Eyes are the windows to the soul – traditional proverb
It is clear that The Force Awakens is JJ Abrams’ most fully realized, filmic movie of his career. The success of the movie is attributable not only to the great opportunity afforded him to play in a complex universe created by George Lucas but also to there being some very sophisticated filmmaking going on. One of the many levels on which the movie works is the visual use of the eyes of the characters in the movie.
Which isn’t to say that this particular choice is hidden. The dialogue in the movie points directly to the importance of eyes.
MAZ
If you live long enough you see the same eyes in different people.
Later, she has more to say about eyes when she discovers Rey, alone under the castle, just after her Force vision.
MAZ
I am no Jedi, but I know the Force. It moves through and surrounds every living thing. Close your eyes. Feel it. The light. It’s always been there. It will guide you.
In emphasizing the importance of eyes in the movie, JJ Abrams calls on a well-worn piece of lighting and camera work. Directors have been using pin or eye lights reflected in the eyes of an actor to indicate their state of mind, intentions of their soul, and the direction of the character for years. Whether it’s Alfred Hitchcock showing the murderous intents of Norman Bates taking deeper root in Psycho or Peter Jackson showing us the otherworldly beauty and power of the Elven Lady of Light, Galadriel, in the Lord of the Rings, manipulating the lights reflected in an actor’s eyes can serve as a powerful tool to underscore the character work an actor is doing. It’s a tool that Abrams uses to great effect in The Force Awakens.
Abrams’ interest in the tool isn’t much of a surprise. He’s noted for the use – perhaps overuse – of lens flares, the phenomenon which occurs when a light source strikes the film lens and causes a series of unwanted circles, lines, and other collections of bright light. It’s notable that the first lens flare in The Force Awakens comes during a moment of surprise and tension where Kylo Ren freezes a blaster bolt in midair – a Force power that had been previously unseen in the Star Wars universe. After literally putting that surprising image into the eye of the viewer, Abrams moves on to using other characters’ eyes as the canvas for painting with light.
Some of the uses of this technique in The Force Awakens are very subtle. In several cases where Rey is beginning to explore her Force powers, there are a small number of pin lights, a visual indicator of the Force awakening within her. Kylo Ren, too, in several places has these same lights, though slightly more pronounced, to show the already-harnessed power of the Force within him.
Another example is used to show the fury inside of General Hux. After his troop-rallying speech on Starkiller Base, the weapon fires and we get long shot of Hux admiring the awesome power of the weapon as it streams toward its targets. The stream of the weapon, reflected in his eyes, lends a red-tinged and decidedly evil light to his eyes, as if he is pouring his own rage against the Resistance and the Republic itself.
The final use of the technique is the most interesting and comes almost at the end of the film. After a desperate lightsaber battle with an injured but murderous Kylo Ren, Rey finds herself at the edge of a precipice with only the lightsaber of Luke Skywalker between her own face and the unfocused, spitting lightsaber of Kylo Ren. As the camera focuses on her, straining to hold the enemy at bay, the reflection of Kylo’s red, angry blade and her own blue blade form a perfect cross.
It’s worth noting that the technology used for lightsabers on the set of Star Wars has evolved over the years. Aluminum, steel, and carbon fiber rods have all stood in over the years while shooting lightsaber duels. All of those sabers shared one thing in common – they didn’t act as the natural light source that a beam of energy would. The Force Awakens introduced the first real solution to that problem – blades that were sturdy enough to withstand simulated battle during filming but still contained an internal light source.
And so we have the light being thrown from two practical light sources reflected in Rey’s eyes. It shows us the conflict at the moment, the struggle for her life and against the anger caused by watching Ren down two of her newly formed family. Into which Kylo Ren pitches his adolescent, seductive offer.
KYLO REN
You need a teacher! I can show you the ways of the Force!
And hearing about the Force again reminds Rey. She closes her eyes as Maz instructed, and feels.
When she opens her eyes, there is a profound change in the reflected light of the lightsabers. What used to be a red and blue cross is now the blades of the two sabers running parallel. It’s striking in that it was referenced, slyly, in the theatrical poster with the red blade of Kylo Ren’s lightsaber running parallel with Rey’s staff.
Rey, now centered in the Force, has resolved the conflict and sees the parallel path made by the light and dark. She embraces it, and resolves the lightsaber fight straight away.
It’s elements like these that makes it clear how much love, of filmmaking and for Star Wars, JJ Abrams poured into this movie. By recalling a bygone era and using techniques, The Force Awakens is elevated to an emotionally engaging and complex film.