Irvin Kershner becomes one with the force

The director of what is regarded by sane people as the greatest movie of all time has passed, he was 87. Irvin Kershner was chosen by God himself to take the reins of his Star Wars sequel, The Empire Strikes Back which celebrates it's 30th Anniversary this year. Lucas wanted "Kersh" to bring a unique vision that Lucas had observed in his work on The Eyes Of Laura Mars to instill a sense of deep gravitas that God himself believed he could not accomplish.

A WWII veteran, Kershner's film career began as a teacher of film at USC, progressing to a stills photographer and a director of Television before making his mark on the silver screen with the Roger Corman-produced Stakeout on Dope Street in 1958. Kershner is also noted as the director of Never Say Never Again, the unofficial Bond movie which would be Sean Connery's final appearance on screen as the secret agent. He also directed Robocop 2, which I never, ever want to talk about, as well as episodes of seaQuest DSV.

The next time you watch The Empire Strikes Back, note how much more close up Kershner fills the frame with actors faces, "There's nothing more interesting than the landscape of the human face," he once said. Remember Lucas may have created the characters, envisioned the designs of craft, sets and costumes costumes, and wrote the story - but Empire, it's shots, pacing, drama, tension and revelation is the vision of one Irvin Kershner and we must never forget him.

May the force be with him.