View source for 21-87

{{Short description|1963 Canadian abstract montage-collage film by Arthur Lipsett}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=October 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2022}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = 21-87
| image          = 
| alt            = <!-- see WP:ALT -->
| caption        = 
| director       = [[Arthur Lipsett]]
| producer       = [[Colin Low (filmmaker)|Colin Low]]<br>[[Tom Daly (filmmaker)|Tom Daly]]
| writer         = 
| screenplay     = 
| story          = 
| starring       = 
| music          = 
| cinematography = 
| editing        = Arthur Lipsett
| studio         = 
| distributor    = [[National Film Board of Canada]]
| released       = {{Film date|df=y|1963|}}
| runtime        = 9 minutes 33 seconds
| country        = Canada
| language       = English
| budget         = 
| gross          = 
}}
'''''21-87''''' is a 1963 Canadian [[abstract film|abstract]] [[montage (filmmaking)|montage]]-[[collage film]] created by [[Arthur Lipsett]] that lasts 9 minutes and 33 seconds.<ref>{{cite web |title=21-87 |url=http://onf-nfb.gc.ca/en/our-collection/?idfilm=10840 |website=onf-nfb.gc.ca |publisher=National Film Board of Canada |access-date=3 February 2023}}</ref> The [[short film|short]], produced by the [[National Film Board of Canada]], is a collage of snippets from discarded footage found by Lipsett in the editing room of the National Film Board (where he was employed as an [[Animation|animator]]), combined with his own black and white 16&nbsp;mm footage which he shot on the streets of Montreal and New York City, among other locations.{{sfn|Kashmere|2004}}

== Release and reception ==
''21-87'' premiered on the [[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|CBC]] program ''Explorations'' in 1964.{{sfn|Kashmere|2004}}

Journalist [[Howard Junker]] dismisses ''21-87'' and Lipsett's other film, ''Free Fall'', as repetitious: "the whole idea of wildly flashing stills and phrases wears quickly".{{sfn|Junker|1964|p=25}} Critic N. Roy Clifton is frustrated by the seeming randomness of the images.<ref>{{harvnb|Clifton|1983|pp=221–223}}, quoted in {{harvnb|Fell|1985|p=59}}.</ref> Critic John Fell suggests the film is evocative of [[parataxis]], like a sentence without a [[Conjunction (grammar)|conjunctive]] word.{{sfn|Fell|1985|p=59}}

==Influence on George Lucas==
"21-87" would have a profound influence on director [[George Lucas]] and on [[Walter Murch]], an [[Sound editor (filmmaking)|editor]] and [[sound designer|designer]] with whom Lucas worked. Lucas described it as "the kind of movie I wanted to make – a very off the wall, abstract kind of film".<ref name=Hassannia>{{cite news|url=https://www.cbc.ca/arts/colin-low-don-owen-and-how-the-nfb-s-unit-b-changed-canadian-cinema-1.3471201|title=Colin Low, Don Owen and how the NFB's Unit B changed Canadian cinema|last=Hassannia|first=Tina|date=2 March 2016|work=CBC Arts|accessdate=2016-03-02}}</ref>

In response, Lucas created the [[pure cinema]], short, 16mm movies: "[[6-18-67]]", "[[1:42.08]]", and "[[Look at Life (film)|Look at Life]]". The later "[[Electronic Labyrinth: THX 1138 4EB]]", an experimental [[science fiction]] short, takes place in a [[dystopia]]n future on 14 May 2187.<ref name=THX1138short>{{Cite video|people=Lucas, George (Director)|date=1967|title=Electronic Labyrinth: THX 1138 4EB|medium=DVD [on the bonus disk accompanying ''THX 1138: The George Lucas Director's Cut'']|location=USA|publisher= Warner Bros.}}</ref> Lucas expanded the latter into ''[[THX 1138]]''. His later works ''[[American Graffiti]]'' and ''[[Star Wars (film)|Star Wars]]'' have shown "21-87"'s influence. Lucas and Lipsett would never meet.

