Morning People: Drop Dead

I have an image blog today. Enjoy!

Returning To A Dystopian Timeline

“They do not know what pain is yet. They will learn.” ~ Wallace

“I always told you. You’re special. Your history isn’t over yet. There’s still a page left.” ~ Joi

“There is an order to things. That is what we do here. We keep order.” ~ Joshi

“What do you want?” ~ Deckard 

“I want to ask you some questions.” ~ K

How does one follow up Blade Runner? The 1982 dystopian science fiction film gave us a dark vision of 2019, of a bleak world in decay where the only hope for a future was off world colonies, and where artificial life forms called Replicants were created as slave labour- until they became a problem. The film has been hailed as one of the greatest films of its genre, especially the director’s cut version of it, proving to be hugely influential in films that have followed. What is on its face a police procedural and film noir entry about a cop hunting dangerous beings becomes a deeply philosophical study on what it means to truly be alive, to have a soul. Plus it has a compelling storyline and lead actor (Harrison Ford) that keeps drawing the viewer in every single time it’s watched. Blade Runner 2049 returns to that dark world, stepping thirty years ahead in its timeline and bringing us right back into its despair, intrigues, and questions.

Officer K (Ryan Gosling) is a new blade runner for the Los Angeles Police Department in a world that’s gone even deeper into decay. As has been the case for those of his rank before him, his job is to hunt and put down rogue Replicants who have become a problem. Replicants are still produced decades after the events of the original film courtesy of the successor to the original film’s tycoon, this time by an ethically deprived entrepreneur, Niander Wallace (Jared Leto). K works under a supervising officer, Lieutenant Joshi (Robin Wright), and makes discoveries that threaten the status quo of the world, in a quest that leads him to a former blade runner who’s been missing for thirty years: Rick Deckard (Ford).

The idea of a follow up to Blade Runner goes back years, with various ideas tossed about as to where to take it. In this case, taking years to get it right was a good thing. Ridley Scott, who had directed the original, was on board as an executive producer, and Hampton Fancher, who had co-written the original, returned to write the script with Michael Green. The story captures the nihilistic tone of the original: a future where things are exceedingly bleak, where life and freedom are things that matter little in the face of profit and opportunity, and where the world is falling apart even more than before. It’s written as something of a police procedural like its predecessor: a cop following a trail taking him down some unexpected paths, and like its predecessor, moves into profound questions about science and ethics. If Star Trek presents a future of optimism, the Blade Runner mythos is one of overwhelming despair, mingled with the instinct to keep moving forward despite that despair. The script captures that quality throughout, successfully carrying on with the history of this alternate timeline in a way that makes sense.

Denis Villeneuve came on board as director for this, a wise choice as it turns out. The Canadian director got his start with French language shorts and movies before coming to wider attention internationally with films like Prisoners and Arrival. His previous work established him well in both character studies and stories asking big questions, particularly with Arrival, which shares the sci-fi genre this one features. Villeneuve brings us back into the world of the Blade Runner, the dark, rainy, noir future that is unsettling much of the time, recapturing Scott’s tone from the original. One of the things that made Blade Runner resonate so strongly has been its way of foreseeing things to come. Sure, we don’t have flying cars or artificial life yet, but video conferencing, wall to wall advertising, a mish-mash of cultures, and environmental calamity as we’ve seen in that original film certainly can be seen in our world today. And Villeneuve steps right in and brings that right back to life. We feel fully immersed in a dying, toxic future where the world has gone terribly wrong.

Part of that is visual effects; CGI for instance de-ages a character from the original film to look like they originally did, while special effects evoke the bleak Earth in a time when everything has gone out of balance, as well as the technology of that time period. Part of that is also in the style of the director, who proves quite adept at the ferocity of a fight scene and just as capable of building suspense or the quiet moments between characters. He strikes just the right balance between a film noir/ sci fi epic movie and the humanity that is still so central to the story. Villeneuve has a bright future ahead of him, and this bleak tale is an exceptional addition to his resume.

Two faces from the original film return for brief appearances. Edward James Olmos reprises his enigmatic role as Gaff, a colleague of Deckard back in the day. He’s aged in the decades since, but remains as cryptic as ever. Sean Young, who played the Replicant Rachael in the original, returns as well, playing the character in a roundabout way, as well as a clone. CGI is used to effectively make her look as young as she did in the first movie, something that wouldn’t have been possible ten years ago.

