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.

2020 Tarkovsky Prize Third Place: Shiuan Cheng

Portrayal of Humanity in Blade Runner

by Shiuan Cheng (Lowell High School)

In the film Blade Runner (1982), Ridley Scott explores the idea of humanity, portraying how an individual’s struggles and experiences are what make them human. Throughout the movie, the replicants are depicted to be inhuman, not because of their mechanical existence, but rather because of their perfect design. Yet, as they begin to realize the futility of their quest for survival, the replicants begin to seem more humane. To express this struggle that defines one’s humanity, and the hardships that accompany it, Scott uses the cinematic techniques of lighting, symbolism, and imagery.

In Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner, lighting is used to represent the imperfections that deem an individual, human. Over the course of the film, a variety of close-up shots are employed while the characters, human or not, exchange dialogue. However, a major difference which Scott applies to differentiate between replicants and humans is the lighting reflected in their faces. Shots of humans, especially Deckard, consist of imperfections in the brightness of their face, with usually one side being darker. In shots of the replicants, on the other hand, the lighting reflected in the entirety of their face is nearly always the same hue, with no irregularities. This element of lighting expresses the burden carried by human individuals, as they must live with the weight of their mistakes and weaknesses. The replicants do not share this burden, as they are designed to be flawless in every way, and so they are alienated from humanity. However, as they begin to face defeat in their quest to prolong their four-year life span, the replicants begin to shed their invincibility. As the androids begin to succumb to the efforts of Deckard to “retire” them, the imperfect lighting reserved for shots of human individuals is broadened to include shots of Roy Batty, the replicant leader. As he begins to accept the fate to which his allies have already fallen victim to, this defeat is represented by the lighting of Batty’s face, which now shows irregularity in tone and brightness, since the replicant has accepted his intended death. The futility of his quest, and the eventual failure that Batty and his replicant brethren meet, is what ultimately deems them humanlike, as they yield to the mortal threat of death, though their subsequent acquisition of humanity is reflected by the meticulous utilization of lighting by Scott.

In Blade Runner, Ridley Scott employs symbolism to reflect the flaws and experiences of defeat which make up the human soul. The Voight-Kampff tests, which are designed to determine whether a subject is human or a replicant, takes advantage of the fact that replicants are designed to be the “perfect” human: they are stronger both mentally and physically, and have the ability to perform tougher labor without the limitations imposed by human emotions and pain. The tests utilize a series of emotionally provocative questions to elicit and observe a subject’s psychological response, in the form of their heart rate, respiration, and eye movements, and it is the replicants’ exact inability to share human empathy and stress that leads to their detection. The Voight-Kampff tests express the symbolism of how although the removal of the ability to feel empathy was done to free the replicants of a seemingly human flaw, the absence of this “defect” is what is exploited by interrogation to reveal what the replicants lack: a human soul. Without the seeming “flaws” of human emotions and stress, the replicants are inhuman, and it is this idea that is examined by the Voight-Kampff tests.

Ultimately, as the androids’ mission draws to a close, chief replicant Roy Batty is left as the sole survivor. Though he is seemingly hunting Deckard to avenge his fallen allies, Batty ultimately reveals his harmless intentions after saving Deckard’s life, while also ensnaring a dove in his hands. Deckard, still fearful of the resilient automaton, grows calm as Batty expresses his thoughts. While he regrets the loss of his experiences “like tears in rain,” Batty reveals his acceptance of the fact that it is his “time to die.” Following his dramatic monologue, and peaceful death, the previously captured dove breaks free of the android’s grasp, and soars into the open sky, symbolic of Batty’s now released soul. By yielding to his ultimate enemy of death, the replicant leader is toppled from his faultless pedestal, but humanized by his failure. Though he was created as an automaton, the released dove symbolizes the obtainment of humanity by Batty in his final moments, with his acceptance of defeat, and it is through the use of symbolism that Scott is able to express the importance of flaws and failure in the definition of a human soul.

Ridley Scott utilizes imagery in Blade Runner to express how struggle characterizes humanity. Through the duration of the film, the cinematic technique of film noir is used in conjunction with practical effects, including the manipulation of smoke and blinding spotlights, to form a mechanical and industrial setting. The imagery of this environment: dark, lifeless, and robotic, reflects how the adoption of machinery by humans to remove their struggles and responsibilities results in the detachment of life from societies. Without the necessity for human labor and strife, humanity departs from their community, both physically and metaphorically, as machines have litterately taken over human jobs, leading to their physical departure from society. Yet, allegorically, the lack of struggle and purpose that was once created by the need to work has also led to the shriveling of humanity within certain individuals, such as J.F. Sebastian, who has grown distant from his community and surrounds himself with mechanical “friends,” which he designs.

Without the purpose once given to him by his job as a genetic designer for the Tyrell Corporation, Sebastian has lost a part of his humanity as he has grown more attached to his robotic companions, rather than his human community. This idea that humanity is defined by the purpose given to them through challenge and struggle is further exemplified by the difference in imagery of human and replicant eyes. Although the eyes of human characters always appear natural and lifelike, the eyes of replicants often appear glassy, and have an unnatural reflection of lights. Since the replicants have been designed to be flawless, their eyes, much more durable and effective than those of humans, lack the soul that comes with strife. While human eyesight is held back by physical limitations, the vision of replicants suffer no such hardship, which is reflected in their soulless eyes. Without suffering the same restraint faced by humans, the replicants lack the life which is characterized by hindrance, and as eyes are the “windows to the soul,” the lack of a soul is also reflected in the glassy and reflective eyes of the replicants. It is through the precise utilization of imagery, that Scott is able to convey the importance of strife in the definition of humanity.

With his meticulous use of lighting, symbolism, and imagery, Ridley Scott addresses the idea of humanity, in his film Blade Runner (1982). Scott argues that humanity is defined by an individual’s flaws and struggles, and this idea is depicted by the transformation of the replicants. Though initially alienated by their perfection, the replicants ultimately acquire humanity as they experience and accept defeat in their quest to prolong their life span. Although individuals often seek mastery of their lives, and the elements that surround them, one must realize that it is through defeat and struggle that growth is enabled, and it is growth rather than presumed success which defines a human.