Star Wars: 12 Homages To Classic Cinema In The Last Jedi

Similarly to Lucas before him, Johnson is clearly infatuated with Japanese cinema, and this bleeds into his work on Star Wars. Specifically, the lighting and cinematography work of Seijun Suzuki plays a large role in the film. This is especially true of the scenes in Snoke's throne room.

The sheer red-drenched opulence of the set itself is an immediate harkening back to one Suzuki's most famous scenes from Tokyo Drifter. The key sequence in Snoke's throne room goes on to be one of unexpected, brazen death and break-neck action sequences. Said famous scene from Tokyo Drifter shares many of these same attributes, acting as an unknown force in the equation of the film.

Throughout Tokyo Drifter, vibrant colors are interwoven into the story and used in innovative ways to relate to theme and character. Last Jedi pulls off a similar usage with the color red. Red is a recurring motif throughout Last Jedi, as recently commented on by the film's cinematographer, Steve Yedlin. The color red as a long-standing association with evil in Star Wars, yet Last Jedi is able to take that and twist it for all it is worth, using it as a color-coding device for thematic material. From Kylo's unstable lightsaber to Snoke's throne room to the smoke on Crait, red is a tell-tale sign.

This use of color in cinema comes straight from Suzuki's films, and it is incorporated in an incredibly effective fashion throughout Last Jedi.