Dave Bautista appears as Sapper Morton, a Replicant who’s gone rogue and whose presence really sets the blade runner off on his quest. Bautista brings a tough physical presence to the role, which can be expected, and his own sense of ethics. Sylvia Loeks is just as tough in her role as Luv, a Replicant enforcer who proves to be tenacious and ruthless, assigned by her benefactor to carry out his orders. Her role is an interesting contrast to Rutger Hauer’s Roy in the original film; where Roy is brutal and vicious, he still ultimately shows humanity, something that seems to elude Luv.

K has two women in his life, in different ways, and they add to the enigmatic tone of the film. Joi (Ana de Armas) is a holographic companion who accompanies him, appearing in different ways through projectors and providing him with sympathy and a voice of reason, something the actress conveys throughout. Her physical counterpart is a Replicant named Mariette, played by Mackenzie Davis, being the physical surrogate Joi can’t be, while having secrets and agendas of her own. Part of what makes K work as a character is the dynamic he has in turn with each. Another woman, pivotal to the plot, is a scientist, Ana Stelline, played by Carla Juri. She’s a memory designer for Replicants, and the actress plays her as sympathetic but cryptic, and for good reason.

Jared Leto takes the role of Wallace, a tycoon who manufactures Replicants as his predecessor, Tyrell, did in the first film. The actor has an eclectic resume, last appearing as the Joker in Suicide Squad. Here, like Tyrell before him, he is a man devoid of ethics, more concerned with his own wealth, ego, and advancement, a sociopath entirely without conscience. Others may do his bidding, but Wallace is the real evil here, and Leto makes him chilling.

Caught in the middle of all of this, and in a role she makes the most of, is Robin Wright as Lieutenant Joshi. She’s a superior officer to K, and while that position might make her seem authoritative at times, she does possess a conscience and sense of ethics, and follows them. She’s loyal to her officers too, and has earned their loyalty in return. Wright conveys the character with the sort of resolve that you’d expect, less world weary than her counterpart in the original film.

Ryan Gosling is surprising in the role of K. I say that because this is the first time I’ve seen him in anything that I liked. I despised The Notebook, which I would argue constitutes cruel and unusual punishment, but let’s be fair- that’s more or less because Nicholas Sparks adaptations are cruel and unusual punishment. And I didn’t like The Ides Of March, which felt like a misfire, but that’s more the material. As for La La Land? I will never see it, because I’d rather crawl through broken glass than watch a musical. So watching him play K was seeing him with fresh eyes. There’s less of a world weariness in the character than we saw with Deckard in the original film, though he lives doing the job in a world that has only gotten worse. K finds himself confronting a mystery that calls into question what he knows about the world, and the actor invests the character with a sense of curiousity in how he responds to that. He gives the character gravity and weight, and K is our point of view character as he negotiates his way through the bleakness that is his world.

Harrison Ford reprises one of his iconic roles as Deckard, only appearing in the second half of the movie, though his presence hangs over things before we see him. Deckard is years older, with his cynicism still there, still mixed with principles he didn’t know he had. He’s suffered losses, is wary of strangers (and for good reason), but even after all this time is not someone you want to provoke. Ford’s performance feels like he’s been living in the character’s skin this whole time and we’ve just missed thirty years of his life- Ford knows the character, and brings him back to life effortlessly. There are questions raised, but left to the interpretation of the viewer, about Deckard, and Ford plays to that, but also invests resolve and integrity in the character.

Blade Runner 2049 picks up in a dark future that carries on the Blade Runner continuity in the right way. It’s probably not possible to match or top the original- that film is a masterpiece. And yet this film stands out very well on its own and succeeds. It is imaginative, thought provoking, eerie, impressive, and a visual wonder. The story poses difficult questions and moral dilemmas in ways that are profound. Its cast is well chosen, each actor investing strongly in their performances, bringing to life this dark world and its disparate agendas. Its director proves to impress once again and shows that he is the sort of talent to keep an eye on. And the film is a worthy successor to what has come before.

