Scene 2 is where we first meet a replicant. We are meant to believe that replicants don’t have emotional faculties. However, in this scene we clearly see that the Bladerunner isn’t showing any feelings whereas Leon (the replicant) is showing his fears and vulnerability. The close ups show the perspiration on Leon’s face due to his fears and it also shows us the impassive way Holden (the Bladerunner) reacts to this fear. This tells us that the supposedly human Holden is showing less emotion than Leon. He seems heartless and uncompassionate making himself look very inhuman. The quote from Holden saying that the VK machine will ‘Provoke an emotional response’ is ironic as the human shows none. The camera flicks from person to person and even the machine conveying the tension in the room which is accompanied by the heartbeat sound effects. The world has been portrayed as a fascist state, where the humans hate replicants, similar to Nazi Germany’s hatred to non-Aryans. Also the word voight-kampff seems to have originated from the phrase ‘Mein Kampf’, which translates to ‘My Struggle’, a book written by Adolf Hitler, while in prison. The director seems to be saying that humans have lost their humanity and empathy. Empathy is the ability to place oneself in the position of another living being and understanding that person’s feelings. The sudden violence which virtually kills Holden comes as a shock to the viewer. However, it shows us the desperation of the replicants to complete the mission they had come to Earth to do. Replicants had been given a 4 year life span by their creator as he was afraid they would develop emotions, which would be dangerous as they were superior to humans in brawn and brain. The replicants are on their last legs, therefore they come to Earth to look for their creator, who they think is the only person capable of giving them more life. They are on an impossible mission as there are many Bladerunners out and about to ‘retire’ them. This is the reason why Leon attacks Holden.
By scene 4 ‘Street scene’ we realise that the film is presented in darkness. We can see L.A has imposing dark buildings, perpetual rain, dirty fog and crowded streets with no vegetation. From this we can acknowledge that society has deteriorated quite badly and humans are subjected to harsh conditions. We can also notice that even though there are many bright neon lights outside, they fail to illuminate the dark surroundings. The visibility of artificial things over human presence, many of the people are ‘faceless’, along with the bad quality of living shows us the extent of degradation of human life under technology. The street people wear clothing which cover most of their body. This could be to protect themselves from the rain, but the clothing hides their faces and eyes from view. This creates an assumption that everyone hides from everyone else and people do not interact socially with others, only out of necessity. What the director is showing here is the downfall of human spirit and the relationship between humanity and nature.
In scene 9 ‘Chews Visitors’ we are shown the physical superiority of the replicants over humans. The extreme close up of Roy Batty’s hand shows us that he is dying. An extreme close up of Roy Batty’s face, which is sweating, makes us realise that he is dying. We also realise that Batty is the leader of the replicants, as Leon looks away nervously in the close up shot showing that he is not in control. Chew seems to be quite a ridiculous character as he keeps on talking to himself and the unusual clothes he is wearing. The next shot is set in a blue light, an element of film noir, in which the replicants appear in a silhouette. The shot is in a low angle shot showing the superiority of the replicants. Furthermore, the medium shot showing them pull Chew’s pipe, which keeps him warm, tells that Chew can’t survive the cold as he is human whereas the replicants don’t appear to be cold.
‘Fiery the angels fell, deep thunder rolled around heaven.’ This poem quoted by Batty indicates that we should link the robots with the story of Lucifer’s fall. The reference to Lucifer’s fall also comes again later in the film. When Batty puts his hand in the liquid Chew realises that they are the Nexus 6 model replicants, his reaction to this is shown in the change of tone and pitch of his voice.
Scene 17 ‘Pursuing Zhora’ is a chase scene. However, the techniques used for this scene are different to other chase scenes. Other chase scenes usually have the camera moving back to show a long shot in which the person being chased and the chaser are both shown in the shot. This scene has the camera man moving along with the crowd with a hand held camera showing close ups of both people. The camera flicks from character to character. In this scene Zhora, who is a replicant, is being chased by Deckard, whose job it is to ‘retire’ replicants, in the crowded streets. The rest of the crowd is out of focus, while the two main characters are not. The fact that the camera is moving along with the action makes the viewer feel that they are in the crowd and are getting a first person view if the action. This is an effective way of portraying the emotions of both people. For example, as Deckard is looking for Zhora we can see an unfeeling killer looking for his next prey, which is not very human, while Zhora is worried and in panic knowing that she is being chased, which is more human like. When Zhora is within shooting range, the camera zooms out statically. There is a long shot when Deckard is aiming to shoot. When the gun is shot and Zhora is hit the scene goes into slow motion. As Zhora falls through the glass with her transparent coat flowing behind her literary allusion is used. This shot resembles the fall of Lucifer as the gliding coat makes Zhora look like a falling angel. The camera then moves to Deckard, we do not see a stone cold killer with no emotions, now we see Deckard regretting what he has just done and feeling sorry for Zhora.
