George Lucas has reflected on his decades-long career at the 77th Cannes Film Festival, ahead of receiving the honorary Palme d’or award during the closing ceremony on Saturday.
The US writer, director and producer created the Star Wars franchise, beginning with the first film in 1977, as well as creating the Indiana Jones series.
Lucas, who turned 80 earlier this month, was welcomed with a standing ovation which lasted several minutes as he reflected on his career at the French festival – a day before receiving the honour at the Grand Theatre Lumiere.
“I’m a perfectionist,” he told the crowd, according to the Cannes Film Festival.
“After the first three Star Wars movies, I returned to my films with digital technology to arrange or finish what hadn’t been finished.
“A filmmaker should always have the right to do what he has imagined. It’s a concept that comes to us from Michelangelo.
“He wanted everything to be perfect.
“The big secret is that you have to persevere. I fought for each of my films. I was even ready to finance them myself, because making movies is my passion.”
Lucas said he was “struck by a feeling of nostalgia” in Cannes this year, as he had often attended the festival for the Indiana Jones and Star Wars films.
“I obviously have a lot of fans, but I’ve never made award-winning films. That’s why receiving this Palme d’or is a great honour,” he told the crowd.
Last year, Indiana Jones and Star Wars actor Harrison Ford was awarded the French film festival’s highest honour.
Lucas first worked with Ford on the 1973 comedy American Graffiti before casting him as Han Solo alongside Mark Hamill, who played Luke Skywalker, and Carrie Fisher, who played Princess Leia, in the now-titled Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope.
“One day, an executive at Fox saw American Graffiti and he loved the film,” Lucas said.
“He told me that I could ask for what I wanted and I’d get it. So I told him the story of Star Wars, with dogs that pilot space ships.
“He was steadfast in his belief in the film. Once I had finished, I showed it to the studios and they hated it.
“They finally agreed to release it in 30 theatres. But people were starting to line up to see it and the enthusiasm for the film was spreading. Fox finally extended the release to a thousand theatres and the film was a big box office hit.”
The 1977 science fiction film became a sensation, winning seven Oscars and spawning more sequels and spin-offs.
The penultimate day of the French festival also saw Dame Helen Mirren and Andie MacDowell grace the red carpet for the premiere of Michel Hazanavicius’ The Most Precious Of Cargoes starring Dominique Blanc and Gregory Gadebois.