Blade Runner 2049 reminds us of Tarkovsky's best sci-fi parables
There are spectacular sci-fis and there are philosophical sci-fis. From the former, we can count, for example, the "Star Wars" films of American filmmaker George Lucas;from the latter, we can cite some of the works of Russian auteur Andrei Tarkovsky, particularly "Stalker" and "Solaris". Denis Villeneuve's new film, "Blade Runner 2049" (2017, USA), properly belongs to the second group. After the recent release of Christopher Nolan's viscerally-thrilling "Dunkirk", Edgar Wright's coolly-original "Baby Driver" and Darren Aronofsky's bonkers-as-hell "mother!", here's another film funded by a major Hollywood studio that's not exactly "mainstream". These films are just pure cinematic experience of the highest kind.
Of course, given the nature of the material and with Roger Deakins on board as the director of photography, "Blade Runner 2049" is not short in mind-blowing and captivating visuals, which perfectly illustrate a dystopian American cityscape. But Villeneuve, working on a screenplay written by Hampton Fancher and Martin Green (the writers, respectively, of the first "Blade Runner" and "Logan") which, in turn, was based still on Philip K. Dick's seminal sci-fi novel, isn't concerned with crafting a slam-bang adventure thrill-ride. Rather, following the footsteps of Tarkovsky, he further delves into the philosophical questions raised in Ridley Scott's film in a brooding and deliberate manner through all of the film's 162-minute running-time. Suffice it to say that "Blade Runner 2049" reminds one of Tarkovsky's best sci-fi parables, both in tone and texture.
Be it said still that seeing Scott's cult classic isn't a prerequisite to fully appreciate Villeneuve's film, though it provides an added dimension to the experience. It's a credit to the director's craft that "Blade Runner 2049" can actually stand on its own, unlike some blockbuster fare that have the obligatory feel of being part of a franchise universe. The film takes place thirty years after the events of the first one, where we now meet a new blade runner from the LAPD who simply goes by the name of Officer K (Ryan Gosling) and who, just like Harrison Ford's character Rick Deckard (who's been missing since), is also on a mission to "retire" renegade replicants. While on one such mission (the encounter with the character of Dave Bautista), K is led to the discovery of the remains of a once-pregnant replicant. This can only mean one thing: that being born (what Bautista most probably refers to as a "miracle"), in contrast to being bioengineered (as what K is), is still possible in a highly-mechanized and -dehumanized world. However, the discovery of this "secret" could result in a destructive war between humans and replicants, the already-simmering tension between the two races finally coming to a head-on. Thus, in order to prevent such a catastrophe from happening, K is given the task by his chief (the fierce and magnetic Robin Wright) of finding the child and wiping out any evidence that leads to him/her.
Just like the search for The Room in "Stalker" and the investigation of the titular planet in "Solaris", the road towards finding the "miraculous" child in "Blade Runner 2049" is a long and deliberate one, in which a host of characters and scenarios are encountered, which may or may not aid K in his mission. "Blade Runner 2049" is really an arthouse film disguising as a multiplex popcorn flick. Little by little, while being accompanied by an array of arresting dystopian visuals, the film points us to the question of being human in a world fully-steeped in technology. An ironic wisdom seems to emerge from this conundrum: human beings tend to be overwhelmed by technological advancements to the point of losing their strand of humanity;while the replicants, the bioengineered, the holograms - the very products of such advancements - are the ones who aspire to be as close to being humans as possible. This is probably the great tragedy of the 21st century.
To be born is to have a soul. Thus muses K in one scene. At what price technology, then? Is it at the cost of one's soul? No wonder that when provided with some apparent clues (like a miniature wooden horse, which brings back some memories in him - memories which, lamentably, he can't even trust), there springs up hope in K that he could be the miracle that Bautista referred to earlier. That he may be someone who possesses a soul after all. That's why his encounter with the missing Deckard (who doesn't appear until the film's second-hour mark), hiding out in a mansion located in a radioactive-destroyed Las Vegas, proves pivotal, for it will unlock the door to his mission and to his actual identity. If the final frame suggests anything, this "miraculous" secret may not really spell doom for humanity. K's personality in the film perfectly suits Gosling's role (and Villeneuve doesn't have any other actor in mind except Gosling). Harking back to his roles in the films he did for Nicolas Winding-Refn and to Jean-Pierre Melville's "Le samourai", Gosling's blade runner is brooding, taciturn and seemingly devoid of emotion. But deep within, we can feel that he's longing for a soul - if not he has a soul.
While Ford's reprisal of his Deckard character, much like his reprisal of his Hans Solo character in "Star Wars: The Force Awakens", brings about nostalgia. It's been about three decades since Scott's "Blade Runner" first came to the big screen;while humanity has almost caught up with the kind of world (set in 2019) depicted in that film. Perhaps, the existential issue here isn't so much about humanity waging war against technology, as about humanity waging war against itself. When, just shortly before the film comes to its end, a wounded K sits and finally lays his back on a stone-built stairway, as tiny flakes of snow gently fall on him, which may actually indicate that the man is on his last breath, it probably goes to show that in such a war, no one - or nothing, not even a bioengineered species - is really bound to win.
