While Blade Runner 2049 is released this Wednesday in our theaters under the direction of Denis Villeneuve (First Contact), back on Ridley Scott's science fiction classic. Blade Runner was released in 1982. Worn by Harrison Ford, the film has become an indisputable classic of science fiction.
A stunning visual
Why, still thirty-five years after its release, does Blade Runner still fascinate so much? Ridley Scott , for the third film of his career, hit a big shot to enter the big league. Blade Runner is an indisputable classic, a stunning work both aesthetically and in the subject matter. Visionary, this film pushed the boundaries of science fiction. Sir Scott has learned the lessons of his years working in advertising. His photography and framing are resplendent. Playing on shadows and colors, Scott gives a spiritual atmosphere to his film. A few neon lights, shadows fighting in the light, a light that tries to resist the darkness, games on the darkness, silhouettes and grandiose forms… Visually Blade Runner is stunning and has aged little.
While some passages sometimes seem kitsch, it adds a warm dose of nostalgia to this complex work. Vangelis' music may have something to do with it. Straight out of the 1980s, it manages to be metallic, a futuristic inspiration, but above all totally hypnotic. Almost soporific, it places its viewer in a state of serenity despite a story that does not lend itself to it. From the opening shot on a futuristic, polluted and unwelcoming city, Ridley Scott sets the tone. The viewer is confronted with an overpopulated and hostile world.
A source of inspiration for all
Blade Runner has become a huge source of inspiration for many authors. He is one of the pioneers of "filthy" and "cyberpunk" science fiction. A dirty futuristic universe, where technology advances but the quality of life decreases. Already experimented with Alien – the Eighth Passenger, this grimy science fiction fits perfectly with the neo-futuristic universe of Blade Runner. An inspiration that can be found, for example, in the Wachowskis' cult Matrix, which presents an inhospitable futuristic world controlled by machines. But the main example remains The Fifth Element. Even if the tone is different, Luc Besson was inspired by Blade Runner to create his universe: a futuristic, overpopulated, filthy world, where the elements collide in a dance of death. There are also similarities on the other side of the Pacific, since the manga Ghost in the Shell released in 1989 also offered the vision of an overpopulated future, a grimy and dangerous neo-Tokyo, where men rub shoulders with artificial intelligence.
An exciting theme
Blade Runner is driven by an ambitious writing, where great stakes emerge. First, the relationship between living beings and artificial intelligences: "replicants". Created by man, they have superior physical and intellectual capacities and look like a human being. However, they have a very limited life expectancy. Scott will give them a strong humanity, confronting evil and good in a complex way. Never Manichean Blade Runner confronts creations with their creators. Themes close to the Alien saga. First, with the relationship between man and machine, perpetually in conflict and in a perpetual search for its origins. In Prometheus it's about the Engineers, in Blade Runner it's about the human being. Ridley Scott studies the place of these two camps in a hostile world. Harrison Ford is imperial in his role as Blade Runner, the cop who investigates replicants, overwhelmed by events.
Because it's adapted from a short story by Philip K Dick
Like his colleague Isaac Asimov, Philip K. Dick is one of the biggest names in SF literature. It has also been ported many times on the big screen. The first time in 1982 with Blade Runner, adapted from his short story "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?", then eight years later with Paul Verhoeven's Total Recall. In 1992, it was a Frenchman who took over one of his short stories: Confessions d'un barjo by Jérôme Boivin, with Hippolyte Girardot in the title role. In 1995, it was the turn of Planete Hurlante to see the light of day, inspired by the short story "Second Variety". The 2000s were also prolific, with Steven Spielberg's Minority Report (2002) and John Woo's Paycheck (2004). In 2006, the adaptation of his short story A Scanner Darkly is an opportunity to plunge the viewer into a semi-autobiographical universe, the writer having indeed used drugs during his career. In 2007, the New Zealander Lee Tamahori transformed the new " The Gold Man" into a pure pyrotechnic show with Next, worn by Nicolas Cage.
Because Rildey Scott's vision almost fell into oblivion
There are no less than seven versions of the film. The first, which is the version used for the test projection to the spectators, has become extremely rare. Then comes the copy released in 1982. This is the most controversial and incriminated version, since it corresponds to the editing wanted by Warner, to the detriment of Ridley Scott's vision. The European version of the first montage is significantly different. In particular, it adds several violent shots. In 1989, a Warner Bros. executive, Michael Arick, accidentally discovered a 70mm copy of the film, while researching the film Gypsy. Screened at various festivals, the film was a great success and it was rumored that it would be the original version of Blade Runner.
After viewing, Ridley Scott will say that it is not his director's cut. Given the success of the screenings, Warner decided to finance a re-release of the film in 1992, accompanied by a new editing. Although labeled director's cut, the filmmaker did not have the field completely free, even if this version is close to the one he always wanted. While fans have in vain watched for a final version for the 20th anniversary of the film in 2002, it is finally in December 2007 that Ridley Scott delivers the definitive version of this absolute masterpiece of Science Fiction. Small anecdote: in the first version of Blade Runner released in 1982, the conclusion of the film is directed by Stanley Kubrick, who was content to use his rushes from the shooting of The Shining.
So we can't wait to see what Denis Villeneuve has in store for us with Blade Runner 2049, but the first critical feedback is already very positive. Reply on 4 October.
