"I think, Sebastian; therefore I am."

Pris, in _Blade Runner_

_Blade Runner_ is a deeply disturbing, magnificently directed masterpiece.
It boasts one of the saddest and most unforgettable scenes in all of
cinema -- Harrison Ford's antihero Dekker shooting the half-naked Zhora (Joanne Cassidy) in the back as she runs for her life. She is a replicant
who has just tried to kill him with her bare hands, but at that moment she
is just a scared, helpless woman trying to steal a few more seconds of consciousness. No one could be more human. Fear of dying, and the way characters confront death (most of them do perish), are as integral to
this film as they are in the equally philosophical _The Thin Red Line_.

Ridley Scott's film is also a badge of honor to those of us who grew up in
the ex-British colony of Hong Kong. Bt the mid-80s (when I first saw
the film) HK has a looming expiration day as definitive as the 4-year lifespan of the Nexus 6's. With an ambiguous past and uncertain future, reminded
of impending extinction every day, we only had French existentialism and
_Blade Runner_ to call our birthright. Yet the even-handed script does
not designate the replicants as victims; instead it forces the audience to identify with everyone and no one. Every human and replicant takes turn
being the hunter and hunted, being deceitful and sincere, self-serving and magnanimous. Hampton Fancher and David Peoples have written an
extraordinary screenplay.

One only has to compare Scott's _The Martian_ to appreciate the high
quality of writing. In the later film, all characters seem formless
and interchangeable except for the uniquitous Matt Damon, and Jessica
Chastain for her military bearing and heroic rescue of the mission.
Most of the cast disappear for more than an hour while the story focuses
on Damon. In _Blade Runner_, the entry of each replicant is exquisitely
timed and spread out to maximize his/her impact. Zhora appears and dies
in one long sequence. Pris may seem to come out of nowhere, but
upon reflection it becomes clear that she is sent to seduce Sebastian
-- a follow-up to Roy's previous scene. _Blade_ has a larger cast
than _The Martian_ but each character is distinct, enlivened by
extravagant mannerisms (Gaff's orgami's, Leon's facial tics, Rachael's aloofness ...) On top of that, the four fugitive replicants
share catch-phrases and verbal shorthands; they are a genuine family.
The script depicts them as childlike due to their limited life experience
(a fault corrected in Rachael by memory implants). Indeed Roy and
Pris (Rutger Hauer and Darryl Hannah) are full of mischief, cruelty,
unbridled emotionism, and sheer joy, like young pre-teens.
When Roy delivers his immortal epitaph on the roof-top in the rain,
life draining out of him, he characteristically ends the speech with
a mysterious smile on his face.

Jordan Cronenweth's nighttime cinematography in _Blade Runner_ is
legend, and the music by Vangelis, with its brooding, descending
scales, surpasses any science fiction score in memory. The acting
is very much underrated. Hauer's baroque acting-out at the end is
balanced by many earlier scenes of subtle restraint. Harrison Ford
probably turns in the most multifaceted work of his career.

By today's standard, the treatment of race in _Blade Runner_ would
have been scandalous. The Los Angeles of 2019 is overrun by
immigrants from Egypt, China, but especially Japan. Flying billboard
in Japanese and geisha product pitchwoman emphasize that Japan owns
most of the city while Caucasians have fled into orbit. There is
a deep strain of anti-Japanese sentiment in the film; it reflects
the zeitgeist of the time, which would be even more apparent in Scott's
_Black Rain_ made a few years later. Most of the Asians living in
the bowels of rain-soaked Los Angeles fit the worst stereotypes
-- they are emaciated, hunched over, and barely speak English. (Which
is not to say that the two historical Asian rivals should be thought of
as one homogenous race.) There are exceptions -- my favorite is
the well-spoken lady who does electron spectroscopy on the sidewalk.
Dekker lives among them, eating Japanese ramen and drinking Chinese
beer. So at least some melting-pot aspect of American dream
survive. In contrast, Roy, the leader of the replicants, cannot
be more blond and Aryan. His creator Tyrrel, who lives atop a Mayan-pyramid-like mansion, describes Roy as "perfect," moments
before the latter ascends the sky and crushes his skull. I wish
one could say that _Blade Runner_ is a critique of racism, but the
race- and genetics aspects of the story are certainly what
help make the film so disturbing and haunting.

I look forward to seeing _Blade Runner 2049_. By 2049, unless
Donald Trump manages to extend his life through Tyrrel Corporation
implants, the main threats to world peace and human survival would
be Artificial Intelligence and militant Chinese nationalism. One
needs not look at the cast listing to surmise that the sequel will
not have the nationality-conscious temerity of its forebear. I
hope director Denis Villenueve will at least sound a loud alarm
about AI.

(for A.)

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