On Fire Off The Shoulder Of Orion

 “Quite an experience to live in fear, isn’t it? That’s what it is to be a slave.” ~ Roy

“I don’t get it, Tyrell. How can it not know what it is?” ~ Deckard

“Nothing is worse than having an itch you can’t scratch.” ~ Leon

“It’s too bad she won’t live. But then again, who does?” ~ Gaff

“I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I’ve watched c-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser Gate. All those... moments will be lost in time, like tears... in rain.” ~ Roy

 “Have you ever retired a human by mistake?” ~ Rachael

“Replicants are like any other machine. They’re either a benefit or a hazard. If they’re a benefit, it’s not my problem.” ~ Deckard

The 1982 sci-fi film Blade Runner has taken on a reputation as a true classic of a bleak future since its release, combining a not so distant future world and its problems with philosophical questions. Combining the genres of dystopian science fiction and film noir, the film is based on a novel by Philip Dick, and follows a burnt out lawman as he hunts artificial life forms in a not so distant future Los Angeles. There are several versions of the movie, which over time has become renowned as a classic from director Ridley Scott, who views it as his most personal film.

In 2019 Los Angeles, a retired policeman, Deckard (Harrison Ford) is brought in by his former boss, Bryant (M. Emmet Walsh) and his right hand man Gaff (Edward James Olmos), who have a problem. A number of replicants- bioengineered lifeforms- have come to Earth illegally. Created by a corporation that gave them short life spans, the four replicants bring violence and mayhem with them, and Deckard reluctantly takes the assignment to hunt them down and “retire” them in his old capacity as a blade runner, a lawman specifically tasked to destroy rogue replicants. Roy (Rutger Hauer), Pris (Daryl Hannah), Leon (Brion James), and Zhora (Joanna Cassidy) are all out there, looking for ways to extend their lives. Deckard’s path takes him first to the Tyrell Corporation, meeting their creator, Dr. Tyrell (Joe Turkel) and his enigmatic assistant Rachael (Sean Young), who as it turns out is an experimental replicant believing herself to be human.

The original story, titled Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?, was the source of much interest in adaptation for the big screen following its publication in the late 60s. Two screenwriters, Hampton Fancher and David Peoples, are credited with the adaptation into a screenplay. The film resonates so strongly for many reasons, one of them being the story itself and its strong use of themes. Much of the film noir genre can be found here- the femme fatale, the morally clouded and world weary protagonist, the dark and moody cinematography, the corruption within society. The film delves into questions of ethics and moral quandaries, rather like Frankenstein, the dilemma of creating artificial life, and the hubris of not thinking through the consequences. There’s a strong streak of environmentalism here as well- the natural world is largely absent, and the world as we see it feels like a wasteland of industry and corporations (even the animals we see are artificial).

The science fiction of the story is very much playing to the dystopian, dark feel rather than the optimism of Star Trek. A society of the future seems high tech and gleaming in one area, but seedy and run down elsewhere- the surface hides the darkness within, and we’re offered hints that many people have left the Earth for off world colonies. There’s a big streak of paranoia through the film that feels particularly ominous in this day and age- the police seem everywhere, the sense of control over society feels oppressive, and yet at the same time advertising is prevalent, trying to gloss over the bleakness of the world as it is. The world seems to have become a corporatocracy (Mitt Romney would wonder why anyone finds Tyrell such a horrible person). In factoring all of these elements into the story, the film ends up asking profound questions, among them being how do we define life, which has made it a classic.

Scott’s work here is a masterpiece- an irony, given that the first released version had issues with studio interference (a narrative voiceover by Ford that both Ford and Scott disliked, a happy ending, and other issues), and thus there have been several versions released over the years. Still, one feels strongly the depth of the film and what Scott saw in the story. He and his crew create a world that is definitely dark and bleak (does it ever rain that much in L.A.?), and while, as we get closer to the year in question certain things have not come to pass (flying cars), the film does feel eerily close to what we see today- the endless advertising in cities, the invasive nature of a surveillance state, a world where corporations are given far too much leeway, the pessimism, the blending of languages, and the question of ethics in science. 

The film has a starkly industrial look to its setting- steam rising everywhere, monolithic structures, rotting architecture past its prime. It feels like a future world- albeit one we don’t want to live in, and the sets, attention to detail, production design, and special effects (which still hold up nicely even though this was effectively in the pre-digital effect age) bring all that to life. Add to that the score by Vangelis, which has both classical and futuristic influences, and the music score ends up giving the film a timeless, moody quality.

