The reading discusses the motivation behind the city, and some people actually hope that one day L.A. will look like Blade Runner. The city is a work of art, and many artists, environmental designers, illustrators, photographers and filmmakers all tend to use this film as a means for future designs and developments. The reading states "But the hum of that Vangelis score against the skyline of L.A. in 2019, as the film opens, continues to leave a strange impact on artists and filmmakers". The score against the cinematography was my favorite aspect of this film. The story didn't impress me so much, as there have been many robot movies before and the pace of the film was slow. But I enjoyed looking at the film and just taking in the entire look and feel of the world it's set in, over what was actually happening between the characters.
The only part of the story line that interests me is that fact that we never actually know who is a Replicant and who is human. In many ways, Harrison Ford's character is the most "robotic" of them all, and that most of the replicants have more human feelings than he does. I don't think the replicants were exact robots, but I do think that they are clones of other people, seeing as they bleed and could feel and do many of the things that humans can do. The glint in their eyes every now and then is one of the only suggestions of actual mechanics being under their skin. I could see Harrison Ford's character being either replicant or human. As the hero in the film, he is a pretty dark and depth character, and I think people take that as he is a bad guy and isn't human. Just because he isn't the nicest, warmest person, does not mean he is not human. The love scene between him and Rachel showed me the internal struggle he was having with himself and his feelings. He clearly was conflicted about his job and his emotions towards this replicant. His job is to kill all replicants and instead he is falling in love with this one. That makes a guy become a little angry within himself and his conflictions came across in his aggresive actions. I don't think he forced Rachel to do anything that she didn't want to, as some others seemed to believe that. Also, if you have seen Harrison Ford in his other films, he is never portrayed as a romantic guy so don't set those standards up for him.
Blade Runner is a beautiful film, but that is one of the only things it has going for it. The story isn't that impressive, but the set design, lighting, and cinematography is one to never forget.
The fact that the replicas could feel emotion and bleed confused me. You prove a good point that the film never clarifies who is an actual human and who is a replica. The so called replicas do move in a robotic way but they still have very human like characteristics. I think Harrison Ford could very well have been a replica because of his lack of emotion. Although he does develop feelings for Rachel.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you wholeheartedly that the visuals/score/cinematography is the best part of this film. The plot really isn't all that significant, at least for our generation. Being that Blade Runner came out 30 years ago and that our generation has seen all of the futuristic utopian movies that have come out since then, maybe we have simply gotten sick and tired of the idea. In 1983, Blade Runner was probably new material, so the original viewers could have found the plot to be a lot more interesting. But the Vangelis score backing up the dark, rainy scenes throughout the movie will always be a masterpiece. It really is beautiful in a sinister way. And it makes it unmistakeably 80's.
ReplyDeleteI love the look and feel of Blade Runner, you cannot go wrong with a futuristic noir piece. This film is just so hard to call one of my favorites because there are so many different versions of the film out there. Decker is or isn't a replicant, why is there a unicorn in this one, so many questions so little answers. I do like how this film has influenced other science fiction films with a gloomy and hopeless future. Look at a Niel Blomkamp film, District 9 or Elysium, life on earth is just like the lower levels of LA in this film. The futures supposed to look bright and there have been progress, but now all you see in films is a scary future. Let's hope they're wrong.
ReplyDeleteRemember in class when we discussed postmodernism, and "style over substance?" When you talk about how interesting the look of the film is, that's largely what the point of it is--the visual depiction of the world. (Nice illustrations you chose, btw). And yes, the whole thematic question of what it means to be human in a world where manufactured people had a more complex range of emotions than actual ones. Why do you suppose some people wanted to make a city that looked like that? What does the reading say about it? It's always worth delving into the film's visual appeal, to see what you get when you look closely.
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