017
At first, it’s jarring, but when you get used to the style it’s very impressive.
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<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="32163 ">2 Comments
Vader's voice is really wild in Japanese. When I was a kid, I would've known what they were saying.
That is unique.