Blade Runner (Tutorial Paper)
Ridley Scott's Blade Runner (c 1981/2), a film belonging to the genres of science and detective fiction, and film noir simultaneously, is set in Los Angeles in 2019, almost forty years ahead of when it was made. It has been noted that Scott's Los Angeles is in fact more akin to something of a "San Angeles" crossed with New York; it also seems quite reminiscent of a twisted reflection of Tokyo or one of the great Japanese cities. One of the first things we notice about it is that it is full of something like toxic smog. The film portrays an unhappy future of "post-industrial capitalism". The city is quite clearly post-apocalyptic, swathed in perpetual night or, during the day, at least gloom. There are a few exceptions to this, such as when the Replicant Roy Batty dies: as the white bird flies into the air we catch a miraculous glimpse of blue sky. Also in the Hollywood version of the film, the film ends with Deckard and Rachael travelling north to escape the toxic city. They venture into the virtually untouched countryside of lush green hills and sparkling streams to the "north". This scene is missing from the Director's Cut.There is an ironic element in Scott's almost
Blade Runner features the theme of the world gone mad, accentuated by the constant spotlights probing into the very depths of the city canyons, as well as J. F. Sebastian's toys - including the one who always runs into walls - and their strange sounds. In the scene where Pris is hiding amongst the toys, we hear the eerie sound of laughter, coming from a toy whose batteries are apparently draining. When Deckard discovers Pris, with her recently applied mask of black make-up, amongst the other synthetic beings, she attacks him. As she runs towards him she resembles some sort of robotic gymnast, and her otherness is frighteningly evident. Once shot she enters death throes and is reminiscent of an electric current or insect creature dying. Her death, despite being less human than Zhora's, is still disturbing. Deckard's world as a whole is portrayed as nightmarish, mainly due to its overpowering strangeness. The soul is what makes a human (thus the fear that machines would acquire souls somehow), and throughout the film there are certain symbols which are representative of the soul, including the fundamental photograph. It is seen in one light as a false representation, a scene out of history frozen in time and invariably omitting countless details, freezing only what falls within the frame. Yet memories are encapsulated in photographs, and memories are also a sign of humanity. The discussion of whether or not the Replicants in fact possess souls is a fundamental part of the film. Rachael and Leon both have photographs which appear to be the dearest things they own. Rachael's photographs are her proof that she is human, in her mind. Leon is well aware that he is a Replicant, yet his own photographs retain great importance for him. Ironically, Deckard uses a photograph to track down Zhora and kill her. The blade runner is also attached to his own photographs, and this correlation between him and the two Replicants is one of many clues leading (those more observant) viewers to believe he is a Replicant himself. On the matter of memory, we listen to Roy speaking of things he has seen Off-world, and know that these are real memories, and that somehow they represent the closest we have come to seeing Replicants as truly human, aside from their displays of physical pain and emotions. The moral issue of the "retirement" of "skin-jobs" (Replicants) is pertinent throughout the film. At one point Rachael asks Deckard, "Have you ever retired a human by mistake?" and it seems a sore subject for him. Further on she asks, "Did you ever take that test yourself?", referring to the test suspected Replicants endure when being scrutinized. Deckard is especially troubled when, having witnessed the horrible death of Zhora - who bleeds and writhes in pain, as a human would - and seen the blood on his hands, metaphorically, he is informed by another policeman that there are only "four to go". Deckard had counted three, but had not included Rachael in his tally. It seems unfathomable to him that he might have to murder a woman who is human to him, even if she is technically a Replicant. Replicants are perfect reproductions of humans, a fact which is emphasised here, and even Deckard is forced to ask, Who has the right to take their lives? The film is greatly preoccupied with the theme of Orientalism, and focuses specifically on Japan as an interest. We glimpse the Japanese woman on the huge advertising screen on a number of occasions, whose voice echoes eerily into the depths of the urban canyons. A great many city inhabitants speak Japanese, whether they are of Japanese descent or not. Gaff makes several origami figures; Deckard often eats "Oriental" food; every single shop has a sign with Japanese lettering. Granted, Deckard resides for most of the film in China Town, but the repetition of Oriental symbols suggests, as Scott would have it, the predominance of minorities in the wake of the departure of most of the middle-class. The film was ma
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 3337
Approximate Pages = 13 (250 words per page double spaced)
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