The casting choices are all well made. M. Emmet Walsh is one of those character actors you’ve seen in countless roles in movies and television, and true to the film noir influences, his Bryant is a corrupt, unprincipled man with no problem using underhanded tactics. Walsh plays to that. Olmos plays Gaff in another way- we expect one thing out of the character since he’s an underling, and yet by film’s end he surprises us. The character employs the mixture of languages most strongly in this society in the way he speaks.

William Sanderson appears as J.F. Sebastian, a designer who works with Tyrell on replicant design. He’s a lonely, eccentric man with a medical condition that makes him sympathetic to the replicants, a soft spoken man with a conscience- though too much compliance with the position life has put him into. It’s a more likable character than the man he works for. Tyrell is pretty much the only role I know Joe Turkel for (though he did appear in The Shining). The character may seem on the surface to be a success, but beneath that surface is arrogance, hubris, and cold disregard for the consequences of his actions. He’s created a race of slaves, made himself obscenely rich in the process, and lacks empathy and regard for others. It’s a chilling performance.

The group of four replicants who form the quarry of the film are written and played in different ways. Brion James gets the role of Leon, a combat replicant, and plays the character as short tempered, socially awkward, and thoroughly dangerous, blunt and hard. Joanna Cassidy’s Zhora, by contrast, is an assassin replicant, and on Earth takes steps to blend in and disappear- when we first meet her she’s blended in by standing out, oddly enough, and it’s only as Deckard interacts with her that we start to see just how dangerous she can be- what seems inviting is also cold blooded, and Cassidy plays to that.

Daryl Hannah’s Pris has an eccentric quality; the character is a pleasure model replicant (just imagine what that brings to the table), and while at times she acts like the naive innocent, there’s a craftiness underneath that, particularly in the way she manipulates Sebastian. And like the others, she’s dangerous too, a skilled fighter and treacherous in her way.

Rutger Hauer has said that Blade Runner is his favourite film of those he has had a part in, and his character Roy Batty (what an appropriate name) definitely gives him a compelling role. Violent and yet thoughtful, the character leads the other replicants, and certainly acts like a leader, decisive, flawless, and bold. There’s coldness to the character, but beneath that is something else. He acts out of concern and empathy for the others, seeking a solution to the fact that replicants have such short life spans. The replicants, it seems at times, have more compassion for each other than humans do for others, and Roy shows that; as violent and dangerous as he is, he’s not really the villain of the story. This is a being who wants to live, and his final act and final words are transformative- the audience sees him for who he is for the first time, and can feel sympathy for him. If, as an artificial life form, he’s a sort of Frankenstein’s Monster, he’s a thoughtful one, one that has more humanity than his creator.

Sean Young was early in her career at the time this film was made. Rachael when we first meets her comes across as an ice queen, cold and deliberate (not that different from Tyrell, perhaps). The cracks in the facade appear early, as Deckard uses a device to ask questions to determine if she’s a replicant (it takes the lawman more questions than he would usually need), and it leaves her shaken. Rachael’s character moves in another direction from that point on, taking actions she might well have never taken if not for meeting Deckard, and asking questions of herself. She also ends up drawn closer to Deckard in the process, and Young gives the character much more sympathy and depth as the story goes along, the proverbial ice queen showing her humanity.

A number of actors were considered and speculated on for the part of Deckard- Hampton Fancher had wrote his screenplay very much considering Robert Mitchum for the part and writing it that way. Gene Hackman, Sean Connery, Dustin Hoffman, Paul Newman, Clint Eastwood, and others were all possible Deckards at one point or another. Harrison Ford got the part on the recommendation of Steven Spielberg, who had just worked with him on Raiders Of The Lost Ark, and the casting was perfect. Ford brings the morally clouded world weary Deckard to life, a man who’s burned out and doesn’t want anything to do with the work he left behind. He’s callous at times, snide at other times, a bit of a wiseass. Deckard can be thoughtless, but gradually comes out of it as a better person. The way he relates to Rachael reflects that shift in the character, and Ford takes all of these elements and puts them into his performance.

Blade Runner has earned its place as a classic, not just as a science fiction film, but as a movie in general. It asks profound questions, telling a story with rich complexity and depth, and explores a dark future where morality and ethics come into question. Ridley Scott gives us a very vivid world of science fiction that feels all the more troubling when we see our own not that far off from it, and the cast gives us strongly drawn performances that make the film all that much better. It is a masterpiece in cinematic achievement.