Sunday, December 9 Blade Runner in a MySpace World
I just saw the newest release of the classic noir sci-fi film Blade Runner, subtitled “The Final Cut”. Undoubtedly it is the best version so far, surpassing the various other cuts that have come out over the 25 years since it was first released. I found that it raised new questions about identity in this MySpace world.
Like every designer nerd, I’ve seen Blade Runner at least a dozen times, a couple of times on the big screen. This Final Cut has been digitally retouched from a 70mm print and both the visuals and sound are stunning. The richness of every frame is breathtaking - everywhere you look at every moment there is something intriguing to see. It is a universe created whole and seamlessly in a way that very few other films have accomplished. I was fortunate to see it on a very large screen at the famed Grand Lake theater in Oakland, CA (complete with opening Wurlitzer).
Vangelis’ score thunders away (at times a bit too obtrusively), and the opening crashes are startling. The special effects give away almost nothing to CG effects today, in fact I would put the cityscapes of Blade Runner, made with miniatures, up against the last three Star Wars movies any day.
When the movie first appeared it was widely seen as a philosophical questioning on what it means to be human, combined with angst about the growing power of computers and concerns that they would eventually surpass humans in intelligence with apocalyptic consequences.
Today those concerns have to a large extent abated, and instead Blade Runner now resonates with themes of construction of identity and how much of our own identity we own. In the movie, the robot Replicants have memories implanted to make them more mentally stable, but they all share the same memories. The memories exist in their minds, substantiated by a handful of photos.
In the MySpace/Facebook/blog/Flickr world, we externalize our memories more than any time in history, constructing our identity one posting at a time. But by the same token, people are able to create their own memories of us, and therefore create their own versions of our identities, sometimes without our knowledge and usually without our control.
While the Replicants of Blade Runner were beholden to their makers for their memories, we today are also highly reliant for others on the construction of our self identities.
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Reader Comments (8)
Wasn't that always the case though?...just that it's more accelerated and externalised now.
Movies like Solaris, Eternal Sunshine and Blade Runner all allude to the same theme, that all we are is the sum of our memories and our relationships with others are simply the collection of memories we have about them...perhaps even the empathy tests of Blade Runner are of no use in identifiying 'humanity'...does empathy really help us understand other's perspective or just how *we* would feel, if we were them?
Hmm, Blade Runner, MySpace - seen the Facebook Fotowoosh application? http://tinyurl.com/2xptmv Seem familiar? :-)
It's interesting the viewers of this have all seen the same movies and possibly have read the same books. Hmm. Is there a pattern here?
"Questions Questions I don't know answers."
Found this link, to your site, from a link on Blackbelt Jones. I got that due to Warren Ellis.
All three of these comments are unregistered contributors...who'd rather be unknown...
..I just received the BR 5-dvd collectable package for Xmas from my son and his girlfriend who obviously get my respect and admiration for what has to be one of the most beautifully shot and scored movies ever produced..I've always felt the soundtrack and visuals are what sets this film apart from anything produced in this genre before or since..the plot and storyline in fact are secondary to the rich yet disturbing 'distopic' futuristic vision RS so adeptly brings to the screen..I still find HF's performance a bit wooden (adding credence to Ridley's assertion that he is also a replicant?)..RH to me steals the show as a replicant who somehow seems to have been gifted a soul..the 'tweaks' on the Final Cut are subtle yet effective except for the substitution of 'father' for 'fucker' in the dialogue which precedes the execution of Tyrell..to me it somewhat dilutes the impending sense of catharsis about to unfold..other than that a well-timed and nicely packaged homage to a cinematic classic..'walking' through the FC version with Ridley's commentary is fascinating and almost as intriguing as the movie itself (he even hints at the possibility of a sequel!!)..the documentary on the birthing and production of the film is also a 'must-see' for anyone who appreciates the landmark nature of this epic..it certainly validates my assertion that this is one of the finest films ever made..well done BR Partnership!!
Glad to hear it! I have been thinking about the DVD also, but with so many past versions that have received so-so reviews, I was wary. Nice to hear that they've done a good job with it.
Just watched this brilliant movie once again and was stunned when I saw Rick Deckard (30:55) using an iPhone controlling his apartment elevator... WTF?
Judge for yourself:
http://design4dough.wordpress.com/
Ha! That's pretty funny.
Most of the stuff in Blade Runner is the antithesis of the Apple aesthetic, but this particular example is quite aligned.
http://virtualneko.com/
A great twist on the origins of Rachel from Blade Runner via a 'Neko/Second Life' perspective. Great writing. Check out the attention to detail in the Blog/dialog postings :) Blade Runner Geeks will totally dig the twist.