2016 Tarkovsky Prize 2nd Place: Alexander Vaheid
BLADE RUNNER By Alexander Vaheid (18)
2016 Tarkovsky Prize, 2nd Place
Blade Runner was the adaptation of Philip K. Dick that catapulted adaptions of his works into the mainstream, and for good reason. Ridley Scott’s masterpiece portrays an exquisitely crafted vision of the future in which he treats questions like “What is humanity?” with a finesse and thorough mis-en-scene that many modern science fiction films lack. The cyberpunk atmosphere of this film is so well developed that you may discover new details which each subsequent viewing. The world of the film is very well defined and does not necessarily shove plot details into the forefront, instead trusting the intelligence of the viewer to be able to find meaning in the images. For example, early on in the film, we see an advertisement for an off-world colony. Off-world colonies are not explained through expository dialogue, but instead, it’s a detail that increases our immersion in the film’s dark world. We are left to infer that the conditions on earth are subpar, which is reinforced by the people in the city streets. While flying cars zoom above, the foot traffic of the streets below show the viewer the low quality of life of citizens who remain on earth.
The atmosphere is further developed through a sense of loneliness that permeates the film. The haunting saxophone and piano melodies help elevate this above “Science Fiction Flick” by adding a level of emotion seldom heard in the genre. The influence of film noir is on display as well, with Decker being a retired replicant hunter who has to come back for one last job. He hunts alone and the only connection he finds is, naturally and tragically, with a replicant. All this, the music, the dark atmospheres, combined with the scenes of Decker alone create a feeling of loneliness and despair.
This loneliness is one of the major themes of the film. In addition to Decker we have Sebastian, who creates his own puppet friends and treats them as people. He is also extremely eager to befriend the replicants, even though it is implied he knows of their true nature. Tyrell, the master inventor, creates his own daughter. The only characters that seem to have a sense of family at all are the replicants themselves, who essentially are a de facto family. That said, Tyrell acts like a dysfunctional father figure to all of them (including Decker in a sense).
In regards to the questions it raises about humanity, we have the characters who act the most human, ironically be artificially human. We also have Decker, who hunts down and kills these “Antagonists” in the story. Roy Batty, the main replicant, is urged on by Tyrell and seems to be more alive and to feel more than, really, any other character in the film. Decker shoots an unarmed female replicant in the back, simply because she attacked him first, likely fearing for her own life. If a filmmaker in the South during the 1800s created a noir film about someone hunting down runaway slaves, it would look like this. In the right light, it becomes fairly unclear about who is “good” and “bad.”
Another element that, for me at least, made the film even more compelling, is seeing so many different types of films combined into one. If you wanted to, you could treat it like a slow noir about killer robots. You could also read it as a convoluted action and chase film. However, you can also just tune out all of the plot elements and consider the beautiful set design, lighting, and cinematography. You can marvel at the special effects and models used, and then marvel a little bit more after considering it premiered in 1982 before all the wonders of digital film making. It can be a meditation on what humanity truly is. Is the artificial life present in replicants real? If you have to perform pseudo-scientific tests on someone to figure out whether or not they’re human, does it matter anymore? Is the film a Nietzchean statement on living in the now and to the fullest, like Roy Batty does, making him more seemingly alive than any of the other characters? The film is also a puzzle, and you could watch the whole thing trying to discern whether Decker is a human or a replicant.
These elements of the film; the story, the atmosphere, the lingering questions and the haunting score, all come together to create an experience that is melancholic and aesthetically beautiful; a masterpiece that will not be soon forgotten.