Want To Know The Reason Why Kylo Ren Went Shirtless in THE LAST JEDI?
One of the biggest laughs from the audiences that I've seen Star Wars: The Last Jedi with came from a moment where we see Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) standing around with no shirt. A lot of people saw it as WTF moment, but there was a reason for it and that reason is explained by co-sound supervisor Ren Klyce. If you want to know the reasoning behind it, read ahead:
In the film, there's a connection between Kylo Ren and Rey that is established as they are able to talk to each other and see each other through the power of The Force. Supreme Leader Snoke was able to connect their minds in a crazy and interesting way.
Anyway, at one point when they talk, Rey catches a glimpse of Kylo Ren standing around shirtless and she makes a comment of on it telling him to put a shirt on. While talking to The Huffington Post, Klyce explains that Johnson had a reason for this scene:
“The way in which [director Rian Johnson] decided to create the Force connection by just simply doing vertical cuts without using any CG...it’s pure simplicity in terms of filmmaking with visual cuts. We cut to her side; we cut to Kylo Ren; we cut to her; and back and forth.”
By showing Kylo Ren without a shirt and Rey reacting to that informs audiences about what exactly Rey is seeing during these Force communications. He goes on to say:
“That was important to establish what she was actually seeing. Was she hearing his voice or seeing his face or just his eyes? And so that [shirtless scene] is to inform the audience, ‘Oh, she can see his body.’ It’s also good humor.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi editor Bob Ducsay goes on to confirm Klyce’s explanation, explaining that the Force connection scenes were meant to be shot “as if they were in the same room together, even though they’re not.” He went on to say:
“Over the course of those sequences, you come to understand all the rules of. Ultimately, it’s just good storytelling if the audience is learning things the same time the characters they’re following are, instead of ahead or behind.”
Before the shirtless scene happened, I thought it was already pretty well established with how this connection between Kylo and Rey worked. So, maybe it was more for the little bit of humor that it added to the film. Regardless, what did you all think about the shirtless Kylo Ren scene?