One of the best scenes from STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS was the final lightsaber battle between Kylo Ren and Rey (Adam Driver and Daisy Ridley). Exciting and filled with drama, it was the perfect exclamation point on the film, particularly the moment wherein Rey closes her eyes, and taps into the Force to bring the patricide-loving Ren down. However, that internal moment almost never happened. But it did, and we should thank God for it…or SELMA and 13TH director Ava DuVernay, because it was her idea.
Among the many revelations coming out of the clips from the J.J. Abrams commentary attached to the 3D Blu-ray release, the director talked about how the big moment almost went a different way had it not been for DuVernay’s suggestion:
“One of [the suggestions] was she really wanted to see Daisy, in her attack on Ren, have one really cool moment… We always had this moment, from when we shot it originally, and this used to be where she called him a monster and then pushed back. But instead, we reshot this and had her take this moment of hearing the Force and thinking about what Maz had told her, about closing her eyes and letting it in. And so she has this incredibly internal moment that is sort of extended in movie time, where she basically feels it, accepts it, and is now ready to kick his ass.”
DuVernay seems like an outside choice to pre-screen a version of the movie to, as she has dealt mostly with heavy dramas and documentaries. But it just goes to show you what a talented director she is. The moment Abrams describes, wherein Rey calls Ren a monster and shoves him away, would’ve worked but only in a small way. However, the notion to give her a more passionate, emotional response, resulting in a surge of energy, not only made the battle more cinematic, but also brought her journey full circle, in the context of this movie, that is. Give DuVernay her own STAR WARS movie already!
Get your copy of the FORCE AWAKENS 3D edition on November 15 to get the full commentary…unless you wanna look like a nerd who missed out.