Blade Runner
Blade Runner, Directors Cut (1982), directed by Ridley Scott, is a film that asks the audience to redefine humanity. Scott has used the motion picture as a way of showing that in itself, humanity is about asking the right questions, such as ‘What am I?’ ‘Why am I here?’ and the ability to feel emotion. In trying to answer these questions, in the world of 2019, Los Angeles, the boundaries between human and non-human become blurred, till they almost disappear. Scott also comments on the needs of humans, proving that a redefinition in essential. Ridley Scott shows this when Rachael learns the truth about being a Replicant, and further when Roy confronts his creator, demanding more life.
The characterisation of Rachael embodies the raw human needs of any person; to feel safe and to be needed. Realising that she is a Replicant, her inner fears of ‘being nothing’ are supposedly conformed to her. Her reaction to the truth is human and emotive, juxtaposed with the rigidity of her clothing and the porcelain doll like looks, the audience sees a character that has shown more emotion in the first 10 minuets of her appearance that the rest of ‘human’ characters. Deckard’s treatment of her is shown by his blunt manner of telling the truth. He does not see her as a human, with emotions, but rather just a programmed machine. When realising that she is much more complex than that, he begins to feel sympathetic, made known by the sad, almost nostalgic music. Both characters are always half lit, and partially silhouetted at times. This shows the incision that Deckard faces and Rachael’s façade of being afraid. Her attempt of proving her humanity through photographs and memories give an insight into the power play that Tyrell is playing with his creations. The story of the ‘baby spiders eating their mother’ is a powerful foreshadowing of what Roy does to his creator.
Roy’s demands to his creator are again expressing the needs he feels he is entitled to. But where as Rachael’s are
The characterisation of Rachael embodies the raw human needs of any person; to feel safe and to be needed. Realising that she is a Replicant, her inner fears of ‘being nothing’ are supposedly conformed to her. Her reaction to the truth is human and emotive, juxtaposed with the rigidity of her clothing and the porcelain doll like looks, the audience sees a character that has shown more emotion in the first 10 minuets of her appearance that the rest of ‘human’ characters. Deckard’s treatment of her is shown by his blunt manner of telling the truth. He does not see her as a human, with emotions, but rather just a programmed machine. When realising that she is much more complex than that, he begins to feel sympathetic, made known by the sad, almost nostalgic music. Both characters are always half lit, and partially silhouetted at times. This shows the incision that Deckard faces and Rachael’s façade of being afraid. Her attempt of proving her humanity through photographs and memories give an insight into the power play that Tyrell is playing with his creations. The story of the ‘baby spiders eating their mother’ is a powerful foreshadowing of what Roy does to his creator.
Roy’s demands to his creator are again expressing the needs he feels he is entitled to. But where as Rachael’s are