Blade Runner is an iconic film that was directed by Ridley Scott in 1981 and based on the novel of Philip Dick "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?". The film in its two-version interpretations became one of the style-forming movies of the 1980-90s, and also gave rise to the Hollywood tendency to screen anti-utopian stories of Philip Dick. The deep problematic canvas of the film that is based on the idea that a person's conceptions regarding the world and his place in it can appear to be intentionally falsified by third parties, entities or intelligent, received subsequent development in many other interpretations in the end of the 20th and in the beginning of the 21th centuries.
The perception of Blade Runner entirely depends on whether Deckard, the main protagonist, is a human or a robot. In the novel, the hero suffers from doubts regarding this question. In the film, especially in its original version, this motive is softened. However, according to Harrison Ford, it was this unsolved issue regarding the nature of his character that later led to his discord with the director. Ford insisted on making Deckard a human, whereas Scott considered him a replicant. In the final analysis, the screenwriters decided to leave the solution of this issue at the viewers' discretion.
In the director's cut version, however, the issue of Deckard's nature appears to be crucial. This is strongly strengthened by the introduction of the unicorn motive, the image of which Deckard saw in his dreams. In final scenes of the film, on the doorstep of his house Deckard discovered a diminutive origami resembling a unicorn, the same as Gaff, his mate, was making with foil. Therefore, here comes the following conclusion: similarly to the way Deckard knew about the artificial memories of Rachel, Gaff was familiar with the content of Deckard's dreams, since they were implanted to him artificially. Besides, a unicorn was a medieval symbol of purity, sincerity, and will, and to Ridley Scott it seemed to be the image that could visit a human or his similarity in dreams.
Furthermore, the majority of viewers remain unaware of the philosophical background of the conflict between people and their similarities. The very name of the protagonist alludes to Rene Descartes, the crucial figure that gave rise to rationalism, while in the film's finale Roy cited the words of Nietzsche, who was the founder of irrationalism. Nietzsche predicted and glorified the phenomenon of the superhuman, and Roy represented exactly the same image that was created by the corporation under the slogan «more human than human». Translating his name from French, it means «king, emperor». Not only is he physically stronger than usual people, but he also appears to be more compassionate, since he became able to save the life of his enemy. Furthermore, this character was deprived of class illusions that divided human beings into true and alleged categories. With that, the alleged ones were subject to destruction a-priori.
Slavoj Zizek noted that the beginning of the film metaphorically coalesces with its ending. During the first scenes Deckard listened the tape including the examination of Leon, at the same time he was not aware of the fact that by the end of the film he would be exactly in his shoes, that is, in the state of being chased (Žižek 380-383). The conclusion of Deckard's artificial origin sheds light on the film's plot, and engenders a chain of new questions. Hence, if Deckard is not able to differentiate his dreams from fakes, it remains unclear to what extent viewers are able to do that. Besides, if Deckard was just a procreation of a human mind, who are people then? In the director's cut version, therefore, the philosophical issues regarding the nature of humans became the central ones throughout the entire narration.
The images of Blade Runner that are passed through Deckard's consciousness demonstrate how memories, sensations and desires constitute the collage that is called perception. Furthermore, these images prove that it is the craving for the liberation from any restrictions, both spiritual and physical, makes us people. The line of the distinction between people and replicants in the film is very subtle, just like the razor's blade. The protector of human exclusiveness and the destroyer of replicants eventually appeared to be a replicant himself. One of the creators of replicants named Sebastian became absorbed with the state of his creations and turned to their side when he prematurely started growing old. With that, the biological and psychological nature of these individuals came into conflict with each other. Commenting on this inconsistency of biology and psychology, Slavoj Zizek remembers the phrase that everyone should have his own history, his own narration (Žižek 380-383). Such narrations are valuable and indispensable. We do not know who we are until we encounter the imaginative version of ourselves. Without it, we virtually do not exist at all.
In the film, replicants are divided into groups of those who were deprived of this narration, and therefore they openly challenged their creators, and those who harbored illusions regarding their true nature, like Deckard and Rachel. Nothing of human features appears to be unfamiliar to these similarities of people. Thus, having previously checkmated his creator, Roy smashed his skull, which was mistakenly considered by many fans of the film as the Immortal Game. In a similar way, he demonstrated his both physical and intellectual supremacy over Tyrell.
What is more, Deckard and Rachel were even closer to people than the group of Roy. They were provided with the narration that disguised their mechanical nature: the analogue of these exceptionally human qualities as imagination and memory. In the film's finale, the main protagonist became aware of his nature. He and his most precious creature belonged to the group that they were trying to destroy throughout their whole life. With that, Deckard appeared to be in the state of being chased, and heard the evil echos of the last words of Gaff regarding his lover.
The metaphorical discernment of Deckard in the last scenes of the film completes the motif of the eye that passes through the figurative canvas of the movie. According to Scott, he who once said that the eye is the window to the soul was right, with just one clarification: the directors would prefer to call it the window to the head. The motive of the pupil as the incarnation of the significant themes of illusion and vision passes through the film with a red thread.
It would be a mistake, however, to consider the problematic canvas of Blade Runner a new phenomenon in the history of cinematography. The Firmness of a person's notions regarding his nature was questioned in Lem's novel Solaris. Considering the atmosphere of the film from today's perspective, the majority regards it as one of the first exemplars of the future noire, or neo-noire. Indeed, Blade Runner is filled with allusion to the films of the 1940s that were imbued with cynicism and pessimism. The whole Scott's film is permeated with the spirit of noire. With that, the screenwriters of Blade Runner stay away from progress. By the overflows of cold neon fire the collapse and decadence of material manifest themselves. Furthermore, the scene of killing the head of the corporation that produced the cyborgs was directed by candlelight, thus resembling much of the classic atmosphere.
However, it was Blade Runner that initiated such an enormous reaction from viewers, since the very community of beliefs that emerges in the process of watching the film endows this community with the desire to change themselves. Indeed, Scott's work created this problematic canvas as the most visible and perceptible, mostly due to the strong connection between the film's characters and viewers themselves.
Works Cited
Žižek, Slavoj. Society, Politics, Ideology. London: Routledge, 2003. 380-383. Print.
