The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Arts
Wednesday, January 3, 2018 — 5A

There’s a moment in “The 

Last Jedi” when all the sound 
drops out and complete silence 
descends. For a few seconds, 
there is nothing. No music, no 
white noise, no dialogue. All 
falls away, and for a franchise 
that has always been easily 
recognizable 
for 
its 
iconic 

sound design and legendary 
score, it’s a strange moment, 
yet an undeniably brilliant 
one. “The Last Jedi” functions 
in much the same way. Much 
of 
what 
has 
historically 

characterized 
“Star 
Wars” 

on 
a 
superficial 
level 
is 

deconstructed and subverted 
here even as director Rian 
Johnson 
(“Looper”) 
takes 

special care to celebrate the 
most 
important 
things 
— 

namely the focus on battles 
between good and evil and the 
sense of hope in the face of 
insurmountable odds. The film 
he crafts is a bold, dark and 
occasionally weird entry in 
the “Star Wars” saga, one that 

stands as the best and most 
necessary chapter since “The 
Empire Strikes Back.”

This isn’t to say that “The 

Last Jedi” is perfect. While 
several sequences serve to 
further character arcs, they 
often feel disconnected from 
the central plot, and a certain 
scene stands out as particularly 

ill-advised, brought to life by 
a special effect that — in an 
otherwise visually gorgeous 
film — is comparatively subpar.

But couched in a story 

otherwise exceptionally told, 
these flaws do little to detract 
from the rest of the film. 
The film picks up moments 
after the end of J.J. Abrams’s 
“The Force Awakens,” as the 
Resistance, led by General 
Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher, 
“Catastrophe”), must flee their 
base in the aftermath of their 
victory at Starkiller Base in 
the previous film. As the First 
Order doggedly pursues them 
through space, Rey (Daisy 

Ridley, “Murder on the Orient 
Express”) arrives at the site of 
the first Jedi temple to receive 
instruction from living legend 
Luke Skywalker (a never-better 
Mark Hamill, “Brigsby Bear”), 
only to find that he is not the 
man the galaxy remembers.

This base story, for what it 

is, is fine if occasionally slow-
moving. What sets it apart is 
the thematic work Johnson 
does with both his script and 
direction as he uses this plot to 
explore ideas of acknowledging 
the past and using it to grow 
while still letting go of what is 
not necessary for that growth. 
In essence, “The Last Jedi” 
is a story about the tricky 
relationship between the past 
and the future, history and 
legacy. The meta-narrative for 
a certain space opera entering 
its fourth decade of existence 
should be obvious.

Because in order to stay 

relevant, in order to mean as 
much to future generations as it 
did to me and the innumerable 
die-hards 
who 
have 
come 

before 
me, 
“Star 
Wars” 

needed to change. It would 
have been easy to rehash the 
same plotlines and archetypes 
ad infinitum — “The Force 
Awakens” did so and wound 
up being a pretty great movie, 
all things considered — but 

eventually, it would grow stale. 
Someone needed to break the 
mold, and “The Last Jedi” 
is Johnson doing so in bold 
fashion.

It would be easy to leave it 

at that, to act as if the boldness 
is enough to qualify “The Last 
Jedi” as a great movie, but it 
isn’t. Boldness alone is novelty; 
it must be grounded in the 
characters and the story. This 
is what makes “The Last Jedi” 
something truly special. It isn’t 
that it takes everything we 
think “Star Wars” can do and 
takes a hard left turn into new 
territory. It’s the way Johnson 
grounds 
those 
creative 

decisions in the characters, old 
and new, bringing them to more 
interesting, thought-provoking 
and 
emotionally 
intense 

places with each scene. It’s 
the way the actors bring those 
characters to life in some of the 
best performances in franchise 
history and the characters, in 
turn, embody the themes — 
redemption, bravery and hope 
above all — that have always 
defined “Star Wars” and will 
continue to define it even as it 
enters this new chapter.

JEREMIAH VANDERHELM

Daily Arts Writer

The latest installment boldly revitalizes a canonical saga

‘Last Jedi’ is necessary, 
brilliant new ‘Star Wars’

“The Last Jedi”

State Theatre, 
Quality 16, Rave 

Cinemas Ann Arbor 

20+ IMAX

Walt Disney 

Studios Motion 

Pictures

The film he 
crafts is a 

bold, dark and 
occasionally 
weird entry in 
the ‘Star Wars’ 

saga

Someone needed 

to break the 

mold, and “The 

Last Jedi” is 

Johnson doing so 

in bold fashion

I don’t even know how to 

begin writing about “Human 
Flow” 
by 
Ai 
Weiwei 
(“Ai 

Weiwei: Never Sorry”), because 
it is a piece that is so much 
bigger than us. It requires us 
to recognize our privilege in 
viewing such a crisis without it 
being a part of our own human 
experience. The documentary, 
which was shot in 23 countries, 
presents both a brutal, visceral 
and 
at 
times 
strikingly 

gorgeous display of the current 
global crisis in which 65 million 
people have been displaced 
from their homes.