Before scene 26 ‘The prodigal son brings death’ we meet J. F. Sebastian, a scientist who works for Tyrell Corporation. Sebastian has an ageing disease caused by the nuclear war. This shows us one of the problems with nuclear warfare, which is genetic mutation can be created. This is why richer people are going to off world colonies, which the replicants are building. J. F Sebastian has taken Roy Batty to meet Tyrell so that Roy can have a longer life. In scene 26 we see Tyrell’s room which has a gothic setting , with a four poster in the middle of the shot. The gothic nature of the scene makes us think of the story of Dr Frankenstein and the monster he created, who destroys him. There is a middle shot of Tyrell working on his bed, which switches to a close up of Sebastian. After Tyrell checks the chess move we are shown a close up of Sebastian who is in fear but also knows he is in control. We are then shown a long shot of Sebastian entering with Batty in the candle lit room. This scene is where we hear the only profanity used in the film. It comes from Batty who is in desperation for more life. This makes us realise the desperation of Batty to have a longer life, as profanity is only used once to give it effect. As Batty gives Tyrell the ‘kiss of death’ the camera flicks from the owl to Sebastian, who is looking very worried, and Roy to show everyone’s reaction to this. A menacing atmosphere is created as the creator is destroyed. Tyrell genuinely lacked empathy, and was only worried about money, as we see him working on the bed. He is part of the corporations that suppressed the street peoples spirit and damaged the natural world. His character is the total opposite of Batty, who is superior to all the other replicants. It is ironic that the person who holds the status of God has defective eye vision and could be argued that he was not fit to be a human.
In scene 31 ‘The Building Ledge’ while Deckard is precariously hanging from the edge of the building ledge, he believes his life is over, and Batty reinforces this by saying
‘Quite an experience to live in fear, isn’t it? That’s what it’s like to live as a slave.’ However at the last moment, Batty saves him by grabbing his wrist and drawing him up to the roof, and lays him down. Batty is exhibiting his human qualities that the humans themselves don’t seem to have. Scene 32: The roof, 33: To live in fear, 34: Like tears in rain, are very important for Deckard as this is when he really shows his emotions. The film noir is reversed here as Deckard is now being chased by Batty. The emotions Deckard shows are fear and importance of others. The camera shows an extreme close up of Batty’s face with a low angle shot, showing his emotions. We can hear sad slow music making the viewer aware that Batty is dying. As Batty sits in front of Deckard, he releases a dove to commemorate his death. Batty is the last model of the Nexus 6 range and his death will mean that everything they have seen and learnt will be lost like ‘tears in the rain.’ The way Batty reacts to the events in the plot shows that he has more humanity than the humans themselves. Batty has an awareness of the true value of life than anyone else. This conveys the deterioration of human nature in society. However Deckard’s sense of humanity comes at the loss of the other replicants death. Batty tells Chew ‘If only you could see what I’ve seen with your eyes’ and by the end of film Deckard does. He is able to see the cruelty of how non humans are treated, and the tragic depths humanity has fallen to, rejecting nature and humanity. Batty could see this tragic state of humans and opens Deckard’s eyes to the morally corrupt and inhumane world he is living in.
The director has portrayed an apocalyptic world, the world has been radically destroyed, however he is much more subtle than James Cameron who directed ‘Terminator’. He has used literary allusion to make the world more believable. The director focuses on the relationships between humans and androids, as this is a different kind of science fiction. This results in a slow and deliberate style and pace rather than an action adventure film.
In conclusion the humans’ and robots’ roles have been reversed in this film. The robots appear to be more human as they show their emotions regularly and communicate with each other, while the humans don’t show their emotions, are only bothered about themselves and very rarely communicate with each other. Earth is a big monopoly where the rich and powerful control everything while the ‘little’ people suffer quietly. The director is also saying that life will become depressing if we don’t stop playing with other peoples lives e.g. Going into war. Cloning is also highlighted in the film. With the recent advances in cloning, what does it mean to be a human. Will people try to differentiate between a clone and a human? With people now becoming the creators of life, what responsibilities will these people have towards their creation? The problems with nuclear war are also highlighted, problems such as killing wildlife, destroying the atmosphere so that the world is in darkness for most of the time, and acid rain. If scientific progress continues to be conducted for business and not for the best interests of humanity, then the natural world will be exploited and damaged until there is no beauty left in the world to revive dying spirits. So people would stay depressed and lead a pitiful existence. All these problems are highlighted in the film.