The concept of [[the Force]], so prominent in ''Star Wars'' and its sequels and prequels, is said to have been inspired by a statement made by [[Roman Kroitor]] in the short film.<ref>[https://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.05/lucas.html?pg=3&topic=lucas&topic_set=%20Life%20After%20Darth George Lucas interview with Wired]. Retrieved on 2008-12-22 from .</ref><ref>[http://www.cbc.ca/arts/features/starwars/ CBC article on Star Wars]. Retrieved 2008-12-22. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041011180529/http://www.cbc.ca/arts/features/starwars/ |date=11 October 2004 }}</ref>

===References in Lucas's works and Star Wars===

*In ''[[Star Wars (film)|Star Wars]]'', [[Princess Leia]]'s prison cell on the [[Death Star]] is numbered 2187.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-04-14|title=Star Wars – Finn's Stormtrooper Number Is A Reference To Leia in a New Hope|url=https://lrmonline.com/news/1star-wars-finns-stormtrooper-number-is-a-reference-to-leia-in-a-new-hope/|access-date=2021-08-17|website=LRM|language=en-US}}</ref>
*In the post Lucas era ''[[Star Wars sequel trilogy]]'', [[FN-2187]] is the [[service number|designation]] of one of the main characters, who is later renamed Finn.
*In [[Star Wars: Republic Commando]], in one mission the commando "Scorch" is being held in "Cell 2187".

==Awards==
*[[Ann Arbor Film Festival]], [[Ann Arbor, Michigan]]: First Prize, 1964
*Palo Alto Filmmakers' Festival, [[Palo Alto]]: Second Prize, 1964
*Midwest Film Festival, [[University of Chicago]], Chicago: Most Popular Film, 1964<ref>{{cite web |title=21-87 |url=http://onf-nfb.gc.ca/en/our-collection/?idfilm=10840 |website=onf-nfb.gc.ca |publisher=National Film Board of Canada |access-date=3 February 2023}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

=== Sources ===
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |last1=Clifton |first1=N. Roy |title=The Figure in Film |date=1983 |publisher=University of Delaware Press |location=Newark |isbn=0-87413-189-8}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Fell |first1=John |title=Review of The Figure in Film |journal=[[Film Quarterly]] |date=Spring 1985 |volume=38 |issue=3 |pages=58–59 |doi=10.2307/1212552 |jstor=1212552 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1212552 |issn=0015-1386|url-access=subscription }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Junker |first1=Howard |author1-link=Howard Junker |title=The National Film Board of Canada: After a Quarter Century |journal=Film Quarterly |date=Winter 1964 |volume=18 |issue=2 |pages=22–29 |doi=10.2307/1210933 |jstor=1210933 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1210933 |issn=0015-1386|url-access=subscription }}
* {{cite web |last1=Kashmere |first1=Brett |title=Lipsett, Arthur |url=https://www.sensesofcinema.com/2004/great-directors/lipsett/ |website=Senses of Cinema |access-date=26 May 2021 |date=July 2004}}
{{refend}}

== External links ==
<!-- Per [[WP:ELMINOFFICIAL]], choose one official website only -->
* {{NFB film}}
* {{YouTube|id=7-tMhRKS9Jo|title=''21-87''}}
* {{IMDb title|id=0222664|title=21-87}}

{{Arthur Lipsett}}

[[Category:1964 films]]
[[Category:1960s English-language films]]
[[Category:Canadian short documentary films]]
[[Category:National Film Board of Canada short films]]
[[Category:Canadian black-and-white films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Arthur Lipsett]]
[[Category:Canadian collage films]]
[[Category:Films produced by Tom Daly]]
[[Category:Films produced by Colin Low (filmmaker)]]
[[Category:1960s avant-garde and experimental films]]
[[Category:1960s Canadian films]]
[[Category:Canadian avant-garde and experimental short films]]
[[Category:English-language Canadian films]]
[[Category:English-language short documentary films]]