Weiwei, known more for his 

controversial reputation in the 
art world, has participated in 
documentary cinema before, 
though never to this extent. 
As a visual artist, he treats his 
documentary like a canvas, 
splattering it with color and 
layers 
of 
impressive 
drone 

shots and handheld iPhone 
footage. He allows us to feel 
like we’re right there with the 
migrants and refugees — one 
or the individual body out of 
thousands, huddled into masses 

on a rugged terrain that has 
no remorse for its occupants. 
These migrants, tied down 
to no land to anchor them, 
are considered to be the most 
pervasive status of citizenship, 
as they are stripped of all the 
rights and liberties that make 
them human beings.

“Human Flow” reveals the 

global crisis that plagues every 
country, but mainly Europe 
today — the crisis of people 
fleeing their homes for asylum 

and passing through or being 
trapped in borders. The piece 
criticizes borders in general, 
as they are inherently arbitrary 
in their nature. With the aid 
of globalization, the world has 
reaped many benefits, namely 
the prospect of wealth and jobs, 
but its consequences are severe. 
Globalization 
exacerbates 

the global inequalities, and 
through this process, the large, 
connected 
world 
we 
know 

is beginning to shrink. This 
means that different cultures 
are going to have to learn to 
coexist in order for humanity 
to persist. Like the title, the 
flow of bodies in search of 

refuge and a new life are at risk 
of hunger, disease, death and 
above all, the loss of a chance 
for a better life.

Weiwei’s visual approach is 

guided by the natural landscape 
across these countries; the way 
the sky meets the unforgiving, 
arid and sun-scorched Middle 
Eastern deserts. The image 
of Mexican children playing 
on a beach with an iron fence 
running through it with the 
States on the other side is a 
painful reminder of palpable 
but still unattainable freedom. 
The 
sea 
connects 
these 

countries as a visual motif, but 
also as a juxtaposition of the 
free-flowing, wide open waters 
that touch country borders but 
cannot be shared equally by all. 
We see the sea that transports 
Eritreans to southern Italy for 
political asylum, the same sea 
that a group of friends in Gaza 
who turn to the Mediterranean 
for 
their 
only 
chance 
at 

tranquility in a war zone, the 

same sea that runs up to Tel 
Aviv just one hour north, the 
same sea and sun that caress 
their bronzed tourists is the 
same sea that traps others just 
down the coast.

If anything, the documentary 

reminds those of us who are 
fortunate enough to be citizens 
in a country — to feel like we 
belong somewhere and that 
we are protected — about how 
connected we truly are and 
how we choose to neglect this 
fact simply because we don’t 
see malnourished children in 
refugee camps daily, which 
the news likes to conveniently 
overlook, 
too. 
Europe 
and 

America were lands that were 
thought to provide promise 
and 
solace 
to 
immigrants, 

but Weiwei reminds us that 
the current xenophobia and 
segregation 
between 
these 

groups is not something we 
can ignore any longer. “Human 
Flow” doesn’t let us forget 
that, no matter what, we all 
share the same sun and no 
group deserves its warmth over 
others. It doesn’t let us forget 
that we need to stop forgetting 
about this crisis before it’s too 
late.

SOPHIA WHITE

Daily Arts Writer

New documentary from Chinese artist tackles global crisis

Weiwei’s ‘Human Flow’ is 
stunning and harrowing 

“Human Flow”

State Theatre

NFP Marketing & 

Distribution

WALT DISNEY PICUTRES
NFP MARKETING & DISTRIBUTION

FILM REVIEW
FILM REVIEW

“Human Flow” 
reveals the global 
crisis that plagues 

every country

If anything, the 
documentary 

reminds us who 

are fortunate 
enough to be 
citizens in a 

country – to feel 

like we belong 

somewhere 

WANT TO KEEP YOUR NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION THIS YEAR?

RESOLVE TO JOIN DAILY ARTS,
AND THEN JOIN DAILY ARTS.

Email mgaudin@umich.edu or yacobson@umich.edu to request an application

