FROM A CERTAIN POINT OF VIEW.
It’s a phrase that’s loomed large over Star Wars ever since Obi-Wan Kenobi tried to pretend he hadn’t fibbed about the fate of Luke Skywalker’s dad. Since then, Anakin’s whined that, from his POV, the Jedi are evil, while fandom remains torn over The Last Jedi: is it a bona fide classic or a disastrous disturbance in the Force?
Now the latest Disney+ show is asking us to look at its story from multiple perspectives. The result? The next time a film studies student reminds you that George Lucas’s original Star Wars was heavily influenced by Akira Kurosawa’s The Hidden Fortress, you can instantly shoot back that The Acolyte shares elements of the Japanese director’s multiple-POV classic Rashomon.
Set a century or so before – towards the end of the era known as the High Republic – sees a flourishing Jedi Order shaken when an unknown assassin starts bumping off its members. While it’s clearly bad news for lightsaber-wielders everywhere, it’s also a fantastic opportunity for creator/showrunner Leslye Headland-tinged time-loop drama – to approach the story through multiple sets of eyes, and blur the lines between good and evil.
