Richard Marquand favoured simple staging and trusted actors to make an adventure matter. We value the conviction and good fun of Return of the Jedi, while wishing he had been firmer about keeping it moving.
Fi1m perspective
Mark Hamill keeps us interested in Return of the Jedi (1983) even when the adventure slows. Marquand gives its creatures and chases room, and there is pleasure in a director allowing that kind of entertainment to be enough. We enjoyed those stretches, then grew impatient with the time lavished on the Ewoks. This is good adventure filmmaking with some slack passages, and Hamill's conviction does useful work when the writing has less to offer.
His route into features ran through television documentaries and series, followed by the supernatural thriller The Legacy (1978). His handling of suspense and performance found a suitable home in Eye of the Needle (1981), the film that led George Lucas to choose him for Return of the Jedi. He followed that with Until September (1984) and the courtroom thriller Jagged Edge (1985). These changes of subject make more sense when we consider his preference for working closely with actors and keeping camera set-ups simple and static.
On Jedi, Lucas was producer and creative overseer as well as co-writer with Lawrence Kasdan, so Marquand's contribution needs to be considered alongside theirs. Their screenplay handles immediate danger more confidently than the passages linking one episode to another. Marquand is also trying to conclude a trilogy without losing its appetite for creatures, chases and jokes, and that leaves him with plenty to accommodate. The romance is thin, particularly disappointing in the work of someone drawn to friendship, loyalty and trust.
Marquand's simple staging is worth valuing, particularly when so much depends on an actor making an improbable adventure convincing. We would still ask for a firmer pace and more convincing relationships before calling his approach consistently successful. Start with Jedi for the adventure, then try Eye of the Needle to see his handling of suspense away from the demands of concluding a trilogy.
Biography
Richard Alfred Marquand (22 September 1937 – 4 September 1987) was a Welsh film and television director. Born in Llanishen, Cardiff, he studied modern languages at King's College, Cambridge, and began his career directing documentaries and dramas for the BBC.
Marquand moved into feature films with The Legacy (1978) and gained attention for the thriller Eye of the Needle (1981). He directed Return of the Jedi (1983), the final film in the original Star Wars trilogy, and later Jagged Edge (1985). He also directed Birth of the Beatles (1979) and Until September (1984).
For his work on Return of the Jedi, Marquand received a Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation in 1984.
