B - Thursday, December 6, 2012
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycam
STEP INTO THE SA L0N 'BLADE RUNNER' (1982), WARNER BROS
The ups and downs of Scott's'Runner
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n the salons of 17th have every set in "Blade Runner."
8th century France, Scott's philosophy seems to have
been, "forget function, let's just
weekly installment throw stuff at them."
ature two Daily Arts But the madness has only just
. begun. Something seems off about
s discussing the finer not only everything in "Blade
ts of arts mediums Runner," but everyone as well.
gt least 10 years ago. The characters in "Blade Runner"
don't really act normal. They don't
really do much of anything, actu-
ally.
future is steamy. Towers Sure, Ford runs around, dreams
re under perpetually dark about unicorns and rapes a robot
'itizens of Los Angeles (in what could be one of the film's
claustrophobic Chinatown more complex scenes), but what
what seems to be trash, does he actually accomplish? The
ded by what literally is realization that he's a robot? It
n the future, people are doesn't make any difference, and
y bartering with indistinct it doesn't tell us anything. It's the
ners to not litter). In this spinning top at the end of "Incep-
he only lights are search- tion" - a cliff's edge that postures
which a blimp shines into at meaning.
silding with zero discre- In every scene of the film,
hy do all these things exist? there's stuffgoing on (Scott makes
rooms have fans with six- sure you notice). Film classes
des? Why do some people across the country have no doubt
s masks? Why? dissected the possible themes,
is the maddening world metaphors and extremely sub-
le Runner," Ridley Scott's tle nuances of "Blade Runner."
tic vision." It's a place They've wrung the towel dry,
rilliant scientists work in and the bowl underneath is more
t desolate of slums, where sweat than water.
o Ford can run around Here's the thing: "Blade Run-
g at a woman dressed in ner" isn't particularly exciting
stic bra and panties and a (unless you like watching Ford
ely see-through raincoat getting his ass kicked or shooting
ere no one raises a single unarmed women), isn't stimulat-
in concern or curiosity. ingto look at (unless you're a fan of
hings happen in the future David Fincher's style in "Se7en")
ently often. and provides only hazy meaning
's "vision" isn't profound to grab at (unicorns, an owl, piano
at filled with stuff. Imag- playing, et cetera). This is anti-
s Anderson rummaging fun philosophizing, a movie that
a dumpster, but eliminate should be washed away ... "like
WARNER BROS
as jarring, the characters just as
befuddling and profound and
2019 Los Angeles just as hyper-
real.
You watch "Blade Runner"
a hundred times and, as strong
as ever, hope takes form in the
beams of light shining down
from floating ships. They prom-
ise to take you far away from the
rainy destruction of your home
and taunt you as much as they
encourage. Nobody knows how4
much time they have left and,
really, it doesn't matter.
-SEAN CZARNECKI
"I know."
tears in the rain" - Ihad to say it.
-MATTEASTON
Watch "Blade Runner" a dozen
times and you'll still feel the wet
grit of the city long after the cred-
its roll. No film of the past 50years
has been so hauntingly immersive.
Its 'set designs are beautiful, its
themes complex; "Blade Runner"
is the definitive dystopian sci-fi
film.
Many viewers might have dif-
ficulty entering 2019 Los Angeles
as a result of its dreary pace. They
might even find it off-putting and
depressing. They might notice
how absurdly outdated the fash-
ions and technology of this 1982
filmare.Butthisisno space-opera,
this is no thriller. It's a deep, dra-
matic meditation. The questions
it ponders are the same questions
we've asked for a thousand years.
They're the same questions we'll
ask for another million.
"Blade Runner" is desperately
human. Its characters are not
easy to know, but they're all the
more powerful because of it. And
the casting is perfect: take Rutger
Hauer's Roy Batty, played with
as much childishness as thought.
His "Tears in Rain" monologue is
simply ethereal. That something
so eloquent could be uttered
amid the empty-faced crowds
and jagged cityscape makes you
wish you could see the things of
which Batty saw and spoke.
Watch "Blade Runner" a
dozen times more and, though
bit-by-bit more subtexts will be
revealed, you'll still walk away
with that same watery convic-
tion. The soundtrack will be just
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