(Ryan Gosling is in search of a soul in Denis Villeneuve's "Blade Runner 2049")
Of course, given the nature of the material and with Roger Deakins on board as the director of photography, "Blade Runner 2049" is not short in mind-blowing and captivating visuals, which perfectly illustrate a dystopian American cityscape. But Villeneuve, working on a screenplay written by Hampton Fancher and Martin Green (the writers, respectively, of the first "Blade Runner" and "Logan") which, in turn, was based still on Philip K. Dick's seminal sci-fi novel, isn't concerned with crafting a slam-bang adventure thrill-ride. Rather, following the footsteps of Tarkovsky, he further delves into the philosophical questions raised in Ridley Scott's film in a brooding and deliberate manner through all of the film's 162-minute running-time. Suffice it to say that "Blade Runner 2049" reminds one of Tarkovsky's best sci-fi parables, both in tone and texture.
Be it said still that seeing Scott's cult classic isn't a prerequisite to fully appreciate Villeneuve's film, though it provides an added dimension to the experience. It's a credit to the director's craft that "Blade Runner 2049" can actually stand on its own, unlike some blockbuster fare that have the obligatory feel of being part of a franchise universe. The film takes place thirty years after the events of the first one, where we now meet a new blade runner from the LAPD who simply goes by the name of Officer K (Ryan Gosling) and who, just like Harrison Ford's character Rick Deckard (who's been missing since), is also on a mission to "retire" renegade replicants. While on one such mission (the encounter with the character of Dave Bautista), K is led to the discovery of the remains of a once-pregnant replicant. This can only mean one thing: that being born (what Bautista most probably refers to as a "miracle"), in contrast to being bioengineered (as what K is), is still possible in a highly-mechanized and -dehumanized world. However, the discovery of this "secret" could result in a destructive war between humans and replicants, the already-simmering tension between the two races finally coming to a head-on. Thus, in order to prevent such a catastrophe from happening, K is given the task by his chief (the fierce and magnetic Robin Wright) of finding the child and wiping out any evidence that leads to him/her.
Just like the search for The Room in "Stalker" and the investigation of the titular planet in "Solaris", the road towards finding the "miraculous" child in "Blade Runner 2049" is a long and deliberate one, in which a host of characters and scenarios are encountered, which may or may not aid K in his mission. "Blade Runner 2049" is really an arthouse film disguising as a multiplex popcorn flick. Little by little, while being accompanied by an array of arresting dystopian visuals, the film points us to the question of being human in a world fully-steeped in technology. An ironic wisdom seems to emerge from this conundrum: human beings tend to be overwhelmed by technological advancements to the point of losing their strand of humanity;while the replicants, the bioengineered, the holograms - the very products of such advancements - are the ones who aspire to be as close to being humans as possible. This is probably the great tragedy of the 21st century.
To be born is to have a soul. Thus muses K in one scene. At what price technology, then? Is it at the cost of one's soul? No wonder that when provided with some apparent clues (like a miniature wooden horse, which brings back some memories in him - memories which, lamentably, he can't even trust), there springs up hope in K that he could be the miracle that Bautista referred to earlier. That he may be someone who possesses a soul after all. That's why his encounter with the missing Deckard (who doesn't appear until the film's second-hour mark), hiding out in a mansion located in a radioactive-destroyed Las Vegas, proves pivotal, for it will unlock the door to his mission and to his actual identity. If the final frame suggests anything, this "miraculous" secret may not really spell doom for humanity. K's personality in the film perfectly suits Gosling's role (and Villeneuve doesn't have any other actor in mind except Gosling). Harking back to his roles in the films he did for Nicolas Winding-Refn and to Jean-Pierre Melville's "Le samourai", Gosling's blade runner is brooding, taciturn and seemingly devoid of emotion. But deep within, we can feel that he's longing for a soul - if not he has a soul.
While Ford's reprisal of his Deckard character, much like his reprisal of his Hans Solo character in "Star Wars: The Force Awakens", brings about nostalgia. It's been about three decades since Scott's "Blade Runner" first came to the big screen;while humanity has almost caught up with the kind of world (set in 2019) depicted in that film. Perhaps, the existential issue here isn't so much about humanity waging war against technology, as about humanity waging war against itself. When, just shortly before the film comes to its end, a wounded K sits and finally lays his back on a stone-built stairway, as tiny flakes of snow gently fall on him, which may actually indicate that the man is on his last breath, it probably goes to show that in such a war, no one - or nothing, not even a bioengineered species - is really bound to win.
(Ryan Gosling is in search of a soul in Denis Villeneuve's "Blade Runner 2049")
Comments