Directed by Alexandre O. Philippe

It made sense that this documentary was preceded at its SXSW screenings by the short <i>Star Wars: Retold</i> (retold by someone who’s never seen it). Even people who have never sat through George Lucas’ epic tale of a galaxy far, far away have been touched by its cultural impact.

Mixing talking heads and clips from fan films, Philippe’s sprawling, humorous, and enthralling documentary chronicles the ethereal and sometimes one-way love/hate relationship between the man that defined the childhood of a generation and the adults that generation became. For the pop culture prosecution are the remixers that deny that Jar Jar Binks ever existed and the angry fans that rail that Han Solo shot first; for the artist’s rights defense, powerful voices like writer Neil Gaiman and Austin’s own Owen Egerton. Somewhere between is the curious figure of Lucas, the visionary now castigated for his dreams.

(a version of this review previously appeared at Austinchronicle.com)